Goings v. Baldwin ( 2021 )

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS FREDRICK GOINGS, ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) vs. ) Case No. 3:19-cv-00212-SMY ) KENT E. BROOKMAN, et al., ) ) Defendants. ) ORDER This matter is before the Court on Defendant David Childers’s Amended Motion to Set Aside Default. (Doc. 88). Childers was served with a Summons and his responsive pleading was due by December 22, 2020. (Doc. 62). He failed to move, answer, or otherwise plead in response to the First Amended Complaint by that deadline. Consequently, a Clerk’s Entry of Default was docketed on March 4, 2021. (Doc. 73). Childers filed a Motion to Set Aside Default on May 6, 2021 (Doc. 84). The motion was denied without prejudice on May 17, 2021 and Childers was granted leave to file an amended motion on or before June 7, 2021 (Doc. 87). Childers filed an Amended Motion to Set Aside Default on June 4, 2021. (Doc. 88). Plaintiff has not filed a response and the time for doing so has expired. “A party seeking to vacate an entry of default prior to the entry of judgment must show: (1) good cause for the default; (2) quick action to correct it; and (3) a meritorious defense to the complaint.” Cracco v. Vitran Express, Inc., 559 F.3d 625, 630–31 (7th Cir.2009) (citations omitted); Fed. R. Civ. P. 55(c). Childers, who recently retired from the Illinois Department of Corrections, alleges he did not know he needed to request representation by the Attorney General’s Office. Once he was made aware of the issue, he took quick action to correct the default. Based on these allegations and this Court’s preference for adjudication on the merits, the Court finds Defendant Childers has satisfied the requirements to have the default entry vacated. Accordingly, Defendant Childers’s Amended Motion to Set Aside Default (Doc. 88) is GRANTED and the Clerk’s Entry of Default (Doc. 73) is VACATED. Defendant Childers shall file a responsive pleading within 7 days of the date of this Order. IT IS SO ORDERED. DATED: July 12, 2021 s/ Staci M. Yandle_________ STACI M. YANDLE United States District Judge