Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Maryland
Default Judgement
Four defendants, three civilian federal employees and one military employee, when served three times by marshalls, all failed to sign proof of service. After six months of this, and after speaking with military defendant who claimed he was told by lawyers that they would take care of it. They did nothing. Until, the judge in a separate memorandum to the plaintiff requested plaintiff file a motion for default and an order for judgement by default. Plaintiff complied. Then, Justice Department attorneys filed an extension of time and stated the military defendant had not been served. However, military defendant requested in phone conversation to plaintiff's wife that the summons be served to him at the attorney's office. Called court and found out judge dismissed summons order on military defendant a month ago and no one from court informed plaintiff. They will send another copy of order. Also, said case is still open when plaintiff asked. My question is should the plaintiff file for default judgement again or amend the previous motion since now we are certain they and their attorneys still have not answered complaint?
Thank you,
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Default Judgement
If the marshals filed a return of service on the civilian defendants and answers were not filed within the time limits, you are entitled to a default, although Justice will probably move to set it aside by filing an answer. As the military defendant, he/she's protected from a default by the Soldiers' and Sailors' Act. You'll need to get the summons reissued and serve it again. You can use certified mail or a private process server. Perhaps the justice dept. attorney who will be defending the case would agree to accept service, especially if they are jointly defending all parties.
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