On March 25, 2013, Prestige Autotech Corporation (“Prestige”) filed a complaint alleging various causes of action against Wuxi Chenhwat Almatech Co., (“Chenhwat”) at the Trial Court of Rancho Cucamonga, San Bernardino County, California, claiming losses of at least $46.5 million due to breach of contract and trademark infringement etc. Chenhwat did not respond to the complaint, on July 31, 2013, a default judgment is entered, and Prestige obtained a default judgment of $17.3 million plus prejudgment interest and postjudgment interest.
At the end of 2013, Chenhwat was declared bankrupt, and the trustee found this adverse judgment after taking over.
After accepting the entrustment, Lawyer Wang Jianming carefully learned the facts of the case and studied relevant laws and regulations. On April 17, 2014, Lawyer Wang, cooperating with California lawyer, filed a motion on behalf of Chenhwat to the Superior Court of San Bernardino County (“Superior Court”) to set aside the default judgment. On June 10, 2014, the Superior Court granted motion to set aside the default judgment in accordance with Section 473 (b) of California Code of Civil Procedure.
On July 15, 2014, Prestige appealed to the Court of Appeal of the State of California (“Court of Appeal”). On March 22, 2016, the Court of Appeal held that the Superior Court erred by relying on Section 473 (b), and remand the matter for further proceedings including a determination of whether the default judgment should be set aside pursuant to the court’s inherent equitable power.
On October 17, 2016, the Superior Court granted the motion to set aside the default judgment relying on its equitable powers. Again, Prestige appealed. On January 22, 2019, the Court of Appeal affirmed the order of the Superior Court relieving Chenhwat from the default judgment.
This case was awarded as “Top Ten Foreign-related Legal Service Cases of Jiangsu Province” in 2018.