The defendant refused the disclosure order. We got an order to show cause and a court date for this. Suddenly, the defendant has hired a lawyer and the lawyer has filed a motion to vacate default judgement. We have went through all the correct processes including hiring servers to serve his summons, etc. We are wondering what his chances are, and what we will need to do during this. MINNESOTA
You leave a lot unsaid here, but the most common grounds presented on a motion to obtain relief from a default judgment are “
Mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect” as found in the Minnesota Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 60.02(a) (Minnesota's rules having been adopted virtually verbatim from the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.)
But how could you expect to receive helpful advice as to “
what we will need to do” where you have provided nothing of the circumstances resulting in the court entering default against the defendant and we know nothing of the basis of the of the defendant’s Rule 60.2 motion?
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However, as to the Order of Disclosure.
The filing of the application to vacate the default does not, per se, suspend the operation of that order. As Rule 60.02 (b) specifically states:
"A Rule 60.02 motion does not affect the finality of a judgment of suspend its operation."
Meaning:
1. You may still move for an order compelling the defendant to response.
2. You are permitted to continue to attempt to enforce the judgment by writ of execution, garnishment, etc.
Also, be aware that the courts lean heavily in favor of having legal disputes resolved based upon their respective merits rather than by default. So if the court finds some plausible explanation as to why the defendant failed to timely appear and defend, you might be wasting time trying to learn “
what we will need to do” because it might be nothing.