Steps to Move for a Default Judgment in California State Court pursuant to CCP Section 585

A party seeking a California Code of Civil Procedure Section 585 default against another party must take the following steps to start the process:

1. Serve on the opposing party a “Statement of Damages,” pursuant to California Code of Civil Procedure section 425.11(d)(1), and California Code of Civil Procedure section 585.5 an exemplar of which is found on Judicial Council Form 50:

2. After the statement of damages (and summons, if applicable) are served, the plaintiff may apply for an entry of default using Judicial Council Form 100 (seen below and hyperlinked):

The application for entry of default must be mailed out to the defendant’s “last known address.” At this stage, the plaintiff may ask for a default judgment prove-up hearing, but according to LA Superior local rules 3.201(a), “submissions on declarations are preferred.” A clerk’s judgment, without a judge’s supervision, is available only when the underlying case arose out of a judgment or contract.

3. To the extent the court grants the application for default, plaintiffs can then move forward and attempt to prove up their case by submission of declarations. At this point, the non-appearing party no longer has a right to appear in the case, and must move to be relieved from default, potentially under CCP 473. The bar for this motion to be granted is low; the non-appearing party must show “mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect.” If the non-appearing party files a motion to be relieved from default,the moving party can pursue their default "prove-up" only if the court holds that there is an emergency which warrants rapid adjudication of the case pursuant to LA Superior Court rule 3.202, viewable above.