Sepulveda v. Taqueria y Carniceria Martinez LLC

Background

The Clerk of Court had entered default against Taqueria y Carniceria Martinez LLC and the other defendants. The court issued a notice about the procedure for any motion seeking default judgment under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 55(b)(2).

Required Filing

Any default judgment motion had to be filed by July 24, 2023. Requests for more time had to comply with Civil Local Rule 6-3. The motion also had to comply with Civil Local Rule 7-2 and follow the structure in Attachment A.

The notice instructed the moving party to address:

- the requested relief and the case’s factual and procedural background; - subject-matter jurisdiction, personal jurisdiction, and adequate service of process; - each factor identified in Eitel v. McCool for deciding whether default judgment is appropriate; and - the requested damages, attorney’s fees, and costs.

The notice explained that, at the default judgment stage, well-pleaded factual allegations other than those concerning damages are generally treated as admitted. It also stated that legal conclusions and facts that were not adequately pleaded are not established by default, and that the requested judgment cannot differ in kind from, or exceed in amount, the relief demanded in the pleadings.

For damages, the proposed findings had to provide legal authority supporting entitlement to the damages and evidence supporting the amount. Requests for attorney’s fees had to include supporting time records, information justifying billing rates, evidence that the rates were consistent with community rates, and evidence that the hours were reasonable. Requests for costs had to include supporting evidence and legal authority.

If No Opposition Is Filed

If no opposition were filed by the deadline under Civil Local Rule 7-3(a), the moving party would instead have to file proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law by the reply deadline under Rule 7-3(c). The proposed findings also had to be emailed in Microsoft Word format to the court’s listed email address. No chambers copies were required.

Disposition

This document was a procedural notice and did not decide a motion for default judgment. Magistrate Judge Lisa J. Cisneros ordered the plaintiff to serve the notice on all other parties and file proof of service. The notice did not grant or deny default judgment and did not specify any judgment amount.