No Excuse for Neglect
“A victory is twice itself when the achiever brings home full numbers.”
Much Ado About Nothing, I,1; Leonato to a messenger
Sometimes, after all the struggle and striving, we get to celebrate a victory.
Last week the Tennessee Court of Appeals ruled in favor of my client on appeal, the Appellee/Plaintiff, in an appeal concerning a motion to set aside a default judgment. In Roland Brown v. HDR Logistics, LLC, Plaintiff Brown sued Defendant HDR logistics after sustaining injuries when an employee’s tractor-trailer collided with the Plaintiff’s tractor-trailer. Plaintiff obtained a default judgment for $750,000 in the trial court after HDR failed to respond to the complaint, which had been served on their registered agent. HDR filed a motion to set aside the default judgment, which the trial court denied. HDR then appealed, arguing excusable neglect, claiming that even though their registered agent had been served, they never received notice of the lawsuit.
The Court of Appeals affirmed the judgment of the Trial Court, holding that “there is no point in a company having a designated agent for service of process if litigants cannot count on that agent as a means for serving process on the company.” Notice to your agent for process is notice under the law.
Read the full opinion here: Roland Brown v. HDR Logistics LLC Opinion (unsigned).pdf
