Adams v. Lawson

*688OPINION

By the Court,

Thompson, C. J.:

The district court denied the defendants’ Rule 60(b)(1) motion to set aside a default judgment entered against them.1 This appeal is from that ruling. The motion was timely made in good faith and tendered a meritorious defense. The validity of the discretionary order turns upon whether the failure of defense counsel to appear in time was an inadvertence falling within the protection of the rule. We hold that the district court exceeded the permissible limits of its discretion in precluding a trial on the merits, and reverse.

The surest path to justice is a…