Inadequate Notice Of Default Hearing Provides Good Cause To Set Aside Default Judgment
05/20/08
Insurance company must show good cause on its own behalf for not having intervened in the original case against an uninsured motorist, for which it had notice. “Good cause” is defined as including “a mistake or conduct that is not intentionally or recklessly designed to impede the judicial process.” Courts ‘interpret good cause liberally ‘not only to prevent a manifest injustice, but to avoid a threatened one, especially in cases tried without a jury, where the evidence on one side only is presented.” Here insurance company did not receive notice of the suit against the uninsured driver until seven days before the default judgment was entered. Additionally, insurance company received no notice of the specific time or division where the hearing on the motion for default judgment would be held. Prior to the entry of judgment, insurance company had not received any copies of the pleadings filed by the plaintiffs. Trial court did not abuse its broad discretion to grant the motion to set aside the underlying default judgment where, as here, the insurance company received inadequate notice and, therefore, its failure to intervene was not due to intentional or reckless conduct designed to impede the judicial process. Baker v. Lee, Docket No. 28663 (Mo.Ct.App.S.D. May 20, 2008)
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