Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-almd-2_15-cv-00465/USCOURTS-almd-2_15-cv-00465-2/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
James River Insurance Company
Plaintiff
Mickey Phillips
Defendant
Retro, LLC
Defendant
Rewind
Defendant
Natalie Lina Richardson
Defendant
Jessica Lynn Tompkins
Defendant

Document Text:

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF ALABAMA

NORTHERN DIVISION

JAMES RIVER INSURANCE CO., )

)

Plaintiff, )

)

v. )

)

CASE NO. 2:15-CV-465-WKW

(WO)

RETRO, LLC, et al., )

)

Defendants. )

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

Before the court is Plaintiff James River Insurance Company’s motion for 

default judgment against Defendants Retro, LLC d/b/a Rewind (“Retro”), and 

Mickey Phillips. (Doc. # 39); see Fed. R. Civ. P. 55(b).

On October 16, 2015, the Clerk of the Court entered default against Retro 

and Phillips. (Doc. # 29.) The well-pleaded allegations of the complaint state a 

cause of action for declaratory judgment against Retro and Phillips. Further, for 

the reasons stated in the June 9, 2016 Memorandum Opinion and Order (Doc. # 

51), under Alabama law, Plaintiff is entitled to a declaratory judgment that it owes 

no duty to defend or indemnify Retro or Phillips with respect to the state court 

lawsuits filed by Jessica Lynn Tompkins and Natalie Lina Richardson. See Tyco 

Fire & Sec., LLC v. Alcocer, 218 F. App’x 860, 863 (11th Cir. 2007) (“Before 

entering a default judgment . . . , the district court must ensure that the wellCase 2:15-cv-00465-WKW-GMB Document 55 Filed 07/20/16 Page 1 of 2
2

pleaded allegations in the complaint, which are taken as true due to the default, 

actually state a substantive cause of action and that there is a substantive, sufficient 

basis in the pleadings for the particular relief sought.”).

Accordingly, it is ORDERED that Plaintiff James River Insurance 

Company’s motion for default judgment against Retro and Phillips (Doc. # 39) is 

GRANTED.

Final declaratory judgment will be entered separately.

DONE this 20th day of July, 2016. 

 /s/ W. Keith Watkins 

CHIEF UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

Case 2:15-cv-00465-WKW-GMB Document 55 Filed 07/20/16 Page 2 of 2