Pacifica First National, Inc. v. Abekasis

Filed 6/15/20 CERTIFIED FOR PUBLICATION

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION EIGHT

PACIFICA FIRST NATIONAL, B298292 INC., et al., (Los Angeles County Cross-complainants and Super. Ct. No. BC602042) Respondents,

v.

ARIE ABEKASIS,

Cross-defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Michael P. Linfield, Judge. Affirmed. Robert F. Smith for Cross-defendant and Appellant. Abdulaziz, Grossbart & Rudman, Kenneth S. Grossbart and Bruce D. Rudman for Cross-complainants and Respondents.

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Arie Abekasis defaulted on a civil case and appeals the trial court’s denial of his motion to set aside the default. We affirm. Abekasis had a role in construction projects and sued Pacifica First National, Inc. and others. We call these related entities Pacifica. We do not know the particulars of Abekasis’s suit because he excluded his complaint from our record. Leslie Richards was Abekasis’s lawyer at the time. Abekasis’s complaint triggered a cross-complaint from Pacifica. The service of Pacifica’s cross-complaint on Abekasis created the issue in this appeal. Pacifica included a proof of service of process against Abekasis, via service on Abekasis’s lawyer Richards. Abekasis did not answer, so Pacifica took Abekasis’s default. Abekasis moved to set aside the default about six months later, arguing service was improper. The court denied this motion. When Abekasis filed this motion, he brought in a new lawyer named Wilfred J. Killian. Killian’s motion to set aside the default had less than four pages of text. There were some declarations, but none from Richards. Killian’s motion for Abekasis was deficient. The key witness about the validity of service on Richards was Richards, and Killian elected to leave Richards out of the motion. The motion thus lacked evidence to prove the service was bad. Indeed, Abekasis’s motion was doubly deficient. Abekasis filed his own carefully-worded four-sentence declaration saying he was president of another party, Diditan Group, and Diditan Group was never served with the cross-complaint. Abekasis did not say he personally had never been served. At the moment of truth, the two people who would know about the vital issue remained mum.