Opinion ID: 1863292
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Lincoln's Excusable Neglect Approach

Text: While at first glance the Fifth District's nullity holding may appear inapposite to the First District's excusable neglect approach, the different procedural postures of the cases appear to account for the seemingly incongruous treatment. In Lincoln, as noted earlier, the First District heard an appeal from the denial of a motion to set aside a default. Under Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.540, a showing of excusable neglect is one of the grounds upon which an aggrieved party can be relieved from a default judgment. See Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.540(b). [3] In the present case, the Fifth District heard an appeal from the grant of a motion to dismiss to which a showing of excusable neglect or any of the other enumerated grounds under 1.540(b) would not appear relevant. This procedural distinction is further illustrated by the Fifth District's approach in Moreno Construction, Inc. v. Clancy & Theys Construction Co., 722 So.2d 976 (Fla. 5th DCA 1999). In Moreno the defendant corporation appealed from the trial court's denial of a motion to set aside a default final judgment entered after the trial court found that the corporation had filed no responsive pleading where its answer was filed by its non-attorney corporate president. The Fifth District reversed the trial court, finding excusable neglect where the corporate president indicated that he was not aware that a corporation required representation by counsel in circuit court and where the corporation immediately hired counsel once the trial court dispelled its erroneous belief. In so holding, the court noted: In reaching this conclusion we have considered Florida's common law rule that pleadings filed by a non-lawyer on behalf of another are a nullity. The rule is the product of the policy against the unauthorized practice of law. However, under the facts of this case, to mechanically apply the rule to prohibit a finding of excusable neglect places form over substance and fails to serve the underlying policy. See Szteinbaum v. Kaes Inversiones y Valores, C.A., 476 So.2d 247 (Fla. 3d DCA 1985). In this case, Florida's policy that cases should be tried on their merits whenever possible prevails. Moreno, 722 So.2d at 978. The Third District's approach in Szteinbaum, however, cannot be similarly reconciled with the Fifth District's decision in the present case.