Amco Builders & Developers, Inc v. Team Ace Joint Venture

I agree with the majority that the trial court’s decision to deny defendant’s motion to set aside the default judgment was not an abuse of discretion and, thus, the judgment of the Court of Appeals should be reversed. However, I conclude that, in civil cases, abandonment satisfies the “good cause” requirement to set aside a default judgment only when principles of agency would avoid imputation of the attorney’s negligent omissions to the client.1

I

As an initial matter, I do not believe that White v Sadler, 350 Mich 511; 87 NW2d 192 (1957), recognized abandonment, in and of itself, as a ground…