Hornblower v. Cobb

• Decision Date: 07 April 2006
• Docket Number: No. 2D05-1265.,2D05-1265.
• Citation: 932 So.2d 402
• Parties: Dale D. HORNBLOWER, Appellant, v. Toynetta C. COBB, Appellee.
• Court: Florida District Court of Appeals

932 So.2d 402

Dale D. HORNBLOWER, Appellant, v. Toynetta C. COBB, Appellee.

No. 2D05-1265.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Second District.

April 7, 2006.

Rehearing Denied May 9, 2006.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Hinda Klein of Conroy, Simberg, Ganon, Krevans & Abel, P.A., Hollywood, for Appellant.

David M. Caldevilla and Nicolas Q. Porter of de la Parte & Gilbert, P.A., Tampa; and Royce C. Haddad, Jr., of Haddad & Shuttera, P.A., Clearwater, for Appellee.

LaROSE, Judge.

Dale D. Hornblower appeals the trial court's denial of his motion to vacate a clerk's default and for a new trial. We affirm in part and reverse in part.

This matter stems from a September 20, 2001, automobile accident involving Mr. Hornblower and Toynetta C. Cobb. Southern Group Indemnity (SGI), Mr. Hornblower's insurer, conceded in the trial court that what happened after the accident was a "succession of errors" — an understatement, to be sure, in light of Mr. Hornblower's absence from all proceedings below and SGI's apparent inability to handle a personal injury claim.

Ms. Cobb reported the accident to SGI. Without controversy, SGI promptly paid her property and rental car claims. SGI also sent an accident report form to Mr. Hornblower. He never completed and returned the form. On November 5, 2001, SGI received a letter of representation from Ms. Cobb's counsel concerning Ms. Cobb's personal injury claim. SGI wrote to Ms. Cobb's counsel and confirmed liability coverage for the accident.

Approximately one year later, in November 2002, Ms. Cobb's counsel sent SGI a $20,000 demand to settle Ms. Cobb's personal injury claim. On that same day, SGI sent a $2000 settlement offer to Ms. Cobb, an offer she rejected. SGI claims to have sent a follow-up letter to Ms. Cobb's counsel several months later, to which it received no reply. According to Ms. Cobb's counsel, however, SGI failed to respond to numerous telephone messages, left as late as July 2003, attempting to discuss settlement. Instead, Ms. Cobb's counsel received only a form letter stating that SGI would close its file if Ms. Cobb did not respond to SGI's earlier $2000 settlement offer, an offer Ms. Cobb previously rejected. Up to this point, SGI had not retained counsel.

Apparently rebuffed on the settlement front, Ms. Cobb sued Mr. Hornblower in August 2003. Mr. Hornblower was served with process but, as far as we know, he never contacted Ms. Cobb, her counsel, or SGI. Unaware of the litigation and without further efforts to contact Ms. Cobb's counsel, SGI closed its file in September 2003.

Ms. Cobb moved for and secured a clerk's default in mid-September 2003. Mr. Hornblower was served with the motion and the default. Ms. Cobb's counsel sent copies to SGI. Neither Mr. Hornblower nor SGI contacted Ms. Cobb or her counsel. According to SGI, in early October 2003, its adjuster faxed the default papers to its counsel. Apparently, this is the first time that SGI attempted to retain counsel. Unfortunately, SGI did not confirm receipt of the materials; its counsel never received them. In approximately November 2003, SGI assigned Ms. Cobb's claim to a litigation adjuster. Within a matter of days, the adjuster was injured in a motorcycle accident and did not return to work until late January 2004. For reasons unknown, SGI left the file unattended.

Having heard nothing further from SGI or Mr. Hornblower and with a clerk's default in hand, Ms. Cobb turned her attention to the remaining issue in the trial court, damages. In December 2003, she moved to withdraw her jury trial demand. She served her motion on Mr. Hornblower. He did not object to the motion, attend the hearing, or, as far as we can determine, advise SGI. In mid-January 2004, the trial court granted Ms. Cobb's motion and sent a copy of its order to Mr. Hornblower. Nothing indicates that Mr. Hornblower forwarded the order to SGI. Oblivious to developments in Ms. Cobb's lawsuit, SGI reassigned the claim to a new adjuster in early February 2004. SGI offers no explanation for the approximately three-month delay in reassigning the claim.

In the later part of March 2004, Ms. Cobb filed a motion for nonjury trial. She served a copy on Mr. Hornblower. As a courtesy, her counsel sent a copy to SGI, together with a $10,000 settlement demand. SGI's adjuster took no action other than to stuff the motion and the settlement proposal in the file.

In late March 2004, the trial court scheduled a nonjury trial. A copy of the scheduling order was sent to Mr. Hornblower and to SGI. Again, we are aware of no contact between Mr. Hornblower and SGI at this critical stage. There is no question, however, that SGI received the order. Given the course of events outlined above, it is no surprise that neither Mr. Hornblower nor SGI appeared at the damages trial. After a June 16, 2004, trial, the trial court entered a $320,491.96 final judgment for Ms. Cobb and against Mr. Hornblower. The trial court mailed the final judgment to Mr. Hornblower, who, again, as far as we can tell, did not advise SGI.

As fate would dictate, shortly after entry of the final judgment, SGI's adjuster finally reviewed the file and realized that he had not acted on the lawsuit documents he had received previously. He called SGI's counsel, who knew nothing about the case. Upon checking the court file, counsel discovered the final judgment. The claims adjuster no longer works for SGI.

In late June 2004, SGI's counsel finally appeared in the lawsuit for Mr. Hornblower. She moved to vacate the clerk's default and sought a rehearing or a new trial because Mr. Hornblower had not waived his jury trial right. Counsel argued that the clerk's default should be vacated because Ms. Cobb's counsel knew that SGI intended to defend Mr. Hornblower, but failed to advise SGI about the lawsuit. Under such circumstances, counsel argued that Mr. Hornblower need not demonstrate excusable neglect, due diligence, or a meritorious defense. See Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.540(b). Nevertheless, the affidavits¹ filed in support of Mr. Hornblower's motion acknowledged that, "as a result of a succession of errors on the part of SGI, the carrier was unable to defend its insured Hornblower and Hornblower did not appear for the subsequently set non-jury trial" and that Mr. Hornblower had a meritorious comparative negligence defense. Ms. Cobb opposed the motion and filed an affidavit chronicling her counsel's unsuccessful attempts to communicate with SGI. The trial court denied the motion.

Clerk's Default

The trial court denied Mr. Hornblower's motion to vacate the clerk's default. We review that order under an abuse of discretion standard. Marshall Davis, Inc. v. Incapco, Inc., 558 So.2d 206, 207-08 (Fla. 2d DCA 1990). "Where there exists any reasonable doubt in the matter, and where there has been no trial on the merits, the trial court is to exercise its discretion in the direction of vacating the default." Apolaro v. Falcon, 566 So.2d 815, 816 (Fla. 3d DCA 1990) (citing North Shore Hosp., Inc. v. Barber, 143 So.2d 849 852-53 (Fla.1962)); see also Geer v. Jacobsen, 880 So.2d 717, 720 (Fla. 2d DCA 2004) (acknowledging strong preference for deciding lawsuits on merits).

Yet, Mr. Hornblower is not entitled automatically to relief. He must establish: (a) excusable neglect, (b) a meritorious defense, and (c) the exercise of due diligence upon learning of the default. Coquina Beach Club Condo. Ass'n, Inc. v. Wagner, 813 So.2d 1061, 1063 (Fla. 2d DCA 2002); Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.540(b). Even if we accept that Mr. Hornblower had a meritorious defense and that his SGI-appointed counsel promptly sought to vacate the clerk's default, the absence of excusable neglect compels us to affirm the trial court's ruling.

Although we are mindful that a trial on the merits is preferred to a default, we cannot say that the trial court abused its discretion. Mr. Hornblower received process and copies of subsequent court filings. But, he did not participate in any of the trial court proceedings. Particularly noteworthy, Mr. Hornblower came forward with no explanation for his apparent inaction throughout the course of Ms. Cobb's lawsuit. The record is silent as to any facts that might support a finding of excusable neglect by Mr. Hornblower.

We reach a similar conclusion as to SGI's efforts on behalf of Mr. Hornblower. SGI knew of the accident that spawned this dispute. Unfortunately, we are left with the distinct impression that SGI mishandled the processing of Ms. Cobb's personal injury claim. The record reflects that SGI delayed in securing counsel for Mr. Hornblower, disregarded settlement overtures, and ignored critical court filings. The record contains no information suggesting that SGI had any meaningful procedure in place that, if followed, would have avoided the unfortunate events that resulted in a significant judgment against Mr. Hornblower. Cf. Mercury Marine Indus., Inc. v. Dillon, 779 So.2d 356, 357 (Fla. 2d DCA 2000) (holding failure to follow corporate policy can constitute excusable neglect). SGI's handling of the claim, indeed, was a "succession of errors." But, we must conclude that Mr. Hornblower has failed to establish excusable neglect by SGI. "[G]ross negligence cannot constitute excusable neglect." Otero v. Gov't Employees Ins. Co., 606 So.2d 443, 444 (Fla. 2d DCA 1992).

Mr. Hornblower argues, unconvincingly, that Ms. Cobb knew that SGI would defend him and that it should have received notice of the default motion. The record does not support this position. SGI had the motion for default as well as the clerk's default, albeit after the fact, as early as September 23, 2003. SGI claims to have forwarded those materials to counsel but it provides no explanation of procedures in place to ensure receipt and prompt attention by its counsel. Thereafter, the default papers and other lawsuit-related documents remained unattended in SGI's file until after entry of the final judgment. Until entry of the final...