Court of Appeal Affirms $725,000 Default Judgment In Favor of HLG's Client
/ January 05, 2012
Huron law group successfully represented Ghanshyam Das Pokal as respondent in an appeal by Gretzel Hunt from a default judgment quieting title to commercial property in favor of Pokal and awarding him $684,038 in damages and $39,059 in attorneys’ fees and costs.
Dean Isaacson, plaintiff, filed a complaint against Pokal and Hunt arising from an alleged default on a $600,000 loan that Isaacson claimed to have made to both of them. Pokal cross-complained against Hunt. The cross-complaint alleged causes of action for declaratory relief, indemnity, quite title and damages.
Hunt failed to respond to the cross-complaint. After Mr. Pokal obtained a default judgment against her, she filed a motion to set aside the default judgment. She claimed in the motion that Isaacson told her that she did not have to do anything and he would take care of Pokal’s cross-complaint, she was unsophisticated, unrepresented and believed there were no litigable issues.
The court of appeal affirmed the trial court’s findings that Hunt could not reasonably rely on Isaacson’s assurances because he was the plaintiff, not the cross-complainant. The court of appeal also found that Hunt waived any objections to the evidence presented by HLG in opposition to the motion to set aside the default that Hunt had defaulted in other cases and that she was a real estate agent.