Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 8 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 9 10 ALLISON PARTNERS, LLC, Case No.: 3:25-cv-00680-WQH-JLB 11 Plaintiff, ORDER 12 v. 13 GOSIER HOLDINGS, LLC; FILMHEDGE, LLC; SOUTHBOX 14 CAPITAL, LLC; and SOUTHBOX 15 ENTERTAINMENT, LLC, 16 Defendants. 17 HAYES, Judge: 18 On March 24, 2025, Plaintiff Allison Partners, LLC (“Plaintiff”) filed a Complaint 19 against Defendants Gosier Holdings, LLC (“Gosier”); FilmHedge, LLC (“FilmHedge”); 20 Southbox Capital, LLC (“Southbox Capital”); and Southbox Entertainment, LLC 21 (“Southbox Entertainment”) (collectively, “Defendants”). (ECF No. 1.) 22 On the same day, the Clerk of the Court issued the summons and proof of service 23 form. (ECF No. 2.) 24 On April 30, 2025, Plaintiff filed three Affidavits of Service, declaring that the 25 Summons and Complaint had been served upon Defendants FilmHedge, Southbox Capital, 26 and Southbox Entertainment. (ECF Nos. 3–5.) 27 On June 10, 2025, Plaintiff filed a Request for Entry of Default against Defendants 28 FilmHedge, Southbox Capital, and Southbox Entertainment (collectively, “the Defaulted 1 Defendants”). (ECF No. 6.) On July 21, 2025, the Clerk of the Court entered default against 2 the Defaulted Defendants. (ECF No. 7.) 3 On September 9, 2025, Plaintiff filed a Motion for Leave to File Motion for Default 4 Judgment (“Motion for Leave to File”) (ECF No. 10) and a Motion for Default Judgment 5 (ECF No. 11). 6 On February 17, 2026, the Court issued an Order dismissing Defendant Gosier and 7 denying Plaintiff’s Motion for Default Judgment (ECF No. 11) without prejudice and the 8 Motion for Leave to File (ECF No. 10) as moot. The Court found that Plaintiff failed to 9 establish proper service of process on the Defaulted Defendants under either Federal Rule 10 of Civil Procedure 4, Delaware law, or California law. (ECF No. 11 at 6–9.) The Court 11 granted Plaintiff thirty (30) days to “file either: (1) a renewed motion for default judgment 12 or (2) a motion to set aside the Clerk’s entry of default (ECF No. 7) and re-serve the 13 Defaulted Defendants in a manner that comports with Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4 14 and/or applicable state law.” Id. at 9. 15 On March 17, 2026, Plaintiff filed a Motion to Set Aside Clerk’s Entry of Default 16 and for Leave to Effect Proper Notice (“Motion to Set Aside Default”). (ECF No. 13.) 17 Plaintiff requests that the Court (1) set aside the Clerk’s entry of default against Defendants 18 FilmHedge, Southbox Capital, and Southbox Entertainment and (2) grant Plaintiff “leave 19 to effect proper service of process consistent with the Court’s February 17, 2026 Order.” 20 Id. at 4. 21 Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 55(c) states that a court “may set aside an entry of 22 default for good cause, and it may set aside a final default judgment under Rule 60(b).” 23 Fed. R. Civ. P. 55(c). “To determine ‘good cause,’ a court must consider three factors: (1) 24 whether the party seeking to set aside the default engaged in culpable conduct that led to 25 the default; (2) whether it had no meritorious defense; or (3) whether reopening the default 26 judgment would prejudice the other party.” United States v. Signed Personal Check No. 27 730 of Yubran S. Mesle, 615 F.3d 1085, 1091 (9th Cir. 2010) (cleaned up; citations 28 omitted). “Additionally, a court may grant a motion for relief from default where the | |}moving party demonstrates a defect in the service of process.” Pontier v. GEICO Ins., No. 2 ||21cv199-LL-AHG, 2024 WL 2095282, at *2 (S.D. Cal. Mar. 28, 2024) (quotations 3 || omitted) (collecting cases). 4 Here, no evidence of culpable conduct by Plaintiff exists. Setting aside the default 5 || would not prejudice the Defaulted Defendants; it would benefit them by allowing Plaintiff 6 ||to properly serve them. The “no meritorious defense” factor does not apply here because 7 || Plaintiff seeks to set aside the default, not Defendants. And the Court found in its February 8 2026 Order that Plaintiff provided insufficient proof of service. (ECF No. 11 at 6-9.) 9 || Accordingly, the Court finds good cause to set aside the entry of default against the 10 || Defaulted Defendants and allow Plaintiff to effect proper service. 11 IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Plaintiff's Motion to Set Aside Default (ECF No. 12 || 1s granted. The Clerk of the Court shall set aside the entry of default against Defendants 13 || FilmHedge, Southbox Capital, and Southbox Entertainment (ECF No. 7). 14 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Plaintiff shall file proof of proper service on 15 || Defendants FilmHedge, Southbox Capital, and Southbox Entertainment in a manner that 16 |}complies with Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4 or applicable state law no later than thirty 17 days from the entry of this Order. 18 19 Dated: March 23, 2026 BE: eg Ze. Ma 20 Hon, William Q. Hayes 1 United States District Court 22 23 24 25 26 27 28