(JOPLIN, Mo., AP) — The president of Joplin’s former master development firm wants a judge to set aside the $1.475 million default judgment against the firm.

The Joplin Globe reports (http://bit.ly/1NoHprb ) that lawyers for Costa Bajjali of Wallace Bajjali Development Partners of Sugar Land, Texas, filed the motion in Jasper County this week. The firm was hired to help Joplin rebuild after the 2011 tornado that destroyed much of the southwest Missouri city and killed 161 people.

A judge in May granted the default judgment, which is one when there’s no response to a lawsuit.

But the new motion from Bajjali says state law allows default judgments to be set aside for good cause, and contends the firm didn’t oppose the lawsuit because they weren’t legally served notice of the lawsuit being filed.

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Information from: The Joplin (Mo.) Globe, http://www.joplinglobe.com