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Milestone Operating Inc. v. Exxonmobil Corp.

The court of appeals affirmed the trial court's denial of Milestone Operating Inc.'s motion for new trial, holding that Milestone failed to meet its burden to satisfy Craddock 's first element. Milestone alleged that Donald Harlan (director and registered agent) did not recall being served with the plaintiff's petition on March 19, 2009, even after reviewing his office notes and speaking to the people with whom he works about that day's events. Milestone's failure to answer was neither intentional nor the result of consciously indifferent conduct. The court of appeals' judgment is reversed and remanded. Texas Supreme Court, No. 11-0647, 10-26-2012.

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JUSTICE LEHRMANN did not participate in the decision.

In this case, we consider whether the defendants satisfied the first element of the Craddock test for setting aside a no-answer default judgment. See Craddock v. Sunshine Bus Lines, Inc., 133 S.W.2d 124, 126 (Tex. 1939) (requiring a new trial if the defendant shows (1) that the default was neither intentional nor the result of conscious indifference, (2) a meritorious defense, and (3) that a new trial would cause neither delay nor undue prejudice). Because the evidence in this case established that the defendants’ failure to answer was not intentional or the result of conscious indifference, the defendants’ motion for new trial could not be denied on the ground that the defendants failed to satisfy the first Craddock element. Accordingly, we reverse the court of appeals’ judgment and remand the case to that court.

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