Quick Note: Obtaining a Default Final Judgment

When a defendant does not timely respond to the lawsuit, a plaintiff will move for a default against the defendant. Sometimes a plaintiff will ask the clerk to issue a default and other times the plaintiff will ask the court to issue a default. A default serves as an admission of liability by the defendant with the issue then being whether the plaintiff’s damages are liquidated or unliquidated as it pertains to obtaining a default final judgment: Damages are liquidated when the amount to be awarded can be determined with exactness from a pleaded agreement between the parties, by an arithmetical calculation,...