{"id":897727,"date":"2020-07-21T10:24:02","date_gmt":"2020-07-21T16:24:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?p=897727"},"modified":"2020-07-21T10:24:05","modified_gmt":"2020-07-21T16:24:05","slug":"default-judgment-virgini","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/default-judgment-virgini\/","title":{"rendered":"Sometimes You Get Away with Default (but don\u2019t count on it)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Christopher G. Hill | <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/constructionlawva.com\/sometimes-you-get-away-with-default-but-dont-count-on-it\/?utm_source=feedburner&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ConstructionLawMusings-RichmondVa+%28Construction+Law+Musings-+Richmond%2C+VA%29\" target=\"_blank\">Construction Law Musings<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As an almost universal rule here in Virginia, failing to show up for court or respond to a lawsuit\u00a0is a bad idea.\u00a0 Consequences include <a href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/coyness-is-nice-not-when-seeking-default-judgment\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">default judgment<\/a> against you without the right to defend or make your case.\u00a0 Courts simply enter judgment and the consequences of that judgment will follow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, and as is often the case around here, there are small exceptions where the courts of Virginia allow the defaulting party off the hook.\u00a0\u00a0Sullivan Mechanical Contractors, Inc. v. KBE Building Corporation\u00a0is just such a case.\u00a0\u00a0In Sullivan Mechanical, the Federal District Court for the Western District of Virginia was faced with a Motion to Vacate Default Judgment from KBE.\u00a0 The facts are laid out in the opinion, but basically come down to the usual subcontractor not paid by the general contractor and general contractor has reasons for non-payment.\u00a0 Subcontractor, Sullivan Mechanical, sued KBE and KBE failed to respond in a timely manner.\u00a0 One day after the deadline for response had passed, Sullivan moved for entry of default and the clerk entered the default that same day.\u00a0 KBE moved to vacate the default a mere 6 days after entry of default.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Court granted the motion to vacate the default looking at several factors, including prejudice to Sullivan Mechanical, timeliness of the motion to vacate the default, the responsibleness or lack thereof of KBE\u2019s actions, the availability of lesser sanctions, and, importantly, the availability of a meritorious defense to the claim.&nbsp; On this last point, the Court stated:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>In the context of a defendant\u2019s motion to set aside the entry of default or default judgment, a meritorious defense will be established if the defendant proffers evidence that, if believed, would permit the court to find for the prevailing party. The court finds that KBE has met the requisite showing for purposes of setting aside entry of default. KBE has identified Sullivan\u2019s numerous specific breaches of the subcontract. Accordingly, the court finds this factor weighs in favor of vacating entry of default.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>In short, the Court determined that KBE was not negligent, acted responsibly, and had a meritorious defense so the default would be vacated and the case could move forward.&nbsp; However, KBE did not get off scot-free.&nbsp; The Court awarded Sullivan Mechanical its fees and costs incurred in obtaining the default and defending the motion to vacate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Regardless of the \u201cgood\u201d outcome for KBE, its failure to timely reply to the lawsuit cost it attorney fees and required it to scramble to convince a court that it should be allowed to reply late.\u00a0 It would have been much easier to simply hire an\u00a0experienced construction lawyer, respond on time, and avoid the risk.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Christopher G. Hill | Construction Law Musings As an almost universal rule here in Virginia, failing to show up for court or respond to a lawsuit\u00a0is a bad idea.\u00a0 Consequences include default judgment against you without the right to defend or make your case.\u00a0 Courts simply enter judgment and the consequences of that judgment will&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/default-judgment-virgini\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Sometimes You Get Away with Default (but don\u2019t count on it)<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[172],"tags":[9895,11231,357],"class_list":["post-897727","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-construction-law-2","tag-advise-consult","tag-default-judgment","tag-virginia","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Sometimes You Get Away with Default (but don\u2019t count on it) - Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"failing to show up for court or respond to a lawsuit is a bad idea. Consequences include default judgment without the right to defend or make your case\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/default-judgment-virgini\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sometimes You Get Away with Default (but don\u2019t count on it) - Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"failing to show up for court or respond to a lawsuit is a bad idea. Consequences include default judgment without the right to defend or make your case\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/default-judgment-virgini\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Advise-Consult-Inc-126949043996790\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-07-21T16:24:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-07-21T16:24:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@adviseconsult\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@adviseconsult\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/default-judgment-virgini\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/default-judgment-virgini\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0a11abe008083d5fb19c2b0feefe7bd7\"},\"headline\":\"Sometimes You Get Away with Default (but don\u2019t count on it)\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-07-21T16:24:02+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-07-21T16:24:05+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/default-judgment-virgini\/\"},\"wordCount\":468,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Advise &amp; Consult\",\"Default Judgment\",\"Virginia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Construction Law\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/default-judgment-virgini\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/default-judgment-virgini\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/default-judgment-virgini\/\",\"name\":\"Sometimes You Get Away with Default (but don\u2019t count on it) - Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2020-07-21T16:24:02+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-07-21T16:24:05+00:00\",\"description\":\"failing to show up for court or respond to a lawsuit is a bad idea. Consequences include default judgment without the right to defend or make your case\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/default-judgment-virgini\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.\",\"description\":\"Construction Expert Witnesses\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Advise & Consult\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/AC-Red-Logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/AC-Red-Logo.png\",\"width\":162,\"height\":75,\"caption\":\"Advise & Consult\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Advise-Consult-Inc-126949043996790\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/adviseconsult\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company-beta\/204526\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/MrConstructionExpert\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0a11abe008083d5fb19c2b0feefe7bd7\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b01e71b7acadd7657af782b7ad1a30cc?s=96&d=mm&r=pg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b01e71b7acadd7657af782b7ad1a30cc?s=96&d=mm&r=pg\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.expertwitnessinconstruction.com\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Sometimes You Get Away with Default (but don\u2019t count on it) - Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.","description":"failing to show up for court or respond to a lawsuit is a bad idea. Consequences include default judgment without the right to defend or make your case","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/default-judgment-virgini\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Sometimes You Get Away with Default (but don\u2019t count on it) - Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.","og_description":"failing to show up for court or respond to a lawsuit is a bad idea. Consequences include default judgment without the right to defend or make your case","og_url":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/default-judgment-virgini\/","og_site_name":"Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Advise-Consult-Inc-126949043996790\/","article_published_time":"2020-07-21T16:24:02+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-07-21T16:24:05+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@adviseconsult","twitter_site":"@adviseconsult","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/default-judgment-virgini\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/default-judgment-virgini\/"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0a11abe008083d5fb19c2b0feefe7bd7"},"headline":"Sometimes You Get Away with Default (but don\u2019t count on it)","datePublished":"2020-07-21T16:24:02+00:00","dateModified":"2020-07-21T16:24:05+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/default-judgment-virgini\/"},"wordCount":468,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization"},"keywords":["Advise &amp; Consult","Default Judgment","Virginia"],"articleSection":["Construction Law"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/default-judgment-virgini\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/default-judgment-virgini\/","url":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/default-judgment-virgini\/","name":"Sometimes You Get Away with Default (but don\u2019t count on it) - Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2020-07-21T16:24:02+00:00","dateModified":"2020-07-21T16:24:05+00:00","description":"failing to show up for court or respond to a lawsuit is a bad idea. Consequences include default judgment without the right to defend or make your case","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/default-judgment-virgini\/"]}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/","name":"Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.","description":"Construction Expert Witnesses","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Advise & Consult","url":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/AC-Red-Logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/AC-Red-Logo.png","width":162,"height":75,"caption":"Advise & Consult"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Advise-Consult-Inc-126949043996790\/","https:\/\/x.com\/adviseconsult","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company-beta\/204526\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/MrConstructionExpert"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0a11abe008083d5fb19c2b0feefe7bd7","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b01e71b7acadd7657af782b7ad1a30cc?s=96&d=mm&r=pg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b01e71b7acadd7657af782b7ad1a30cc?s=96&d=mm&r=pg","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/www.expertwitnessinconstruction.com"]}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2ztG6-3Lxt","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/897727","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=897727"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/897727\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":897728,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/897727\/revisions\/897728"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=897727"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=897727"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=897727"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}