Ewing v. Senior Life Planning, LLC

CourtDistrict Court, S.D. California
DecidedSeptember 18, 2019
Docket3:19-cv-01005
StatusUnknown

This text of Ewing v. Senior Life Planning, LLC (Ewing v. Senior Life Planning, LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ewing v. Senior Life Planning, LLC, (S.D. Cal. 2019).

Opinion

5 6

7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

10 ANTON EWING, Case No. 19-cv-1005-BAS-LL 11 Plaintiff, ORDER GRANTING IN PART 12 MOTION FOR DEFAULT JUDGMENT 13 v. [ECF No. 7] 14 SENIOR LIFE PLANNING, LLC,

15 Defendant.

16 17

18 Anton Ewing filed a Complaint against Senior Life Planning, LLC, for 19 violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) under both 47 20 U.S.C. §227(b) (using an automatic telephone dialing system (“ATDS”) to deliver a 21 message without the consent of the owner) and § 227(c) (contacting a cellular 22 telephone listed in the Do Not Call database). (“Complaint,” ECF No. 1.) Senior 23 Life Planning, LLC has failed to respond. 24 Mr. Ewing now seeks default judgment in the amount of $64,000 for eight 25 telephone calls placed in violation of the TCPA. (ECF No. 7.) He seeks $1,500 per 26 telephone call per violation for a total of $24,000, and he also seeks damages under 27 the California Penal Code for unauthorized recording of a cellular telephone call. 1 The Court, in its discretion, declines to award treble damages per telephone 2 call, but will award $500 per telephone call for each violation for a total of $8,000. 3 Furthermore, the Court finds Mr. Ewing has failed to allege a cause of action or facts 4 supporting a cause of action for violation of California Penal Code §637.2, and, 5 therefore, declines to award damages under this section. 6 I. LEGAL STANDARD 7 Rule 55(b)(2) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure governs applications to 8 the court for default judgment. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 55(b)(2). Default judgment is 9 available as long as the plaintiff establishes: (1) defendant has been served with the 10 summons and complaint and default was entered for its failure to appear; (2) 11 defendant is neither a minor nor an incompetent person; (3) defendant is not in the 12 military service or not otherwise subject to the Soldiers and Sailors Relief Act of 13 1940; and (4) if defendant has appeared in the action, that defendant was provided 14 with notice of the application for default judgment at least seven days prior to the 15 hearing. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 55; Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp., v. Streeter, 438 16 F. Supp. 2d 1065, 1070 (D. Ariz. 2006). The Court must also satisfy that it has 17 personal jurisdiction over the defendant and that plaintiff has standing to bring the 18 lawsuit. See In re Tuli, 172 F.3d 707, 712 (9th Cir. 1999) (holding when considering 19 whether to enter default judgment, court may dismiss an action sua sponte for lack 20 of personal jurisdiction because a judgment entered without subject matter or 21 personal jurisdiction over the parties is void). 22 Entry of default judgment is within the trial court’s discretion. Aldabe v. 23 Aldabe, 616 F.2d 1089, 1092 (9th Cir. 1980). In making this determination, the court 24 considers the following factors: (1) the possibility of prejudice to the plaintiff, (2) 25 the merits of plaintiff’s substantive claim, (3) the sufficiency of the complaint, (4) 26 the sum of money at stake in the action, (5) the possibility of a dispute concerning 27 the material facts, (6) whether the default was due to excusable neglect, and (7) the 1 strong policy underlying the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure favoring decisions on 2 the merits. Eitel v. McCool, 782 F.2d 1470 1471–72 (9th Cir. 1986). 3 Upon entry of default, the factual allegations in plaintiff’s complaint, except 4 those relating to damages, are deemed admitted. TeleVideo Sys., Inc., v. Heidenthal, 5 826 F.2d 915, 917–18 (9th Cir. 1987). Where the amount of damages claimed is a 6 liquidated sum or capable of mathematical calculation, the court may enter a default 7 judgment without a hearing. Davis v. Fendler, 650 F.2d 1154, 1161 (9th Cir. 1981). 8 In determining damages, a court may rely on declarations submitted by the plaintiff 9 in lieu of a full evidentiary hearing. See Philip Morris USA v. Castworld Prods., 10 Inc., 219 F.R.D. 494, 498 (C.D. Cal. 2003) (citing Fed. R. Civ. P. 55(b)(2)). 11 II. DISCUSSION 12 A. Procedural Requirements 13 Plaintiff has satisfied the procedural requirements for default judgment 14 pursuant to Rules 55 and 54(c) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Pursuant to 15 Rule 55(a), the Clerk of Court properly entered default against Defendant Senior Life 16 Planning, LLC. (ECF No. 5.) The Registered Agent of Senior Life Planning, LLC 17 was personally served with the summons and complaint, and Senior Life Planning 18 LLC failed to plead or otherwise defend this action. (ECF No. 3.) Defendant is not 19 a minor, an incompetent person, nor is it subject to the Soldiers and Sailors Civil 20 Relief Act of 1940. Furthermore, Defendant was also served with a copy of the 21 present Motion at least seven days prior to the hearing. (ECF No. 7.) 22 Thus, the Court, in its discretion, may order default judgment against 23 Defendant. But, before entering default judgment, the Court reviews personal and 24 subject matter jurisdiction, as well as the factors enumerated in Eitel. 25 B. Jurisdiction and Standing 26 1. Personal Jurisdiction 27 Plaintiff alleges specific personal jurisdiction over Senior Life Planning, LLC. 1 the defendant’s contacts with the forum state are sufficient to subject it to specific 2 jurisdiction. Ballard v. Savage, 65 F.3d 1495, 1498 (9th Cir. 1995). Under the three- 3 part inquiry, specific jurisdiction exists only if: (1) the out-of-state defendant 4 purposefully availed itself of the privilege of conducting activities in the forum, 5 thereby invoking the benefits and protections of the forum’s laws; (2) the cause of 6 action arose out of the defendant’s forum-related activities and (3) the exercise of 7 jurisdiction is reasonable. Myers v. Bennett Law Offices, 238 F.3d 1068, 1072 (9th 8 Cir. 2001). The plaintiff bears the burden of satisfying the first two prongs of this 9 specific jurisdiction test. Schwarzenegger v. Fred Martin Motor Co., 374 F.3d 797, 10 802 (9th Cir. 2004). “If the plaintiff succeeds in satisfying both of the first two 11 prongs, the burden then shifts to the defendant to ‘present a compelling case’ that the 12 exercise of jurisdiction would not be reasonable.” Id.

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Ewing v. Senior Life Planning, LLC, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ewing-v-senior-life-planning-llc-casd-2019.