Pambid v. Gamino
In 2003, Pambid and his grandfather, George Pambid, retained Gamino to draft a living trust and grant deed for purposes of transferring George’s interest in certain real property to Pambid. Gamino allegedly failed to record the deed before George died, which resulted in Pambid having no ownership interest in the real property. In March 2006, Pambid filed a complaint for damages against Gamino, alleging legal malpractice.
In October 2007, the court granted Pambid’s request for entry of default against Gamino. In December 2007, following a default prove-up hearing, the court entered a default judgment against Gamino in favor of Pambid in the amount of $279,168.79. Thereafter, in June 2008, Gamino moved to set aside the default judgment, which the court granted in July 2008. The court directed Gamino to prepare the order granting the motion to set aside the default judgment.
Over the course of the next several months, Gamino refused to comply with Pambid’s discovery requests, which resulted in a successful motion to compel by Pambid in November 2008 and sanctions against Gamino in July 2009. Meanwhile, Gamino had failed to comply with the trial court’s July 2008 directive to prepare the order granting the motion to set aside the default judgment. Finally, in November 2009, Pambid took it upon himself to prepare and file the order granting the motion to set aside the default.[2]
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