Public hearing set for proposed change to state’s default judgement rule

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The Wisconsin Supreme Court will be holding a public hearing next month on a proposal to change the state’s default-judgment rule.

The state’s default-judgement rule, Wis. Stat. 806.02, lets a plaintiff obtain a default judgement against a defendant who is properly served paperwork but ignores or doesn’t answer a complaint. In doing either of those things, the defendant is in effect admitting to the allegations pleaded in the complaint, according to current law.

But the statute is silent on what happens if a party, typically a plaintiff or third party, fails to respond to a counterclaim or cross claim. To provide an answer, the Wisconsin Judicial Council is proposing adding language to the rule allowing defendants to file for default judgment when an opposing party fails to answer a counterclaim or a cross claim.

The 21-member independent council is charged with studying and proposing changes to the state’s court procedures. It filed the rules-change proposal in April, and the justices voted in June to hear the proposal and schedule a public hearing on it.

The hearing will take place at 9:30 a.m. on October 12. The council members Tom Shriner and Eugene Gasiorkiewicz are scheduled to present the petition to the justices on the behalf of the council.

So far, there have been no public comments on the proposal.