HOUSTON – Attorney John V. Mastriani of the Mastriani Law Firm in Houston has filed a federal lawsuit for a Texas farmer who alleges a fertilizer supplier wrongfully won a default judgment against him.
In the suit filed April 3 in the Houston Division of the Southern District of Texas, Stacey Wayne Dennis argued that he and Pinnacle Agriculture Distribution, doing business as Sanders, were in the midst of settlement discussions for another federal suit when the defendant purportedly took the default judgment without giving him the opportunity to defend himself.
According to Dennis, he was under the impression that he did not need to provide an answer unless settlement talks fell through.
The plaintiff additionally alleged he “was never properly served and waived service.”
“There was no subject matter jurisdiction for the court to render judgment given the intrinsic fraud of the defendant’s attorney in this matter,” court documents say.
Dennis seeks unspecified monetary damages, as well as a retrial between him and the respondent.
Houston Division of the Southern District of Texas Case No. 4:19-CV-1208