Judge: Armen Tamzarian, Case: 25STCV00947, Date: 2025-03-19 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: 25STCV00947    Hearing Date: March 19, 2025    Dept: 52

Non-Appearance Case Review Re: Default Judgment

            Plaintiff 6340 Hollywood Associates, LLC requests court judgment by default against defendant Kenji Morinaga.  Plaintiff establishes it is entitled to default judgment, but its application for default judgment has three defects.

1. Doe Defendants

            Plaintiff did not request dismissal of defendants Does 1-10.  A request for default judgment must include “[a] dismissal of all parties against whom judgment is not sought or an application for separate judgment against specified parties under Code of Civil Procedure section 579, supported by a showing of grounds for each judgment.”  (Cal. Rules of Court, rule 3.1800(a)(7).) 

2. Attorney Fees

            Plaintiff seeks excessive attorney fees.  Attorney fees for a default judgment are generally limited to a specified schedule based on the amount of damages.  (Local Rules 3.207(a), 3.214(a).)  A plaintiff may recover “a fee greater than listed in the [default] schedule because of extraordinary services.”  (3.214(d).)  Plaintiff seeks $6,132 in attorney fees.  That is greater than the schedule, which provides for attorney fees of “$2,890 plus 1% of the excess over $100,000.”  (Rule 3.214(a).)  With damages of $100,585.99, plaintiff may recover attorney fees of $2,895.86.  Plaintiff has not shown extraordinary services to justify greater fees.

3. Proposed Judgment

            Plaintiff’s proposed judgment has two errors.  First, it includes $626.68 in costs (form UD-110, § 6.a(4)), which plaintiff did not include in the request for entry of default judgment on form CIV-100 (§ 2.d).  To recover those costs, plaintiff must request them in the CIV-100.  Second, plaintiff erroneously filled out part of section 6.b., which provides for a prevailing defendant to recover costs from an unsuccessful plaintiff.  That portion should be blank.

Disposition

Plaintiff’s request for court judgment by default is denied without prejudice.  The court hereby sets an order to show cause re: default judgment April 1, 2025, at 8:30 a.m.