McGovern v. McGovern

Syllabus

The plaintiff appealed to this court from the judgment of the trial court dissolving his marriage to the defendant after the plaintiff and his counsel failed to appear for trial. The plaintiff's counsel had filed several motions on the day of the trial prior to the time trial was to start. After trial began, counsel filed a motion for a continuance in which she stated that she had suddenly become ill and could not proceed. The court denied the motion that day, stating that it had waited for counsel and her client for a reasonable amount of time before starting the proceeding and had not been informed of the motion for a continuance until well into the proceeding. The court dismissed the plaintiff's complaint and rendered judgment on the defendant's cross complaint. The court there- after denied the plaintiff's motion to reconsider its ruling on the request for a continuance and denied his motion to open the judgment. Held: 1. The trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying the plaintiff's motion for a continuance: the record revealed a pattern of violation by the plaintiff of deadlines set by the court, including his failure to file a financial affidavit and to comply with trial management orders, the financial affidavit he ultimately filed was wholly inadequate, and he only belatedly and partially complied with the trial management orders after the defendant filed a motion for sanctions; moreover, the court reason- ably could have considered the impact of the delay on the defendant, as the start date of the trial had been set six months previously and the dissolution action had been pending for more than one year, and, although sudden illness of a party's counsel could form a legitimate reason for a continuance, the plaintiff's motion was not filed until after the start of trial, and no reason was offered in the motion for the failure of the plaintiff himself to appear. 2. The plaintiff's claim that the trial court abused its discretion in denying his motio