Martin Potts & Associates, Inc. v. Corsair, LLC

244 Cal. App. 4th 432, 197 Cal. Rptr. 3d 856 (2016)

Study Aids
Case Briefs Overview
Casebooks
Case Briefs
M
From our private database of 46,300+ case briefs, written and edited by humans—never with AI.

Martin Potts & Associates, Inc. v. Corsair, LLC

California Court of Appeal
244 Cal. App. 4th 432, 197 Cal. Rptr. 3d 856 (2016)

MP

Facts

Martin Potts & Associates, Inc. (MPA) (plaintiff) provided the management services for the Gran Plaza Outlets under a contract with Corsair, LLC (Corsair) (defendant). When Corsair quit paying MPA in August 2013 for those services, MPA sued Corsair in February 2014 for what it was owed. Corsair never filed a responsive pleading, and the trial court entered an order of default in Mach 2014 and a default judgment in August 2014. In October 2014, Corsair moved to set aside the default and default judgment that was supported by an affidavit of Corsair’s attorney, Nicholas Klein, attesting Klein received the complaint and other filings and took no action and that resulting default and default judgment were his failure and the sole reason they were allowed to occur. The trial court set aside the default and default judgment, finding they were caused by Klein’s “mistake, inadvertence, surprise or neglect” because Klein did not file a responsive pleading on Corsair’s behalf and failed to advise Corsair to file a responsive pleading. MPA appealed and argued that under Code of Civil Procedure § 437(b), relief is not required unless the attorney’s affidavit includes the reasons for the attorney’s “mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or neglect.”

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Hoffstadt, J.)

What to do next…

  1. Unlock this case brief with a free (no-commitment) trial membership of Quimbee.

    You’ll be in good company: Quimbee is one of the most widely used and trusted sites for law students, serving more than 821,000 law students since 2011. Some law schools even subscribe directly to Quimbee for all their law students.

    Unlock this case briefRead our student testimonials

  2. Learn more about Quimbee’s unique (and proven) approach to achieving great grades at law school.

    Quimbee is a company hell-bent on one thing: helping you get an “A” in every course you take in law school, so you can graduate at the top of your class and get a high-paying law job. We’re not just a study aid for law students; we’re the study aid for law students.

    Learn about our approachRead more about Quimbee

Here's why 821,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:

  • Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 989 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
  • The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
  • Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
  • Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership
Here's why 821,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
  • Reliable - written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students
  • The right length and amount of information - includes the facts, issue, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents
  • Access in your class - works on your mobile and tablet
  • 46,300 briefs - keyed to 989 casebooks
  • Uniform format for every case brief
  • Written in plain English - not in legalese and not just repeating the court's language
  • Massive library of related video lessons - and practice questions
  • Top-notch customer support

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership

Casebooks

Civil Procedure

Key Terms