Defendant fails to answer the complaint on time, so plaintiff seizes the moment and obtains default judgment. A party does not understand a notice of hearing, fails to attend, and the court enters a final order in the opponent’s favor. These and similar scenarios happen regularly in North Carolina courts, and afterward the most common argument for relief from the judgment is “excusable neglect.” Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b) allows relief from a “final judgment, order, or proceeding” on this basis. But just what does excusable neglect mean?
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Tag: meritorious defense