WPC] 4Vj 0(yw@ 0J 0T3 0^ 0h 0rM 0| 0; 0 1uQ 0d UB* %l U6r U> B) DC AMR U*  v~ BUvr D3E 0@x AO 0D D/ B@H$3|x($ DDDDUӀU2 0Indent123  2" 0Indent20 23  2, 0Indent30 0 23  26 0Indent40 0 0 23  2@ 0Indent50 0 0 0 23  2J 0Indent60 0 0 0 0 23  2T 0Indent70 0 0 0 0 0 23  2^ 0Indent80 0 0 0 0 0 0 23    ?AGMSYaioIndent0I.A.1.a.(1)(a)i)a)P 8Mac DefaultMac Default ` X<6X9`(*Courier 12pt10cpiX<  9p`(Courier New<  9p`(&Times New Roman% Line 7 d7Border 1dd- C << G<  9p`(Arial  !  #d#  ""   YYY FILED"XAugust5,1998CecilW.CrowsonAppellateCourtClerk  PtPtHH(FG(HH(d'h dStyl{WP}01  HH  2$HH  Geneva  <Px443!#4$*$$*$ KK  Geneva  Geneva .,6 Geneva   h HD: Geneva  h HD: Geneva %%%%'dxd("$    -C<< CLevel 1Level 2Level 3Level 4Level 5($$   1  ' dxdP Pd ! .         \RA'\7-XXdd7R!# A1-j|`  `@R BROOKRIDGEAPARTMENTS,LTD., )      ) PlaintiffAppellant,   )      )v.      )AppealNo.      )01A019709CV00523UNIVERSALCONSTRUCTORS,INC.,)BADGERBOGLEARCHITECTS,P.C.,)DavidsonCircuitBOYDBOGLE,III,andGEORGE )No.90C2821VOLAK,     )      ) DefendantsAppellees.  )@ INTHECOURTOFAPPEALSOFTENNESSEE@ ATNASHVILLE APPEALEDFROMTHETHIRDCIRCUITCOURTFORDAVIDSONCOUNTYATNASHVILLE,TENNESSEETHEHONORABLEBARBARAHAYNES,JUDGEJOHNH.ROWLANDandSCOTTD.CAREY,BAKERDONELSON,BEARMAN&CALDWELLAProfessionalCorporation1700NashvilleCityCenter511UnionStreetNashville,Tennessee37219 ForPlaintiffAppellant.DARRELLG.TOWNSENDandDERRICKC.SMITHHOWELL&FISHER,PLLCCourtSquareBuilding300JamesRobertsonParkwayNashville,Tennessee372011107 ForDefendantAppelleeUniversalConstructors,Inc.JOHNW.HEACOCK2100FirstUnionTower150FourthAvenue,NorthNashville,Tennessee37219 ForDefendantAppelleeBadgerBogleArchitects,P.C.,BoydBogle,III,andGeorgeVolak.̜@ AFFIRMEDANDREMANDED ̜       HERSCHELP.FRANKS,JUDGE CONCUR:GODDARD,P.J.McMURRAY,J.ӛ  PlaintiffappealstothisCourtontherefusalbytheTrialJudgetograntplaintiffreliefpursuanttoTennesseeRulesofProcedure,60.02(1).TheunderlyingactionwasdismissedonJuly23,1996bytheTrialJudge forwantofprosecution.OnJuly18,1997,plaintifffiledamotiontosetasidethejudgmentpursuanttoRule60,T.R.C.P.onthegroundthejudgmentwasenteredbecauseofmistake,inadvertence,andexcusableneglect.Themotionexplainedthattheplaintiffs formercounselWilliamJ.Hart,didnotreceivenoticefromtheCourtthatthecasewouldbedismissedforlackofprosecutionpursuanttolocalRule37.02.  Bywayofbackground,theoriginalactionwasfiledonAugust20,1990.OnAugust22,1994,anorderwasenteredtoeithersetthecasefortrialorobtainpermissiontobeexemptfromtheCourtslocal oneyearrule.𛀀OnSeptember22,1994,attorneyWilliamJ.Hart,attorneyofrecordfortheplaintiff,filedamotionforanexemptionandanorderofexemptionwasenteredonNovember8,1994.OnOctober27,1995,theClerkagainmailedanoticetotheattorneysforthepartiesthatthecasemustbesentfortrialorapplicationmustbemadeforanexemptionfromthelocalRule.OnNovember17,1995,attorneyGeorgeM.AllenfiledamotiononbehalfoftheplaintiffforanexemptionfromthelocalRule.TheϜmotionwasnotacteduponandonJuly23,1996,thecasewasordereddismissedbytheTrialJudgeforfailuretocomplywiththelocalRulesofCourt.  OnJuly18,1997,plaintifffiledamotiontosubstitutethelawfirmofBaker,Donelson,BearmanandCaldwellforattorneyWilliamJ.Hart,ascounselofrecordinthecase,andalsofiledthemotiontosetasidethejudgment.ThemotionappendedtheaffidavitofGeorgeM.Allen,whostatedthathewasattorneyandthatWilliamJ.Harthadsoughthishelpinthecase,sinceHartwasleavingthepracticeoflawandmovingtoTexas.HereiteratedthathefiledamotiononbehalfoftheplaintiffonDecember1,1995,movingforanexemptionfromtheoneyearrule.Hefurtherstatedthathedidnotformallyenteranappearanceonbehalfoftheplaintiff,thatnoactionwastakenonhismotions,andthathefirstlearnedthatthecasehadbeendismissedonSeptember10,1996fromaphonecallfromWilliamJ.HartwhohadreceivedastatementofcostsonSeptember6,1996,fromtheDavidsonCountyClerksoffice.TheaffidavitofWilliamJ.HartwasalsoattachedwhereinhestatedhehadpracticedlawinTennesseefrom1992,until1994,andwasanattorneyofrecordfortheplaintiffintheoriginalcase.Hefurtherstatedthatin1995hemovedtoTexasand soughtGeorgeM.Allenshelpinthiscase.HethenreiteratedthathereceivedastatementofcostsinthecaseonSeptember6,1996,calledtheClerkandforthefirsttimelearnedithadbeendismissedonJuly23,1996forlackofprosecution.Hedeniedreceivinganynoticeofimpendingdismissalforlackofprosecution,andconcludedthathewasnolongerpracticinglaw.  Plaintiffforciblyinsiststhattheneglectofitsformercounselshouldbecharacterizedas excusableneglectwithinthemeaningoftheRule,andreliesonCampbellv.Archer,555S.W.2d110(Tenn.1977).ReliefinArcherwasgrantedinresponsetoaRule59,T.R.C.P.motion.Rule60,providesaproceduretobeemployedwhenajudgmenthasbecomefinalandreliefunderthatRuleisextraordinaryinnature.SeeBivinsv.HospitalCorp.ofAmerica,910S.W.2d441(Tenn.App.1995).UnderthisRule,thepartyseekingreliefbearsaheavyburdenofdemonstratingthattheyareentitledtorelief,andwhileinsomelimitedcircumstancesnegligenceofthepartiescounselhasbeenfoundtobeexcusableneglect,itisgenerallyheldthatnegligenceofcounselmaynotbecharacterizedasexcusableneglect.SeeFirstNationalBankofPolkCountyv.Gross,912S.W.2d147(Tenn.App.1995);Kilbyv.Sivley,745S.W.2d284(Tenn.App.1987);Fielderv.LakesiteEnterprises,Inc.,871S.W.2d157(Tenn.App.1993).Indeed,ourSupremeCourthassaid carelessnessisnotsynonymouswithanexcusableneglect,FoodLionInc.,v.WashingtonCountyBeerBoard,700S.W.2d893(Tenn.1985).  Intheunderlyingcase,itisbeyonddisputethatplaintiffsattorneyofrecordleftthejurisdictionwithoutproperlyarrangingforsubstitutecounsel.Thedismissalofthiscasewastheresultofplaintiffsattorneysfailuretoproperlyrepresenthisclient.This,inourview,isnotexcusableneglect.TheSixthCircuitCourtofAppealsinTheUnitedStatesofAmericav.$100,375.00inU.S.Currency,70F.3d438(1995),quotedfromoneofitsfellowcircuits,whichwealsoquotewithapproval:0 0 Ifthelawyersneglectprotectedtheclientfromallillconsequences,neglectwouldbecomealltoocommon.Itwouldbeafreegoodtheneglectwouldprotecttheclient,andbecausetheclientcouldnotsufferthelawyerwouldnotsuffereither.15F.3d634.  WeholdthattheneglectofplaintiffscounselisnotexcusableneglectwithinthemeaningofRule60,andwefindthattheTrialJudgedidnotabuseherdiscretioninrefusingtoreinstatementthiscasewhichhadlanguishedonthedocketforseveralyears.  Wehaveconsideredtheremainingissuesandfindthemtobewithoutmerit,andremandthecasetotheTrialCourtwithcostoftheappealassessedtotheappellant.Ӝ@        __________________________      HerschelP.Franks,J.̜CONCUR:̜___________________________HoustonM.Goddard,P.J.̜___________________________DonT.McMurray,J.