Akhavuz v. Moody

¶1 At issue is an order vacating a default judgment almost a year after it was entered. The motion to vacate should have been denied because the insurer and defense counsel who failed to respond to the complaint offered no excuse for the long delay. There is no “innocent *529insured” doctrine that allows an insurer to escape responsibility by keeping its insured unaware that the matter is being neglected.

BACKGROUND

¶2 Studio Seven, a heavy metal nightclub in Seattle, held a party on Halloween night in 2010. Appellant Dana Akhavuz claims she attended the party at Studio Seven and slipped and fell…