From today's decision by Chief Judge Andrew Gordon (D. Nev.) in Patel v. Stewartson (for more on the $100K compensatory damages + $100K punitives default judgment, see this post):
Kashyap Patel and the Kash Foundation, Inc. sued Jim Stewartson for allegedly defamatory statements Stewartson made on Twitter (now, X) and Substack between June 2021 and May 2023…. Stewartson did not defend against the suit, and I entered default judgment against him. Stewartson now moves to set aside the default judgment … and to dismiss the case for lack of personal jurisdiction …. He argues that he was not properly served and that he does not have minimum contacts with Nevada.
The court concluded that Stewartson "has not met his burden to show strong and convincing evidence that he was not served as a result of the plaintiffs' substantial compliance with [the service rule] and his actual notice of the suit." But the court noted uncertainty about who bears the burden of proof as to personal jurisdiction in a default judgment case, and ordered supplemental briefing:
