STN Digital LLC v. Drone Racing League, Inc.
- Proceeding
- district
- Area
- civil
- Panel
- Robert Steven Huie (author)
Analysis
The court reviewed Plaintiff's motion for default judgment against Defendants DRL and IR, finding that the motion failed to adequately prove the amounts of compensatory damages, costs, fees, and interest sought. The court ordered Plaintiff to file a supplemental submission by July 21, 2025, to properly support the claimed relief, warning that any unsupported relief will be denied.
| What the court decided | The model |
|---|---|
Plaintiff granted leave to file a supplemental submission to support the motion for default judgment“Accordingly, the Court grants Plaintiff leave to file no later than July 21, 2025, a supplemental submission addressing its entitlement to any and all relief sought in this case.” | agree with court The court correctly identified that under the standard for default judgments, while factual allegations are taken as true, the plaintiff must still prove the amount of damages. Because the motion did not provide sufficient factual support for the specific monetary amounts claimed, granting leave to supplement is a procedurally appropriate and defensible action to ensure the judgment is based on a proper evidentiary record. |
The order itself: sound — The order correctly applies the standard for default judgments in the Ninth Circuit, distinguishing between the admission of liability (facts) and the requirement to prove damages. The court's decision to require supplemental briefing rather than immediately denying the motion or granting it is a sound exercise of discretion to ensure the record supports the specific monetary relief requested.
Opinion
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 STN DIGITAL, LLC, Case No.: 25-cv-706-RSH-MSB 12 Plaintiff, ORDER DIRECTING ADDITIONAL 13 v. BRIEFING 14 DRONE RACING LEAGUE, INC., et al., 15 Defendants. 16 17 18 On March 26, 2025, Plaintiff filed a complaint for breach of contract, account stated, 19 and quantum meruit. ECF No. 1. The Complaint alleges that defendants Drone Racing 20 League, Inc. (“DRL”) and Infinite Reality Inc. (“IR”) (collectively “Defendants”) failed to 21 pay invoices for the performance of services by Plaintiff in violation of a Master Services 22 Agreement entered into by the Parties. Id. ¶ 8. Despite being served by Plaintiff, 23 Defendants have not responded to the Complaint or otherwise participated in this action. 24 The Clerk entered default against defendant DRL on April 28, 2025 [ECF No. 7], and 25 against defendant IR on May 1, 2025 [ECF No. 9]. Plaintiff subsequently filed a motion 26 for default judgment. ECF No. 10. 27 // 1 Plaintiff’s motion for default judgment seeks $256,693 for the value of services 2 ||rendered, plus prejudgment interest of one percent (1%) per month, costs, and attorney’s 3 || fees. ECF No. 10 at 11. 4 Upon default, “the factual allegations of the complaint, except those relating to the 5 || amount of damages, will be taken as true.” Geddes v. United Fin. Grp., 559 F.2d 557, 560 6 || (9th Cir. 1977). Consequently, in seeking default judgment, a plaintiff “is required to prove 7 || all damages sought in the complaint.” Philip Morris USA, Inc. v. Castworld Products, Inc., 8 F.R.D. 494, 498 (C.D. Cal. 2003). In determining damages, a court may rely on the 9 || declarations submitted by the plaintiff or order a full evidentiary hearing. /d. at 498 (citing 10 || Fed. R. Civ. P. 55(b)(2)). 11 Plaintiff's motion does not prove its entitlement to its claimed amount of 12 ||compensatory damages. Plaintiff also does not identify the amounts sought in costs, fees, 13 |/or interest, or factually support such claimed amounts. Accordingly, the Court grants 14 || Plaintiff leave to file no later than July 21, 2025, a supplemental submission addressing its 15 |/entitlement to any and all relief sought in this case. The Court will deny any relief not 16 || properly supported. 17 IT IS SO ORDERED. fekut ¢ Lowe 18 Dated: July 7, 2025 19 Hon. Robert S. Huie United States District Judge 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28