Washington Court of Appeals Holds That Default Judgment Should Have Been Set Aside

In Vanderstoep v. Guthrie, the Clark County Superior Court entered a default judgment against defendants which included approximately $70,000 in economic damages and $300,000 in noneconomic damages.  After the Superior Court refused to set aside the default, an appeal was pursued by Megan Ferris and Leslie Kocher-Moar of MacMillan Scholz & Marks with regard to the noneconomic damages portion of the judgment.  On September 19, 2017, the Washington Court of Appeals, Division II, issued a lengthy published opinion reversing the Superior Court’s denial of the motion to set aside the noneconomic damages portion of the default judgment.   Plaintiffs have petitioned for review by the Washington Supreme Court.

Link to opinion.