Poorsina v. Tseng
- Vince Chhabria
- 3:20-cv-09122
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 2
In Poorsina v. Tseng, Magistrate Judge Tse denied Poorsina’s default-judgment motion without prejudice because the clerk had not entered default.
Ali Poorsina’s request for default judgment against the defendants was denied without prejudice; the underlying claims were not decided.
What happened
In Poorsina v. Tseng, Ali Poorsina asked for a default judgment against all defendants. The court said federal rules require a clerk’s entry of default before a party can seek a default judgment.
Poorsina claimed that the clerk had entered default on June 1, 2021. The docket showed that he had not requested or obtained an entry of default, so the motion was not properly before the court.
Magistrate Judge Alex G. Tse denied the motion without prejudice. The order did not decide the underlying claims.
The detailed version
- Poorsina v. Tseng · No. 3:20-cv-09122
- Vince Chhabria
- July 8, 2021
Background
Ali Poorsina, who was representing himself, moved for default judgment against all defendants. He stated that the clerk had entered default under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 55(a) on June 1, 2021.
Court’s reasoning
The court explained that obtaining a default judgment requires two steps: first, the clerk must enter the defendant’s default under Rule 55(a); second, the party may move for a default judgment under Rule 55(b). A motion for default judgment is improper when the clerk has not entered default.
The docket showed that Poorsina had not requested or obtained an entry of default from the clerk. The court therefore concluded that his motion was not properly before it.
Ruling
The court denied Poorsina’s motion for default judgment without prejudice. The order did not address the merits of the underlying claims. Judge Alex G. Tse also referred Poorsina to court resources for people representing themselves and to the court’s Legal Help Center.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.