Opinion ID: 1162541
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: setting aside default and default judgment

Text: Rule 55(c), Wyoming Rules of Civil Procedure, is the trial court's authority to set aside entry of default and default judgment. It provides: (c) Setting aside default.  For good cause shown the court may set aside an entry of default and, if a judgment by default has been entered may likewise set it aside in accordance with Rule 60(b).  (Emphasis added.) Rule 60(b) W.R.C.P. provides in pertinent part: (b) Mistakes; inadvertence; excusable neglect, newly discovered evidence, fraud, etc.  On motion, and upon such terms as are just, the court may relieve a party or his legal representative from a final judgment, order, or proceeding for the following reasons: (1) mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect; (2) newly discovered evidence which by due diligence could not have been discovered in time to move for a new trial under Rule 59(b); (3) fraud (whether heretofore denominated intrinsic or extrinsic), misrepresentation, or other misconduct of an adverse party; (4) the judgment is void; (5) the judgment has been satisfied, released, or discharged, or a prior judgment upon which it is based has been reversed or otherwise vacated, or it is no longer equitable that the judgment should have prospective application; or (6) any other reason justifying relief from the operation of the judgment. The motion shall be made within one (1) year after the judgment, order, or proceeding was entered or taken.   . Default judgments are not favored in the law, but a moving defendant carries the burden to show the trial court that his request to set a default aside is within these rules. Annis v. Beebe & Runyan Furniture Company, Wyo., 685 P.2d 678, 679-680 (1984). A defendant also is ordinarily required to show that he has a meritorious defense. Id. Rules 55(c) and 60(b), W.R.C.P., are remedial and are intended to promote decisions on the merits when possible. A trial court has wide judicial discretion to grant or deny a defendant's motion under these rules. Ryan v. Lowe, Wyo., 753 P.2d 580, 582 (1988); and Annis v. Beebe & Runyan Furniture Company, supra . We will not disturb the exercise of that discretion unless appellant demonstrates that the trial court abused it and was clearly wrong. Ryan v. Lowe, supra . See also Martin v. State, Wyo., 720 P.2d 894, 897 (1986) (defining judicial discretion). Appellant has not made such a showing in this case. Nord's attorney informed the trial court that he first found out about the case on March 6, 1987, from Nord's insurance carrier. The insurance carrier apparently discovered the litigation from third parties and through its own investigation sometime during the late summer and early fall of 1987. At the hearing on Nord's motion to set the default judgment aside Nord's attorney asserted that Nord had never really been served, but that if the court accepted that he had, he was ready to submit to the trial court's jurisdiction, file an answer and defend the case. Nord's attorney also explained that he had contacted Claassen's attorney on March 7, 1987, and asked him for a continuance; that request was denied. On the afternoon of March 9, Claassen's attorney submitted a proposed default judgment against Nord to the trial court, but did not tell the court about his discussion with Nord's attorney on March 7. The trial court signed that judgment only to find that Nord's motion to set aside default had been filed on the afternoon of March 9. Based on all of this the trial court found good cause to set aside the default and the default judgment. The trial court did not specifically rule on the showing of a meritorious defense, but it must have believed such a defense existed, particularly in light of its later order granting summary judgment to Nord. Viewing these things together, and considering the fact that this appeal challenges an order setting aside default judgment, we do not see a clear abuse of discretion.