Jerry Wayne Cole v. Alexander Allen Wutzke

OPINION

GILDEA, Chief Justice.

The question presented in this case is whether counsel’s mistake about the applicability of a procedural rule is sufficient, by itself, to deny relief under Minn, R. Civ. P. ,60.02. The district court denied respondent Jerry Wayne Cole’s Rule 60.02 motion concluding that Cole’s counsel’s admitted “ignorance of the law” could not constitute “excusable neglect” under the rule. The court of appeals reversed and concluded that Cole was, entitled to relief under Rule 60.02. Cole v. Wutzke, 868 N.W.2d 925, 928-30 (Minn.App.2015). Because we conclude that the district…