Court Opinion

ID: 9713402
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 05:14:51.266225+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:23:18.600469
License: Public Domain

NIX, Justice,
concurring.
I agree with the result reached by the majority, and I am substantially in accord with the reasoning employed to reach that result. Nevertheless, I believe a further response is required because of the dissenting opinion filed by Mr. Justice Roberts. Hence this concurring statement.
Both the majority and dissent agree that the uncontroverted facts in this appeal would not justify a finding of “fraud or some breakdown in the court’s operation.” West Penn Power Co. v. Goddard, 460 Pa. 551, 333 A.2d 909 (1975). It is agreed that the time in which an appeal must be filed “cannot be extended as a matter of grace.” West Penn Power Co. v. Goddard, supra, 460 Pa. at 556, 333 A.2d at 912. Finally, it is agreed that negligence of the party, or of counsel for the party, does not provide a basis for ignoring the fact of an untimely filing of an appeal. The area of dispute between the majority and dissenting views is confined to the narrow question as to whether the facts in this case support a finding of negligence on the part of appellant or one of her agents. Thus any suggestion by the dissent that the majority has in any way altered the accepted standards or deviated from prior precedent is unwarranted and unfounded.
The uncontroverted evidence establishes that the omission of the secretary in this case was as a result of a debilitating illness and not sloth or neglect. Thus if negligence is to be found, it must spring from a determination that the attorney’s office procedures did not adequately and reasonably provide for such contingencies. Here the record establishes that the office routinely provided for a “check” to ascertain whether the secretarial assignments were being promptly performed. In this case, regrettably, it was the person who *262had the responsibility of making these “checks” that also was assigned to file the papers in question and who became ill. In view of the size of the office it cannot be persuasively argued that the regular procedures employed for avoiding such omissions were inadequate. Thus since the hearing court was obliged not to arbitrarily reject the uncontroverted testimony, see Smith Estate, 454 Pa. 534, 538-39, 314 A.2d 21 (1974), quoting Cline Will, 433 Pa. 543, 547, 252 A.2d 657, 660 (1969), there is no basis for finding negligence on the part of appellant or her agents.
In response to the dissent, I am of the view that a contrary result would be punitive, arbitrary and not supported by rule or precedent. Such a result could be legitimately assailed as doing violence to our system of jurisprudence.