Bloom v. Trudeau
| Decision Date | 24 June 1970 |
| Docket Number | No. 840-A,840-A |
| Citation | 266 A.2d 417,107 R.I. 303 |
| Parties | Isadore H. BLOOM v. Elaine A. TRUDEAU. ppeal. |
| Court | Rhode Island Supreme Court |
This is an appeal from an order entered pursuant to a Superior Court justice's denial of the defendant's motion to vacate a default judgment.
The action arose out of a motor vehicle accident in March 1968. The plaintiff commenced a civil action for damages in January 1969, and service of the complaint and summons were duly made on the defendant on February 8, 1969. The complaint and summons were filed with the clerk of the Superior Court on February 14, 1969. The defendant having filed no answer nor taken any other action in the Superior Court, plaintiff moved for and obtained a nil dicit judgment on April 3, 1969. On June 13, 1969, a hearing was held and damages in the amount of $2,176.20 were awarded.
Thereafter, namely on July 1, 1969, defendant filed in Superior Court a motion to vacate the default judgment in accordance with Rules 55(c) and 60(b) of the Super.R.Civ.P. A hearing on the motion was held in Superior Court on July 10, 1969, and denied.
The defendant's motion alleged that the failure to answer the complaint was caused by the 'mistake, inadvertence, surprise of (sic) excusable neglect of the H. L. Theroux Insurance Agency,' defendant's insurance agent. She accompanied this with an affidavit which purports to present facts which, if believed, would constitute a meritorious defense. See McLeod v. Fleetwood Motor Sales, Inc., 83 R.I. 447, 118 A.2d 921.
At the hearing on the motion to vacate, the office manager of the insurance agency testified that he recalled seeing defendant in his office in February 1969, at which time she gave him the writ which he turned over to the agency's claims girl, socalled. He further testified that the normal practice of the agency is to direct the writ to the claims girl who the forwards it to the insuring company. The employee, at the time, was experienced in her job and was considered 'capable and competent.' The office manager also testified that as a result of a telephone conversation in June 1969, he had occasion to examine defendant's file in his office and discovered the summons and complaint. It is also his testimony that at the time the writ was initially brought into the office, they were handling numerous claims and the work load of the claims girl had increased. At the time of the hearing the...
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Ludwig v. Kowal
...discretion rests the determination of such a motion. Stevens v. Gulf Oil Corp., 108 R.I. 209, 274 A.2d 163 (1971); Bloom v. Trudeau, 107 R.I. 303, 266 A.2d 417 (1970); 1 Kent, R.I.Civ.Prac. § 60.1 The neglect of counsel in the proceedings below is imputed to his client. King v. Brown, 103 R......
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Lamarche v. Lamarche
...our practice an appeal is the customary way by which litigants seek review of an order denying a motion to vacate a judgment. Bloom v. Trudeau, R.I. 266 A.2d 417; Shannon v. Norman Block, Inc., R.I. 256 A.2d 214; Fields v. S. & M. Foods, Inc., R.I. 249 A.2d 892; Pate v. Pate, 97 R.I. 183, 1......
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Providence Gas Co. v. Biltmore Hotel Operating Co., 76-14-A
...rather than failure to comply with discovery orders. See Stevens v. Gulf Oil Corp., 108 R.I. 209, 274 A.2d 163 (1971); Bloom v. Trudeau, 107 R.I. 303, 266 A.2d 417 (1970); Greco v. Safeco Ins. Co. of America, 107 R.I. 195, 266 A.2d 50 (1970); King v. Brown, 103 R.I. 154, 235 A.2d 874 (1967)......
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Iddings v. McBurney
...with orderly procedural requirements. Vitale v. Elliott, 120 R.I. 328, 331, 387 A.2d 1379, 1381 (1978); Bloom v. Trudeau, 107 R.I. 303, 305, 266 A.2d 417, 418 (1970); Fields v. S. & M. Foods, Inc., 105 R.I. 161, 162, 249 A.2d 892, 893 (1969); King v. Brown, 103 R.I. 154, 157, 235 A.2d 874, ......