ATTORNEY Juan T. Lizama has asked the federal court to vacate the entry of default against his client, Imperial Pacific International LLC, in the lawsuit of Winzy Corp. alleging breach of contract.
Lizama said when the summons and complaint were filed by Winzy Corp. on Oct. 30, 2020, “IPI was having the most difficult time getting an attorney to handle new cases filed against the company.”
Lizama said when Remy Mafnas, IPI compliance administrator, received the amended complaint she was totally unaware that the District Court for the NMI had dismissed the original complaint on Dec. 17, 2020.
“She only copied everyone in her chat group expeditiously the amended complaint, assuming that someone would take care of it,” the lawyer added.
Lizama said by the end of December 2020, Michael Dotts was no longer IPI’s general counsel.
“Attorneys George Hasselback and Stephen Nutting had previously refused to accept representation of IPI in this matter, as had Mr. Dotts. That was only 10 days after the hiring of a new [IPI] chief executive officer, Ray Yumul, on Jan. 22, 2021,” Lizama said.
Citing a previous ruling, Lizama said, “A client’s mistaken assumption that his attorney in other actions…was addressing the matter at issue qualified as excusable neglect.”
He said Mafnas’ “assumption that someone was taking care of the case was unfortunately a mistaken assumption due to the fact that the situation up to the hiring of the new CEO had been most chaotic.”
Lizama said excusable neglect is “attributable to an honest mistake that is compatible with due diligence or reasonable prudence.”
He said granting IPI’s request would not result in any prejudice to the plaintiff. “The fact that a quick resolution of the case is not going to be available is not the type of prejudice considered relevant,” he added.
“No willfulness can be shown and if there is any prejudice to [the] plaintiff if the motion is granted, it could be alleviated by awarding [the] plaintiff the costs as a condition of vacating the default,” Lizama added.
He reiterated that there is good cause to vacate the default for Mafnas’ mistaken belief that the case was eventually going to be handled by an attorney.
Winzy Corp, which is represented by attorney Mark Scoggins, said in the early part of 2020, it entered into an agreement with IPI to provide supervision and consulting services for the casino project.
Winzy said it performed under the terms of the agreement in good faith, and in a good and workmanlike manner, but IPI failed to pay the amounts owed under the agreement, totaling $162,925.
