Philadelphia Indemnity Insurance Company v. United Revolver Club of Sacramento, Inc. ( 2019 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 PHILADELPHIA INDEMNITY No. 2:18-cv-2960 KJM DB INSURANCE COMPANY, a Pennsylvania 12 corporation, 13 ORDER Plaintiff, 14 v. 15 UNITED REVOLVER CLUB OF 16 SACRAMENTO, INC., a California corporation, 17 18 Defendant. 19 20 On August 22, 2019, plaintiff filed a motion for default judgment. (ECF No. 14.) 21 Plaintiff’s motion is noticed for hearing before the undersigned on September 27, 2019, pursuant 22 to Local Rule 302(c)(19). Plaintiff’s motion notes that service of the motion on the defaulting 23 defendant “is not required” by the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. (Pl.’s MDJ (ECF No. 14) at 24 1.) And the motion for default judgment does not include proof of service. 25 It is true that service of a motion for default judgement on a defaulting party is not 26 required. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 55(b)(2) (requiring that written notice of an application for default 27 judgment be served upon the party against whom judgment is sought only if that party “has 28 appeared in the action”); Local Rule 135(d) (excusing parties from serving documents submitted 1 | to the court upon “parties held in default for failure to appear” unless a document asserts new or 2 | additional claims for relief against the defaulting parties). However, it is also true that a 3 | defendant’s “appearance need not necessarily be a formal one, i.e., one involving a submission or 4 | presentation to the court. In limited situations, informal contacts between the parties have 5 | sufficed when the party in default has thereby demonstrated a clear purpose to defend the suit.” 6 | Wilson v. Moore & Associates, Inc., 564 F.2d 366, 369 (9th Cir. 1977). Accordingly, out of an 7 | abundance of caution, it is the undersigned’s practice to request that a plaintiff seeking default 8 | judgment serve all defendants with notice of a motion for default judgment. 9 Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that: 10 1. The September 27, 2019 hearing of plaintiff’s motion for default judgment (ECF No. 11 14) is continued to November 1, 2019; 12 2. On or before October 11, 2019, plaintiff shall serve a copy of the motion for default 13 || judgment, and a copy of this order, on the defendant; and 14 3. On or before October 18, 2019, plaintiff shall file proof of such service. 15 Dated: September 24, 2019 16 17 18 .B ORAH BARNES UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 19 20 21 22 23 24 DB lorders\orders.civiliphiladelphia2960.conthrg 25 26 27 28