Kansas City Art Institute v. Dodge CA4/2

Filed 9/30/13 Kansas City Art Institute v. Dodge CA4/2

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION THREE

KANSAS CITY ART INSTITUTE,

Plaintiff and Respondent, G047846

v. (Super. Ct. No. 30-2011-00495420)

KRISTINA DODGE, OPINION

Defendant and Appellant.

Appeal from a judgment of the Superior Court of Orange County, Robert J. Moss, Judge. Affirmed. Chapin Fitzgerald, Kenneth M. Fitzgerald and Curtis G. Carll for Defendant and Appellant. Baker & Hostetler and Ryan D. Fischbach for Plaintiff and Respondent. * * *

Plaintiff Kansas City Art Institute (KCAI or the institute) sued Kristina Dodge (Dodge) and her husband Lawrence K. Dodge (collectively, the Dodges) for failing to make good on their $5 million pledge to the institute.1 KCAI obtained a default judgment. The trial court denied Dodge‟s motion for relief from default. We find the trial court did not abuse its discretion given the facts of this case and affirm. I FACTS In July 2011, KCAI filed a complaint against the Dodges for breach of contract, alleging they made a pledge of $5 million to the institute pursuant to an irrevocable pledge agreement and failed to make good on the pledge. According to the 2005 agreement, the $5 million was to be contributed over an eight-year period. The complaint alleged the Dodges paid the first $1 million but refused to make the balance of the payments. The Dodges were personally served with the complaint on July 31, 2011. Toward the end of August 2011, the Dodges attempted, without counsel, to apply for an extension of time to September 30, 2011, to file a responsive pleading. However, they mistakenly applied for an extension to respond to a cross-complaint and they failed to pay the required filing fee. It appears they also failed to serve KCAI with the application. On September 6, 2011, KCAI requested entry of the Dodges‟ defaults. The clerk entered their defaults the same day. On September 14, 2011, the Dodges filed a handwritten request seeking confirmation that they had until September 30, 2011 to file an answer. The court denied the request because KCAI had not been timely served.