Duckson v. Wee Wheelers, Inc.

• Decision Date: 25 February 1993
• Citation: 620 A.2d 1206,423 Pa.Super. 251
• Parties: Maxine DUCKSON, Appellee, v. WEE WHEELERS, INC. and George McCreery and Joseph Pietropaolo. Appeal of Joseph PIETROPAOLO.
• Court: Pennsylvania Superior Court

Page 1206

620 A.2d 1206

423 Pa.Super. 251

Maxine DUCKSON, Appellee, v. WEE WHEELERS, INC. and George McCreery and Joseph Pietropaolo.

Appeal of Joseph PIETROPAOLO.

Superior Court of Pennsylvania.

Argued Nov. 19, 1992.

Filed Feb. 25, 1993.

George A. Prutting, Jr., NJ, for appellants.

Phillip H. Baer, Philadelphia, for appellee Duckson.

Before OLSZEWSKI, BECK and KELLY, JJ.

KELLY, Judge.

This appeal asks us to determine whether the trial court erred in denying Joseph Pietropaolo's petition to open a default judgment. The trial court did not accept as reasonable appellant's excuse for the delay in filing an answer to appellee's complaint. The trial court, however, did not weigh the equities presented by the circumstances in this case nor balance the prejudice to the two sides, as the relevant case law requires. Thus, we hold that the trial court erred in refusing to open the default judgment, and reverse.

We preface our reasoning with this summary of the pertinent facts and procedural history. On July 31, 1990, appellee, Maxine Duckson, was a passenger on a bus that was involved in a collision with an automobile operated by appellant. As a result of the collision, appellee alleged serious personal injuries. Appellee's original complaint in this matter was filed on November 20, 1991. On December 4, 1991, appellant received service of the complaint, and on December 5, 1991, hand delivered the complaint to his insurance agent. The Dollfus Agency transmitted the complaint to Nationwide Insurance Company, appellant's automobile insurance carrier, on or about December 16, 1991. Technically, an answer to the complaint was due on December 24, 1991.

The file was forwarded initially to legal counsel who telephoned appellee's counsel on Wednesday, January 8, 1992, because service of process on appellant was not of record. Counsel for appellee refused to provide any information to appellant's counsel. In a letter dated January 10, 1992, appellant's counsel enclosed to adverse counsel a copy of an entry of appearance and demand for a jury trial which had been duly filed on behalf of appellant.

On January 13, 1992, Nationwide inadvertently assigned the case to a second attorney. ¹ He immediately telephoned appellee's counsel in order to advise him that appellant was represented and to inquire if appellee's counsel would agree to an extension to file an answer out of time. Despite several attempts by appellant's second attorney to contact him, neither appellee's attorney nor his office returned the phone calls. Appellant's present counsel received the actual physical file from Nationwide on January 21, 1992.

Counsel for appellee, on January 10, 1992, directly notified appellant that appellee intended to take a default judgment. The default judgment was entered against appellant on January 23, 1992, according to the record. Appearances of counsel for appellant were entered on the record subsequent to the taking of the default judgment.

On January 24, 1992, appellant filed a petition to open the default judgment. The trial court granted the petition to open the default judgment on February 28, 1992 because the court assumed that the petition was uncontested and the record did not reflect otherwise. On March 10, 1992, appellee advised the court that, indeed, appellant's petition was contested. The trial court promptly vacated its prior order granting appellant's petition to open the default judgment. After considering appellee's opposition papers and the initial papers filed in appellant's petition to open judgment, the court denied appellant's petition. This timely appeal followed.

When reviewing a trial court's disposition of a petition to open a default judgment, the appellate court must examine the entire record for any abuse of discretion, reversing only where the trial court's findings are inconsistent with the clear equities of the case. Provident Credit Corp. v. Young, 300 Pa.Super. 117, 446 A.2d 257 (1982) (en banc). Moreover, this Court must determine whether there are equitable considerations which require that a defendant, against whom a default judgment has been entered, receive an opportunity to have the case decided on the merits. Kraynick v. Hertz, 443 Pa. 105, 277 A.2d 144 (1971); Provident Credit Corp. v Young, supra. Where the trial court's analysis was premised upon record evidence, where its findings of fact were deductions from other facts, a pure result of reasoning, and where the trial court made no credibility determinations, this Court may draw its own inferences and arrive at its own conclusions. Romeo v. Looks, 369 Pa.Super. 608, 624, 535 A.2d 1101, 1109 (1987) (en banc), appeal denied, 518 Pa. 641, 542 A.2d 1370 (1988), quoting American Express Co. v. Burgis, 328 Pa.Super. 167, 172, 476 A.2d 944, 947 (1987). Finally, where the equities warrant opening a default judgment, this Court will not hesitate to find an abuse of discretion. Provident Credit Corp. v. Young, supra at 124, 446 A.2d at 261.

Generally, a default judgment may be opened when the movant promptly files a petition to open, provides a meritorious defense, and offers a legitimate excuse for the delay that caused the default. Alba v. Urology Associates of Kingston, 409 Pa.Super. 406, 598 A.2d 57 (1991); Fink v. General Accident Insurance Company 406 Pa.Super. 294, 594 A.2d 345 (1991).

Without question, in many cases where we have found that one of the three requirements for opening a judgment was not met we have stopped without considering the arguments made with regard to the other two. [Citations omitted.] It is difficult, however, to reconcile this approach with the many other cases that emphasize the equitable nature of the decision whether to grant a petition to open, and the importance of balancing the prejudice to the sides.... The question is, Can a court make an "equitable determination" of what is "reasonable under the circumstances" without considering all of the circumstances of the particular case? We think not ... [W]here some showing has been made with regard to each part of the test, a court should not blinder itself and examine each part as though it were a water-tight compartment, to be evaluated in isolation from other aspects of the case. Instead, the court should consider each part in the light of all of the circumstances and equities of the case. Only in that way can a chancellor act as a court of conscience.

Miller Block Co. v. U.S. Nat. Bank, 389 Pa.Super. 461, 469-70, 567 A.2d 695, 699-70 (1989), appeal denied, 525 Pa. 658, 582 A.2d 324 (1990), quoting Provident Credit Corp. v. Young, supra at 130-31, 446 A.2d at 263-64 (emphasis added).

The trial court found that appellant had timely filed his petition to open and had set forth a meritorious defense. Trial Court Opinion at 3. According to the record, the default was taken on January 23, 1992. Appellant filed his petition to open the default judgment on January 24, 1992. ² Thus, appellant's petition was prompt. Moreover, appellant avers that the bus, in making a turn, struck his vehicle which was at a complete stop. If proved at trial, ³ this defense would justify relief from liability. Thus, appellant alleges a meritorious defense for the purpose of deciding whether to open the default judgment.

The issue here is whether the delay in processing the paperwork occasioned by appellant's insurance carrier, Nationwide, constitutes a "reasonable justification for delay" in order to open the default judgment, entered six weeks after the complaint was served. To explain the delay, appellant emphasizes that he delivered the complaint to his insurance agency on December 5, 1991, within one day of receipt of service. The agency thereafter transmitted the paperwork to Nationwide who received it on or about December 16, 1991. Following investigation, Nationwide inadvertently proceeded to assign the case to two different attorneys, causing considerable confusion to the attorneys assigned to defend appellant. Thus, the twenty days, and more, for filing an answer were consumed in transmitting the paperwork, investigating the claim and assigning the case. Also, appellant suggests that the transmittal delays were due, in part, to the year-end holidays. Appellant concludes that these circumstances constitute a legitimate explanation to justify opening the default, particularly where the appellant acted promptly upon receiving the complaint. We agree.

Conclusory statements that amount to mere allegations of negligence or mistake, absent more, will not suffice to justify a failure to appear or answer a complaint so as to warrant granting relief from a default judgment. Cross v. 50th Ward Comm. Ambulance Co., 365 Pa.Super. 74, 528 A.2d 1369 (1987); Conti v. Shaprio, Eisenstat, etc., 293 Pa.Super. 301, 439 A.2d 122 (1981); Barron v. William Penn Realty Company, 239 Pa.Super. 215, 361 A.2d 805 (1976). Whether an excuse is legitimate is not easily answered and depends upon the specific circumstances of the case. Silverman v. Polis, 230 Pa.Super. 366, 326 A.2d 452 (1975) (en banc).

In Balk v. Ford Motor Company, 446 Pa. 137, 285 A.2d 128 (1971), our Supreme Court held that an insurance company's mishandling of a customer's court papers constituted sufficient legal justification for an insured's relief from default. Just because an insurance carrier's representative was inadvertently responsible for the delay does not remove the equities from our consideration. Kraynick v. Hertz, 443 Pa. 105, 277 A.2d 144 (1971). In Shainline v. Alberti Builders, Inc., supra at 138-39, 403 A.2d at 508, this Court agreed that an appellant seeking to open a default judgment should not be penalized automatically for the mishandling of papers by the insurance carrier or attorney. In Schutte v. Valley Bargain Center, 248 Pa.Super. 532, 375 A.2d 368 (1977) and, again, in LaLumera v. Nazareth Hosp., 310 Pa.Super. 401, 456 A.2d 996 (1983), we accepted delays caused by the defaulting ...