§ 1915

Citation: § 1915
Parent Document: Margaret Kris v. P Dusseault Family Revocable Trust et al., 2022 DNH 035 (2022)
Jurisdiction: New Hampshire (state)
Effective Date: 2022-03-23
Original Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/10694556/margaret-kris-v-p-dusseault-fa... ↗

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to the complaint, or a motion to dismiss the complaint, within twenty-one days of
the date they are served with a complaint, see Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(a)(1)(A)(i) &
12(b)(4)(A). When a defendant “has failed to plead or otherwise defend,” upon the
appropriate showing, the clerk’s office is required to enter the defendant’s default.
Fed. R. Civ. P. 55(a). Here, the defendants have “otherwise defend[ed]” in response
to the complaint, as required by Rule 55(a), by litigating their motion to dismiss;
filing a discovery plan setting forth their theory of the case; participating in
settlement discussions while the case was stayed around the time their answer was
due; and filing an objection to the plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment, stating
the reasons why plaintiff is not entitled to summary judgment on her claims,
including their assertion of res judicata resulting from the state court judgment.
The court can ascertain no prejudice accruing to Ms. Kris from Defendants’ failure
to file an answer. Under such circumstances, any entry of default against
Defendants would almost certainly be set aside upon defendants’ motion, and thus
entering a default under the circumstances would likely be futile. To close the
pleadings properly, the court directs defendants to file their answer to the
complaint (doc. no. 1) no later than fourteen days from the date of this order.

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