Bailey v. Algonquin Gas Transmission Co.

In assessing the relative prejudice to the parties caused by the entry of the default judgment and the motion justice’s refusal to vacate same, there is one other equitable factor that, in my judgment, supports the motion justice’s discretionary ruling. In this case, the prejudice to Maguire caused by its own lawyer’s misconduct still could be alleviated if it is able to obtain contribution from one or more of the other defendants for any amount of the default judgment that it pays to the plaintiffs in excess of its pro-rata share of the plaintiffs’ damages. See G.L.1956 § 10-6-4 (“[a] joint…