MAHLBERG
v.
MEDIEVAL TIMES U.S.A., INC.
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Plaintiff moved for the clerk to enter default against Medieval Times U.S.A., Inc., but the District Court denied the motion without prejudice, finding it failed to comply with local rules and did not adequately establish proper service of process on the defendant.
The motion for clerk to enter default is denied without prejudice because it fails to comply with local rules and does not adequately address with legal citation whether service on Donna Moch as SOP Manager was proper under applicable law. Before default can be entered, the court must determine that the defendant was properly served.
“before a Clerk's default can be entered against a defendant, the Court must determine that the defendant was properly served”
establishes the threshold requirement that service of process must be properly established before default can be granted
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligencePlaintiff filed a motion for clerk to enter default against Medieval Times U.S.A., Inc. Service of process was allegedly effected on Donna Moch as SOP…
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Before the Court is Plaintiff's Motion for Clerk to Enter Default. Doc. No. 12. On review, the motion (Doc. No. 12) is DENIED without prejudice.
First, the motion fails to comply with the Local Rules, including Local Rules 1.08 and 3.01(a). Second, the motion fails to adequately address, with citation to legal authority, that service of process on Defendant was proper, specifically that service on “Donna Moch as SOP Manager" was sufficient to effect service on Defendant under governing law. See Doc. No. 12-2; see also generally United States v. Donald, No. 3:09-cv-147-J-32HTS, 2009 WL 1810357, at *1 (M.D. Fla. June 24, 2009) (before a Clerk's default can be entered against a defendant, the Court must determine that the defendant was properly served).
Plaintiff shall file a renewed motion within fourteen (14) days of this Order, which must include a memorandum of legal authority establishing that service of process on Defendant was proper under applicable law.
DONE and ORDERED in Orlando, Florida on May 16, 2025.
Leslie Hoffman Price LESLIE HOFFMAN PRICE UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
Copies furnished to: Counsel of Record Unrepresented Parties
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