Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California

To proceed with a lawsuit, the plaintiff is required to: 1) personally serve the defendant with the summons and complaint; 2) substitute serve an adult at the home and mail a copy to the defendant; 3) serve the person in charge of the workplace and mail a copy to the defendant; or 4) obtain leave of court to publish the text of the summons in a newspaper of general circulation. If none of these occurred, you may immediately bring a motion to set aside the default because you were never served. These issues are time-sensitive, so it must been done ASAP. You will have to attach a proposed answer to your moving papers. Once you are an active party in the lawsuit, you will be in a better position to defend yourself and, perhaps, negotiate a settlement.

The court requires plaintiff submit proof of service on defendants in order to get a default judgment. They apparently did so. You would have to file a motion for relief from default and to set aside the judgment, based upon your claim of lack of service and improper default being taken against you. If you don't know how to do these pleadings timely, right and effectively, you should hire an attorney that does. Find an attorney local to you to do so, asap. Contact the local Lawyers Referral Service if necessary to find an attorney.