Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Michigan
Def failed to thoroughly/properly answer summons and complaint. Plf filed motion for default judgment. Before hearing Def hired lawyer who filed proper answer and affirmative defenses. Motion for default will be heard at pretrial, is it moot?
Any way to press for the judgment?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Most likely, the judge will not default the defendant. Remember, when you demand to adhere to the rules extremely strictly, when you mess something up, the opponent not only will be unwilling to grant you any leeway, but your opponent will remind the judge of your past actions. I always try to cut the opponent some slack in this regard because you never know when you'll need a favor (such as missing a witness list filing date by a day, getting delayed for a hearing, etc.)