Volunteer Attorney Set Aside Default Judgment Against Marine

A default judgment involving a landlord/tenant dispute was ordered against a Marine while he was deployed in Afghanistan. The Marine had many problems with his landlord. Thus, before deployment, the Marine took his landlord to small claims court and won a judgment in his favor. However, after the Marine deployed, the landlord appealed and got the judgment reversed in the absence of the Marine, in violation of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA). After the Marine returned to the United States, he visited a military legal assistance attorney to discuss this situation. The military attorney referred the Marine’s case to the ABA Military Pro Bono Project, which placed this case with a volunteer attorney. The volunteer attorney worked with the small claims court and was able to successfully set aside the default judgment against the Marine.