I gotta be honest with you: When I first started reading this opinion this morning, I was super reluctant.
Are we really going to affirm a seven-figure default judgment in federal court when there was a fight about whether service was proper -- wholly apart from the subject matter jurisdiction problems -- and the defendant contacted the plaintiff the very same day the default was obtained and offered to respond to the complaint (and waive its objections to service) if it could have 60 days to answer?!
I mean, really?!
But you know what? Judge McKeown's opinion ultimately persuades me. And, to reiterate, I was super reluctant about whether it would really be just to let a huge default judgment stand under such circumstances.
That's the mark of a really good opinion, in my view: the ability to persuade someone who has an initial take that's 180 degrees different than yours.
Well done.
