A Default Needs a Number. No Exceptions.

Sass v. Cohen, No. S255262 (Cal. Dec. 24, 2020)

Section 580 of the Code of Civil Procedure limits a default judgment to the amount stated in the complaint. A prior Court of Appeal case—Cassel v. Sullivan, Roche & Johnson, 76 Cal. App. 4th 1157 (1999)—made an exception for cases seeking an accounting because the defendant purportedly already has enough information to calculate its exposure. About two years ago, the Court of Appeal here disagreed with Cassel and took § 580 for its face value.

Given the split, the Supreme Court took review. It agrees with the Court of Appeal. Section 580 limits a default judgment to the amount stated in the complaint. It does not limit a default judgment to some amount that the defendant could figure out, so the fact that a defendant might theoretically have notice isn’t enough.

Court of Appeal affirmed.