O'Mara v. Gingrich’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

5 state decisions

Most-quoted passages

The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 5 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “After the default judgment has been set aside the posture of the case is simply this: No determination of the merits of the case has been made, no rights or duties of either party have been decided and after appropriate responsive pleading has been filed the case will be ready for trial. As was pointed out by this court in Diekmann v. Associates Discount Corp., 410 S.W.2d 695, 697 , there is no element of finality where the trial court sets aside the default judgment within thirty days after the judgment— or in pre-code days did so during the term in which default judgment was rendered. The net result has been a long line of cases holding that, that finality lacking, an order vacating a default judgment is not appealable. Crossland v. Admire, 118 Mo. 87 , 24 S.W. 154 ; Holder v. Chidister, Mo., 193 S.W. 568 ; Carter v. Levy, Mo.App., 217 S.W. 549 ; Owens v. Owens, Mo.App., 280 S.W.2d 867 ; Kallash v. Kuelker, Mo.App., 347 S.W.2d 467 ; Harper v. Harper, Mo.App., 379 S.W.2d 889 ; Steffan v. Steffan, Mo. App. 390 S.W.2d 587 . As was so graphically put in Diekmann v. Associates Discount Corp., supra, ‘During this incubation period a default judgment is within the breast of the court; and because it has not become final, setting it aside is a discretionary act from which no appeal lies.’ Long ago, the Supreme Court said, with respect to an order vacating a default judgment, ‘The motion then was to set aside the judgment, and not for a new trial, and the court was not required to g”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Mid-States Tubulars, Inc. v. Maverick Tube Corp.