Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California

I know that you've posted before, but you are not listening. You cannot base your motion to set aside a default judgment on the merits of the underlying case. It has to be based on a defect in the service of the summons and complaint on you.

It's not clear what you mean by "set aside". You could mean overturned on appeal. My guess, though, is that you want the court which entered the judgment to grant you relief from it.

If you had a chance to raise the statute of limitations before judgment was entered but didn't, then you can't get even partial relief on that basis now. Such relief is available when the defendant was denied a fair chance to defend himself, not when he had that chance but did not take advantage of it.

For example, if you were properly served with the summons and complaint, then you could have raised the statute of limitations as a defense in an answer or demurrer. If you didn't take that chance when you had it, then you waived the argument and cannot make it now.

If you were not properly served and the judgment was entered against you without an opportunity to respond, then that is reason to grant you relief. A motion for such relief should explain that you have a valid defense, but that would not be reason enough to grant the motion. You would have to prove that you never had a fair opportunity to present that defense before the judgment was entered.

Even if the motion is granted, the court will not throw out any part of the lawsuit at that time. You will have to litigate the case just as you would have if you had been properly served.

You cannot file a motion to set aside a judgment based on the statute of limitations. If it is a default judgment, you must contest the service of the complaint or find something legally wrong with the default procedure, or you must plead and prove that you let your default be taken out of mistake, inadvertence or excusable neglect. You have a very limited time to move to set aside a default judgment once it is entered against you. If you appeared and participated in the case, and raised the statute of limitations and were incorrectly overruled, you can appeal. Again the time for doing so is very short. If a default judgment is set aside, the whole case goes back to the point where you were served and you have to file an answer and proceed with the case, or if service was bad, it goes back to the point where they have to serve you properly. If you appeal, and the appeals court rules in your favor, they can either send the whole case back or they can correct the judgment.