Haller

Plaintiff Carol Gilbert, Inc., sought to join defendant Amit Haller in this action as a Doe defendant, but served a summons on him that omitted the statutory notice that he was served by that fictitious name. When Haller failed to answer, plaintiff secured a default judgment for some $40,000. The trial court denied Haller’s motion to vacate the judgment, reasoning that the papers served gave him actual notice of the suit and substantially complied with statutory requirements. We question whether such a rationale can ever sustain a default judgment over a defendant’s objection that service did not comply with statutory requirements. Assuming.it can, a finding of substantial compliance can only be sustained where (1) the record shows partial or colorable compliance with the requirement on which the objection is predicated; (2) the service relied upon by the plaintiff imparted actual notice to the defendant that the suit was pending and.that he was bound to defend; and (3) the manner and objective circumstances of service were such as to make it highly likely that it would impart such notice. Because the first of these requirements was not met here, we will reverse the order…