Diversified Product Industries, Ltd. v. SKYLINE STEEL, LLC, a Corporation

This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent*
except as provided by 9th Cir. R. 36-3.
NOT FOR PUBLICATION
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
DIVERSIFIED PRODUCT
INDUSTRIES, LTD.,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
v.
SKYLINE STEEL, LLC, a Corporation,
Defendant - Appellant.
No. 10-55520
D.C. No. 2:08-cv-03288-GAF-
MAN
MEMORANDUM*
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Central District of California
Gary A. Feess, District Judge, Presiding
Argued and Submitted November 17, 2011
Pasadena, California
Before: GOODWIN, W. FLETCHER, and RAWLINSON, Circuit Judges.
Appellant Skyline Steel, LLC, (Skyline) challenges the district court’s denial
of Skyline’s motion to set aside entry of default and default judgment. Our recent
precedent noted the importance of deciding cases on the merits and established that
FILED
DEC 28 2011
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
U .S. C OU R T OF APPE ALS

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denial of relief from a default judgment is appropriate only in “extreme
circumstances.” United States v. Signed Personal Check No. 730 of Yubran S.
Mesle (Mesle), 615 F.3d 1085, 1091 (9th Cir. 2010) (describing default judgment
as “a drastic step appropriate only in extreme circumstances . . .” and noting that
“[d]ue to the policy of favoring judgments on the merits, a glaring abuse of
discretion is not required for reversal of a court’s refusal to relieve a party of the
harsh sanction of default”) (citation omitted). Mesle was decided after the district
court’s decision in this case, and the district court did not have the benefit of our
reasoning as expressed in Mesle.
Because we are persuaded that Mesle compels a different outcome, we
reverse the district court’s denial of Skyline’s motion to set aside entry of default
and default judgment and remand for further proceedings.
REVERSED AND REMANDED.

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