Shenzhen Long King Logistics Co., Ltd v. Hop Wo Int'l Trading, Inc
- Valerie Caproni
- 1:22-cv-10682
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Shenzhen Long King v. Hop Wo, Judge Caproni denied default judgment and ordered the default certificates vacated.
Shenzhen Long King Logistics Co., Ltd., Hop Wo Int’l Trading, Inc., and Yaohua Li; the ruling denied default judgment, vacated the certificates of default, and set deadlines for the defendants’ answer and the initial pretrial conference.
What happened
Shenzhen Long King Logistics Co., Ltd. sued Hop Wo Int’l Trading, Inc. and Yaohua Li. After the defendants failed to answer on time, the plaintiff sought a judgment based on that failure, and the defendants responded to the motion.
The court found that the delay was not intentional, the defendants had potentially valid defenses, and denying default judgment would not harm the plaintiff. The court also accepted Yaohua Li’s English affidavit but required future English affidavits from him to include documentation addressing his limited ability to read English.
Judge Valerie E. Caproni denied the plaintiff’s motion for default judgment and directed the Clerk to vacate the certificates of default. The defendants’ answer was due March 16, 2023, and the parties were ordered to attend an initial pretrial conference on March 24, 2023.
The detailed version
- Shenzhen Long King Logistics Co., Ltd v. Hop Wo Int'l Trading, Inc · No. 1:22-cv-10682
- Valerie Caproni
- Mar. 9, 2023
Background
Shenzhen Long King Logistics Co., Ltd. sought a default judgment against Hop Wo Int’l Trading, Inc. and Yaohua Li. A default judgment is a judgment entered because a defendant did not timely respond. The defendants moved to vacate the Clerk’s certificates of default and opposed the plaintiff’s motion for default judgment.
Court’s reasoning
The court stated that courts strongly prefer resolving disputes on their merits and generally disfavor default judgments. It found that the defendants had timely responded to the default-judgment motion, showed that their delay in answering was not willful, and identified possibly meritorious defenses. The court also found that the plaintiff would not be prejudiced if default judgment were denied.
The court accepted an English-language affidavit from Yaohua Li even though he stated that he did not speak, read, or write English fluently. The court directed that future English-language affidavits from Li be accompanied by appropriate documentation, such as a certified translation of the declaration or an affidavit from the translator, establishing that he understood what he signed.
Ruling and next steps
Judge Valerie E. Caproni denied the plaintiff’s motion for default judgment. The Clerk was directed to vacate the certificates of default at Docket Entries 18 and 19 and terminate the open default-judgment motion at Docket Entry 22. The defendants’ answer was due March 16, 2023. The parties were ordered to appear for an initial pretrial conference on March 24, 2023, and their pre-conference submissions were due March 16, 2023.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.