Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California
a previous employer's client obtained a small claims default judgment against me only because he knew my name and I was not there to defend myself (240 miles away). I filed a motion to vacate and yet there is no disposition showing on the court's web site. I did not attend the hearing on the motion to vacate for the same reason as the first hearing distance and no money for gas. Since there is no disposition showing, does the judgment still stand?
2 Answers from Attorneys
A defendant not showing up for the trial is a reason to enter a default judgment, not to set it aside. You have offered no reason to think you could have won your motion to set the judgment aside even if you had argued it in person. Missing court again that day certainly didn't help your chances.
Usually in small claims cases the judge expects a party vacating a prior judgment entered in their absence to be present. The reason is that if the motion is successful, the case proceeds to trial immediately. There was no reason to grant your motion if you were not going to be present.
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