Henderson v. Quadramed Corp.

The trial court did not abuse its discretion in granting the defendant's motion to open default where the defendant moved to open default no more than two weeks after expiration of the time period for opening default as a matter of right and the defendant gave a reasonable excuse for not filing its answer on time.

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Willie Preston, individually, and Sadie Henderson, individually and as administratrix of the estate of Celeste Henderson, sued numerous medical entities for malpractice, wrongful death, and fraud related to the infant Celeste Henderson’s death. The plaintiffs alleged in their complaint filed November 13, 2000, that Quadramed Corporation committed fraud and breached their fiduciary and private duties to the plaintiffs by intentionally withholding medical records that revealed the names of certain medical practitioners. On November 14, 2000, CT Corporation was served as Quadramed’s registered agent for service of process, and forwarded the complaint to the company. The company failed to answer within 30 days, and also failed to reopen the default as of right within the next 15 days. On January 10, 2001, Quadramed paid costs, filed an answer, and moved to open the default. The trial court granted the motion, and granted plaintiffs a certificate of immediate review. This court subsequently granted plaintiffs’ application for interlocutory review. Finding no error, we affirm the trial court’s order opening Quadramed’s default.

1. Plaintiffs argue that the trial court erred in finding that Quadramed established a meritorious defense, one of the four conditions that must be satisfied initially. A defendant seeking to open a default must also make a showing of the meritorious defense under oath, offer to plead instanter, and announce ready to proceed with trial. OCGA § 9-11-55 b; McCombs v. Synthes , 250 Ga. App. 543, 546-547 2 553 SE2d 17 2001. If and only if those four conditions are met may the trial court open the default on one of three grounds: that the pleadings were not filed due to providential cause; that they were not filed due to excusable neglect; or that a proper case has been made considering all the circumstances. Id. Once the required four conditions have been met, whether to open a default lies within the trial court’s sound discretion, which we review only for abuse. Id.

Henderson v. Quadramed Corp.

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