In the Matter of Herald J.A. Alexander

Summary

The Court held that the Special Master abused his discretion by granting default against Alexander after he timely attempted to file his answer on the Court’s docket and promptly corrected the filing error through the State Bar’s system. The Court emphasized the disciplinary process’s preference for deciding matters on their merits and concluded that Alexander was not automatically in default. It vacated the default order and the resulting report and recommendation and remanded for a merits hearing and new recommendation.