Litigation

Oregon Court of Appeals: Personal impact of economic hard times won't trump default judgment

By Lori Bauman

The fallout from the economic meltdown won't excuse a failure to respond to a complaint, according to the Oregon Court of Appeals in a case decided Wednesday.  In Saldivar v. Roberts, plaintiff filed a lawsuit claiming fraud, misrepresentation, conversion, and unfair labor practices.  When defendants failed to respond in a timely fashion, plaintiff obtained a default judgment.  Defendants later moved to set aside the default, offering an affidavit by one of the defendants describing the personal and business matters that overwhelmed him at the time the complaint was filed.  Defendant's account of the severe blow to his real estate business from the recession, plus family crises, caused the trial court judge to set aside the default due to excusable neglect.

The Court of Appeals reversed, observing that defendant's dire circumstances did not render him unable to respond to the complaint.  "We conclude that simply choosing to ignore a matter -- even in the face of difficult circumstances -- does not qualify as a reasonable explanation so as to give rise to excusable neglect."

Full post as published by Northwest Business Litigation Blog on January 15, 2011 (boomark / email).