Legal Question in Civil Rights Law in Pennsylvania

Failure to respond to summons served to the defendant

If the defendant fails to responds to the summons served to him by the court within the time limit of 60 days set by the court, what is the next action the Plaintiff takes against the defendant? Does the Plaintiff request for a Motion for Summary Judgement or does the Plaintiff request a Motion for Judgement by Default from the Court? Please provide a sample as an example. Thanks


Asked on 8/11/07, 9:32 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Brian Zeiger Levin & Zeiger LLP

Re: Failure to respond to summons served to the defendant

If there is good service, you would ask for a default judgment. Summary judgment is a COMPLETELY different type of judgment. After the default is put on the defendant, they can do somethings to try to have it lifted, but eventually, you could have a judgment against the person and try to take their property. This type of thing can be a bit complicated. I also note that your zip code is in Philadelphia county. Therefore, you did not state if this is common pleas court or municipal court. My answer above goes to common pleas court. If you are in municipal court, the defendant has a right to an appeal to common pleas court which will wipe away the municipal court decision.

You should contact a lawyer for more specifics on this. I would be happy to respond to emails with examples if you tell me the specifics of your case. [email protected], 215.825.5183.

Good Luck,

Brian

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Answered on 8/11/07, 11:35 am


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