Court Opinion

ID: 9701866
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-25 22:41:20.003855+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:21:30.274218
License: Public Domain

PRICE, Judge,
concurring:
Although I concur in the reversal and remand for further proceedings, I cannot agree with the majority’s conclusion that the lower court abused its discretion in opening the judgment. It seems to me that such a conclusion pre-judges the ultimate conclusion and eliminates the necessity and purpose of the remand for further proceedings. I do agree *184that the order complained of was premature and that in further proceedings the mandate of Pa.R.C.P. 209 must be fulfilled.
It may well be that upon remand and development of the record the lower court will be ultimately correct in concluding that there was a reasonable excuse for the failure to have filed an answer within the prescribed time. This possibility is bolstered by the obviously correct observation of the lower court that this was, indeed, a “snap” judgment which is not favored by the law. A “snap” judgment could well be a significant factor in the exercise of discretion necessary to a proper adjudication of the question here presented.
HOFFMAN, J., did not participate in the consideration of this case.