A motion for default judgment in federal court is the second step of a two-stage process under Rule 55: after the clerk enters default against a non-responding defendant, you file a motion asking the court to convert that entry into an enforceable judgment for a specific amount of relief. The motion has to prove jurisdiction, show that the complaint states a valid claim on facts now deemed admitted, include an affidavit about the defendant’s military status, document damages with evidence, and stay within the ceiling set by your original complaint.
Get the Entry of Default First
You cannot skip to the motion. Rule 55(a) requires the clerk to formally note on the docket that the defendant was properly served and failed to answer or otherwise respond within the time allowed. You request this by filing a short application with an affidavit of service and non-response.1Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 55 – Default; Default Judgment
The entry of default is administrative. It gives you no money and no enforceable order. What it does is establish on the record that liability is no longer contested. A motion for default judgment filed without this entry in place will be denied as premature.
Clerk Track or Court Track
Rule 55(b) creates two paths, and the shorter one is only available in a narrow set of cases.
When the Clerk Can Enter Judgment
If your claim is for a sum certain, meaning an amount that can be calculated from the face of a contract, promissory note, or similar document, the clerk can enter judgment without a motion to the judge. This applies only when the defendant never appeared and is not a minor or an incompetent person. You submit a request with an affidavit stating the exact amount due, and the clerk enters judgment for that amount plus costs.1Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 55 – Default; Default Judgment
Straightforward debt collection fits this track. Anything involving judgment calls on damages does not.
When You Need a Motion to the Judge
Every other situation requires a motion under Rule 55(b)(2). That includes cases where the defendant made some appearance before falling silent, cases involving minors or incompetent persons, and any case where damages are not fixed by documentation.1Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 55 – Default; Default Judgment Most default judgment work ends up here.
What the Motion Must Contain
Treat the motion as a self-contained package. The judge should be able to sign a proposed order without asking follow-up questions. Missing pieces mean delay or denial.
Caption, Procedural History, and Jurisdiction
Open with the standard caption and a concise timeline: complaint filed, defendant served, response deadline, clerk’s entry of default. Then establish both subject-matter jurisdiction (why the case belongs in federal court) and personal jurisdiction (why this court has authority over the defendant). Judges check jurisdiction independently in default cases, so a bare assertion is not enough.
A Showing That the Complaint States a Claim
The default admits the well-pleaded factual allegations, but it does not admit legal conclusions or implausible allegations. The motion should argue that if every well-pleaded fact is taken as true, the law entitles you to the relief you are requesting. Judges apply the same plausibility standard used on a motion to dismiss before entering judgment, so walk through the elements of each claim and point to the specific facts in the complaint that satisfy them.
The SCRA Affidavit
Federal law requires an affidavit addressing whether the defendant is on active military duty before any default judgment can be entered against an individual. The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act protects service members from losing cases while deployed or otherwise unable to respond. The affidavit must state either that the defendant is not in military service or that you were unable to determine the status.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 50 USC 3931 – Default Judgments
The Department of Defense maintains a verification tool at scra.dmdc.osd.mil that produces a certificate for attachment to your affidavit.3Department of Defense. SCRA – Servicemembers Civil Relief Act If the defendant is on active duty, the court cannot enter default judgment and must appoint an attorney to represent them. Filing a false SCRA affidavit is a federal crime punishable by a fine, up to one year in prison, or both.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 50 USC 3931 – Default Judgments
Damages Evidence and the Rule 54(c) Ceiling
Include an affidavit detailing your damages with supporting exhibits: contracts, invoices, account statements, itemized calculations. When the amount is fixed or computable from documentation, the affidavit and exhibits may be enough. When it depends on judgment calls, such as pain and suffering or lost business value, the judge may set an evidentiary hearing.
One rule catches people off guard. Under Rule 54(c), a default judgment cannot award more than, or a different kind of relief from, what the complaint demanded.4Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 54 – Judgment; Costs If the complaint asked for $100,000, the motion cannot request $150,000, even if you have since discovered additional losses. The original demand functions as a ceiling. When actual damages exceed the complaint’s number, you may need to amend the complaint before seeking default judgment.
Post-Judgment Interest
Post-judgment interest is not discretionary. Under 28 U.S.C. § 1961, interest accrues automatically from the date the judgment is entered, calculated at the weekly average one-year Treasury yield published by the Federal Reserve for the week before the judgment date, and compounds annually.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 1961 – Interest In early 2026 these weekly rates ran roughly 3.48% to 3.70%.6United States Courts. Post Judgment Interest Rates
The proposed order should reference the statutory rate rather than a fixed percentage, since the applicable rate depends on the week judgment is entered.
Attorney Fees
If a contract or fee-shifting statute entitles you to fees, include a separate affidavit from counsel documenting them. Courts evaluate fee requests using the lodestar method: a reasonable hourly rate multiplied by reasonable hours spent on the case. The affidavit should attach contemporaneous time records, state the hourly rate, and explain why both are reasonable for the market and the complexity of the work. Courts regularly reduce requests they view as inflated, even in uncontested proceedings.
Proposed Order
Attach a proposed order for the judge’s signature specifying the total judgment amount, the post-judgment interest calculation method, any awarded attorney fees, and any other relief. Confirm the proposed total does not exceed the complaint’s demand.
Filing and Serving the Motion
File the complete package through the court’s electronic filing system, which in most federal districts is CM/ECF. Follow every local rule on formatting, page limits, and exhibit labeling. Local rules vary between districts, and a filing acceptable in one court may be rejected in another.
Whether you must serve the defaulting defendant depends on whether they ever appeared. If the defendant never filed anything, Rule 55(b)(2) does not require service of the motion. If the defendant made any formal appearance in the case, even a single filing, you must serve written notice at least seven days before any hearing.1Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 55 – Default; Default Judgment
When service is required and you serve by means outside the electronic filing system, file a certificate of service documenting how and when.7Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 5 – Serving and Filing Pleadings and Other Papers Many practitioners serve the motion even when the rule does not require it. If the judgment is later challenged, documented notice strengthens your position.
How Judges Decide the Motion
Default judgment is not automatic. The judge has discretion, and federal courts exercise it seriously because of a general institutional preference for resolving cases on the merits.
Many federal courts weigh a set of factors including the prejudice to the plaintiff if the motion is denied, the merits of the claim, whether the complaint meets federal pleading standards, whether the requested damages are proportionate to the alleged harm, whether the underlying facts appear genuinely disputed, whether the defendant’s silence might be excusable, and the general policy favoring decisions on the merits.8GovInfo. USCOURTS-caed-1_17-cv-00056 The last factor always weighs against granting default judgment, so the others need to clearly favor you. A well-drafted motion addresses each of these explicitly rather than leaving the judge to fill in the analysis.
Prove-Up Hearings on Damages
Winning liability by default does not mean winning damages by default. When the amount can be calculated from documents, the judge typically rules on the papers. When it requires testimony or credibility calls, the court may set a prove-up hearing: a brief evidentiary proceeding where you present witnesses, documents, or expert testimony to establish the number.1Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 55 – Default; Default Judgment The court has independent authority to conduct an accounting or investigate any matter it deems necessary before fixing the final amount. Prepare for such a hearing the way you would prepare for a trial on damages.
The Risk of Vacatur
A defendant can move to set aside the clerk’s entry of default for “good cause” under Rule 55(c), which is a relatively forgiving standard focused on how promptly they acted, whether they have a real defense, and whether reopening would unfairly harm you.1Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 55 – Default; Default Judgment Once the judgment itself is entered, the bar rises: the defendant must satisfy Rule 60(b) grounds such as mistake, excusable neglect, newly discovered evidence, fraud, or voidness, and the motion must be filed within a reasonable time, with a one-year outer limit for the first several grounds.9Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 60 – Relief from a Judgment or Order A careful motion at the front end, with clean service, clear jurisdiction, plausible allegations, and documented damages, reduces the openings a defendant can exploit later.
After the Judgment: Collection
A signed judgment is a court order, not a payment. Under Rule 69, enforcement of a federal money judgment follows the procedures of the state where the district court sits, so the tools available to you (wage garnishment, bank levies, property liens) depend on state law.10Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 69 – Execution The typical first step is obtaining a writ of execution from the clerk, which directs the U.S. Marshal to seize the defendant’s assets to satisfy the judgment.11U.S. Marshals Service. Writ of Execution The writ is normally limited to execution within the state where the district court sits, and the creditor may need to post an indemnity bond and advance the Marshal’s out-of-pocket expenses. Assets in another state generally require domesticating the judgment there before you can reach them. Collection is often the hardest part of the whole process, and it is worth a separate conversation with counsel who handles enforcement.