Opinion ID: 1924271
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: the nature and legitimacy of the defendant's reasons for his default.

Text: ¶ 8. Dr. Parker was served with process on April 16, 1999. The complaint was forwarded to Dr. Parker's attorney four days later, on April 20, 1999. Over fourteen months later, on September 5, 2000, Dr. Parker filed an answer to the complaint. This Court has held that even when an answer is only four days overdue, that is sufficient for a trial court to deny a motion to set aside a default judgment. Bailey, 543 So.2d at 182. However, Bailey, as noted by the dissent, was decided on the second prong because the defendant failed to present a defense on the merits. ¶ 9. This prong weighs heavily in favor of the Stanfords. Dr. Parker has not set forth any reason why he failed to answer the Stanfords' complaint. The trial judge stated that Dr. Parker had failed to show good cause for failing to answer the complaint. The record and Dr. Parker's brief are also devoid of any legitimate reason for failing to file a timely answer, with the exception of merely stating that it was simple inadvertence, mistake of counsel, and failure to follow up with the investigation of Dr. Parker's case. This prong falls in favor of the Stanfords.