Opinion ID: 1563001
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Excusable neglect, unavoidable casualty, or other just cause

Text: The circuit court denied Allstate's motion to set the default judgment aside for excusable neglect or unavoidable casualty as permitted by Rule 55(c). Allstate cites Winters v. Lewis, 260 Ark. 563, 542 S.W.2d 746 (1976), for the proposition that the motion should have been granted because there was reason for counsel to believe that there had been compliance with the filing requirement. In that case, an answer was filed, but then a second, amended, complaint was filed and served on the defendant's counsel. It was shown that the original answer was not stricken, the plaintiff waited some three months to take the default judgment, and defendant's counsel had some reason to believe that the second service was of a copy of the complaint which had already been answered. These facts might have constituted excusable neglect, but we did not say so. We held rather that there was substantial compliance with the filing requirement and that the delay resulted in waiver of the filing requirement. We cannot say either of those things here. Also cited is Perry v. Bale Chevrolet Co., 263 Ark. 552, 566 S.W.2d 150 (1978). There the defendant's uncontroverted affidavit stated he had been assured by the plaintiff that the case against him would be dismissed before the time for answer ran. Upon learning that the case was not to be dismissed, the defendant drafted a handwritten answer which he attempted to file the day before the time ran out. His attempted filing was rejected due to a local court rule requiring that pleadings be typewritten. He filed a typewritten answer one day late. We held there was excusable neglect or other just cause. We find this case distinguishable, because there had been timely personal contact with the court clerk in an attempt to file the answer. In Declerk v. Tribble, supra , which is more like the case before us now, we held that it was not excusable neglect for counsel to place the blame on a secretary who allegedly covered with other papers an answer which was ready to be filed and waiting on the lawyer's desk. As in this case, nothing was filed with the trial court within the prescribed time limit. While there is nothing wrong with using the mail to send a pleading to the court, our rules do not permit filing by placing a pleading in the mail. We cannot say the trial court erred in refusing to set aside the default judgment.