Bizarre Academia, LLC v. Wolf

Background

Bizarre Academia, LLC filed its complaint against Noah Wolf in June 2024. In October 2024, the plaintiff completed international service of the complaint on Wolf at his address in Germany through the Hague Convention. Wolf did not respond by the deadline, so the plaintiff requested entry of default on February 21, 2025. The Clerk entered default on February 27, 2025.

The next day, the court received Wolf’s answer. Wolf had mailed the answer on February 25, 2025—two days before the Clerk entered default.

Motion to Set Aside Default

Wolf moved under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 55(c) to set aside the entry of default. He stated that he had taken steps to respond before default was entered, including mailing his answer and notifying the plaintiff’s counsel. He also argued that he had a meritorious defense, that setting aside default would not prejudice Bizarre Academia because the case was at an early stage, and that the plaintiff had not moved for default judgment.

Bizarre Academia filed a statement saying that it sought to resolve the case on its merits. The court treated the plaintiff as not opposing Wolf’s showing of good cause.

Ruling

Judge Haywood S. Gilliam, Jr. granted Wolf’s motion to set aside default. The court relied on Wolf’s efforts to respond before default was entered and Bizarre Academia’s lack of opposition to his showing of good cause. The court ordered that Wolf’s answer be deemed properly filed and entered into the record.

The court also set a case management conference for April 15, 2025, at 2:00 p.m., and directed the parties to submit a joint case management statement by April 8, 2025, or separate statements if they could not file jointly.