Park v. American Casualty Insurance

I concur that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in refusing to set aside the default judgment. Defense counsel provided no reasonable excuse for failing to appear on the scheduled trial date; counsel should have ascertained the trial date from the transferred file. Contrary to Judge Schmucker’s dissent, the default was not an unwarranted sanction because defense counsel also missed the earlier scheduling conference, although he had an order with that pertinent date.

Nonetheless, this Court should set aside the arbitration award. The issue regarding arbitration, one not addressed so…