Pepsi Succeeds In Vacating $1.26 Billion Default Judgment
A couple of weeks ago we talked about how Pepsi mishandled a Complaint suing the company for allegedly stealing trade secrets resulting in a $1.26 Billion default judgment.
In Judge Scraps $1.26 Billion Judgment Against Pepsi, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Bruce Vielmetti reports that the Honorable Jacqueline Erwin, the judge hearing the case, granted Pepsi's motion to vacate the default judgment. Judge Erwin will now hear the case "on its merits." And according to Pepsi's lawyers, the company has some very meritorious defenses.
Pepsi lawyers, executives, and shareholders must be pleased. The gentlemen who sued Pepsi - Wisconsin businessmen Charles Joyce and James Voigt - probably aren't so pleased.
Learning from our mistakes is good. Learning from the mistakes of others is better, and cheaper:
Prepare to get sued by ensuring that you, your registered agents, and everyone in your organization knows how to recognize a Complaint and what to do with it after getting it.- If you sue someone and they don't respond to the Complaint on time, don't ask for stratospheric damages. That'll just make it so much easier for the judge to grant your opponent's request to vacate. Joyce and Voight's odds would have been a lot better if their judgment was for $126,000, or maybe even $1.26 Million. But they never had a chance with that eye-popping $1.26 Billion. Remember: pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered
Construction Law Today is a legal blog about construction contracts, disputes, finance, and the people whose job it is to deal with them.
