G&G Closed Circuit Events, LLC v. Pacheco

Background

Judge Lorna G. Schofield had granted a default judgment against the defendants by an order dated September 17, 2020, and referred the case to Magistrate Judge Robert W. Lehrburger for an inquest concerning the plaintiff’s damages. This September 18 order sets the procedures and deadlines for that inquest. The opinion does not state the underlying legal claims, the amount of damages, or the amount of any other monetary relief sought.

Required Plaintiff Submission

The plaintiff had to serve the defendants and file proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law concerning all damages and other monetary relief permitted under the default judgment by October 30, 2020. The filing had to include a concluding paragraph stating the exact dollar amount or other monetary relief requested.

The proposed findings had to connect the requested damages to the legal claims on which liability had been established and explain how the plaintiff calculated the proposed amount. The plaintiff also had to support the findings with one or more affidavits, which could include documentary evidence. Each proposed finding had to cite the supporting affidavit paragraph or document page. Any allegations about liability had to cite the appropriate complaint paragraph.

The plaintiff’s submission also had to include an affidavit from a person with personal knowledge addressing facts establishing personal jurisdiction over the defendants and subject-matter jurisdiction over the case.

Attorney Fees and Legal Memorandum

Any request for attorney fees had to include contemporaneous time records identifying, for each attorney, the service date, hours worked, and work performed. Counsel also had to provide the attorneys’ years of bar admission, hourly rates, and information supporting the reasonableness of those rates. The legal conclusions had to explain the legal basis for any fee award, including why the attorneys involved were entitled to fees. Instead of conclusions of law, the plaintiff could submit a legal memorandum explaining the principles applicable to damages, interest, and attorney fees.

Defendants’ Response and Possible Hearing

The defendants were required to send any response to the plaintiff’s counsel and file it with the court by November 27, 2020. The court stated that it might conduct the damages inquest based only on written submissions. A party seeking an evidentiary hearing had to explain why written submissions were insufficient and describe the witnesses and evidence that would be presented.

Service and Disposition

Service had to use the method previously used and approved by Judge Schofield. If no method had previously been approved, the plaintiff had to serve the defendants by certified mail at their last known address and by email at their last known email address, if any. The order also required courtesy copies of court filings to be sent or delivered to Judge Lehrburger.

The order did not itself determine a damages amount or award attorney fees. It established the process for deciding those issues after the prior default judgment.