Default judgment in a Schedule A case: a seller's checklist

A federal court order arrived – possibly weeks ago – and the marketplace account is frozen. The case was filed under the "Schedule A" complaint model, a plaintiff named dozens of sellers at once, and the docket moved fast. If no one appeared on the seller's behalf, the court may have entered a default. That is the moment most sellers discover they have a problem: not when the suit was filed, but when the funds stop moving.

TL;DRA default judgment in a Schedule A case is a federal-court ruling entered against a seller who did not respond to the complaint in time. It can convert a temporary restraining order into a permanent injunction and a money judgment – but entry of default is not the end of the road. The procedural path to vacating or limiting the judgment depends on timing, the grounds for non-appearance, and what the complaint actually alleges.

This checklist works through the situation phase by phase: what has already happened procedurally, what needs to happen immediately, the decision points along the way, and the trade-offs between contesting the judgment and negotiating a resolution. Each section opens with the single most important action in that phase.

Phase 1: Understand what a "default" and a "default judgment" actually are

Entry of default and entry of default judgment are two separate procedural events – and the distinction changes your options.

When a seller fails to respond to a federal complaint within the deadline, the plaintiff can ask the clerk of the court to enter default. That is a notation on the docket. It does not, by itself, award money or finalize the injunction. A default judgment is the separate order – usually entered by the judge after a motion – that does impose liability, often including a damages figure and a permanent ban on selling the identified goods. In Schedule A cases, courts sometimes enter a default judgment quickly after a short damages inquest, particularly where the plaintiff submits the matter on papers rather than a live hearing.

Why does the gap matter? Because the standard to vacate a default (the notation) is lower than the standard to vacate a default judgment (the order). The earlier the seller acts, the more procedural room there is. In matters we handle, sellers who surface before judgment is entered have meaningfully more options than those who appear only after damages have been set.

Checklist – Phase 1:

• Pull the federal court docket – use PACER to find the case by the seller's business name, storefront name, or known marketplace ID.
• Identify the docket number and the judge assigned.
• Confirm whether the clerk has entered default (a "Clerk's Entry of Default") and whether a default judgment order has been separately entered.
• Find the date of default entry – this is the clock-start for several motions.
• Read the complaint's Schedule A attachment to confirm the seller is in fact named.
• Identify all accounts and payment processors listed in any restraining order – these determine the scope of the asset freeze.

Phase 2: How did the case reach this point without the seller knowing?

Schedule A cases are designed to move before defendants are aware – and understanding the mechanism is the first step to explaining non-appearance.

The SAD scheme – Schedule A Defendants – is a litigation model used heavily in trademark and copyright cases in US federal courts, particularly in the Northern District of Illinois. A plaintiff files a single complaint naming a large number of foreign or domestic online sellers on a sealed Schedule A. The court often grants a temporary restraining order (TRO) and an asset freeze before the case is served or unsealed. By the time a seller's Amazon account is frozen, the case is already at an advanced stage. Marketplace payment holds and restraining orders are served on Amazon directly; many sellers receive no notice at all until the account balance shows zero or the disbursement stops.

This is not an excuse in the legal sense – but it is relevant. Courts considering a motion to vacate default or default judgment apply a multi-factor test that includes whether the defendant has a meritorious defense and whether the default resulted from excusable neglect. A seller who genuinely had no notice of the suit, because it was filed under seal and the first communication was a frozen account, may have a credible basis to satisfy the "good cause" or excusable-neglect element. We regularly see dockets where the gap between the TRO and the seller's discovery of the case is several weeks or more – which is a material fact in that analysis.

For a full account of how these cases are structured from the TRO stage forward, see our guide on Schedule A / TRO defense for sellers.

Checklist – Phase 2:

• Document the first date the seller received any notice – marketplace notification, payment freeze, email from any party.
• Check whether the complaint was filed under seal and when it was unsealed.
• Confirm whether the marketplace's asset-freeze notice included a case caption or contact information for plaintiff's counsel.
• Save all communications from Amazon, Payoneer, WorldFirst, or any payment processor referencing the freeze.
• Note the gap between the TRO date and the seller's actual knowledge – this is a fact a court will want to understand.
• Do not contact plaintiff's counsel yet without understanding the full docket posture.

Phase 3: Is a default judgment actually final?

A default judgment can be vacated – but the available grounds and the difficulty of the motion depend on where the case is procedurally.

Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b), a party may seek relief from a final judgment on several grounds, including mistake, inadvertence, excusable neglect, fraud, void judgment (for example, lack of personal jurisdiction), or "any other reason that justifies relief." The last ground is narrow but real. In Schedule A cases, personal jurisdiction and proper service are frequent targets because the complaints name sellers across multiple states and countries, and service under seal is not always properly effected.

The standard test a court applies when a defendant seeks to vacate default or default judgment asks three questions: (1) Did the defendant act promptly after learning of the judgment? (2) Does the defendant have a meritorious defense? (3) Would the plaintiff be unfairly prejudiced by vacatur? On the first question, acting quickly is the most important practical variable the seller controls at this stage. Delay after learning of a default is the single most common reason courts deny relief. On the second, a meritorious defense does not mean a guaranteed win – it means the defense has enough substance that a trial would be appropriate. On the third, courts rarely find prejudice from a prompt, early motion.

The myth that being named in a Schedule A case means an automatic loss is exactly that – a myth. Courts regularly vacate defaults where the defendant was not properly served, lacked jurisdiction, or presents a colorable defense on the merits. The judgment becomes much harder to challenge if the seller waits, but the option does not disappear immediately.

Checklist – Phase 3:

• Confirm the exact date the default judgment was entered – this is the starting date for any Rule 60 motion.
• Assess promptness: how much time has elapsed since the seller became aware of the judgment?
• Identify potential defenses: lack of personal jurisdiction over the seller; improper joinder of unrelated sellers on one Schedule A; the plaintiff's trademark or copyright registration is defective; the seller's goods were authorized or genuine; the seller is not in the correct Schedule A entry at all.
• Check whether the bond posted by the plaintiff in connection with the TRO was adequate – an inadequate bond may support a challenge.
• Determine whether the damages figure in the judgment is statutory or was calculated – statutory damages in IP cases can be significant, but a properly mounted damages challenge, or a showing of innocent infringement, may reduce them.
• Do not acknowledge liability in any communication before consulting counsel.

Phase 4: What are the immediate procedural steps?

The day a seller understands a default judgment exists, the clock on meaningful relief is already running.

The most time-sensitive step is deciding whether to file a motion to vacate the default judgment, a motion to modify or dissolve the asset freeze, or both. These are not mutually exclusive. A motion to modify the asset freeze asks the court to release funds that exceed the damages claimed or that are unrelated to the accused goods – it can proceed even while the underlying judgment is contested. A motion to vacate attacks the judgment itself. In some matters, an early motion to modify the freeze is the right first step because it restores operating cash while the larger challenge is prepared. We regularly see sellers whose entire account balance is restrained, including inventory reimbursements and sales of entirely unrelated products, because the freeze order was broad and no one appeared to contest it.

Settlement is a parallel path, not a fallback. Many Schedule A plaintiffs operate at volume – they file many cases and are often open to settlement, particularly with sellers who appear promptly and can demonstrate the accused conduct was limited in scope. A well-structured settlement typically involves a consent judgment or a dismissal with prejudice, a payment negotiated below the default judgment amount, and a release of the asset freeze. The decision between contesting and settling turns on the strength of the seller's defenses, the size of the frozen balance, and the cost and timeline of litigation – a decision matrix we work through in detail with every client.

For context on what a motion to dissolve a restraining order looks like in a comparable marketplace context, the analysis in our piece on what a motion to dissolve a TRO means for marketplace sellers on Walmart covers the overlapping mechanics. Separately, the considerations around modifying an asset freeze – which apply across platforms – are addressed in our guide on what to know about a motion to modify an asset freeze on Etsy.

Checklist – Phase 4:

• Establish the timeline: default entry date, default judgment entry date, date seller first learned, today's date.
• Calculate the gap – promptness is a court-controlled variable; every additional day reduces the argument.
• Identify the plaintiff's counsel from the docket – note their volume of Schedule A filings; it tells you how familiar they are with settlement posture.
• Assess the asset freeze scope: does the frozen amount exceed the damages in the judgment? Are non-accused product revenues included?
• Decide the immediate filing priority: motion to vacate, motion to modify freeze, or both.
• If settlement is in view, do not make a first offer or any admission without a strategy for the release language.
• Preserve all business records that evidence the seller's operations, sourcing, and the specific products at issue – these are the evidentiary foundation for any motion or settlement.

Phase 5: Gather the evidence and documentation you will need

Every motion to vacate a default judgment requires facts – and the seller is the only source of most of them.

Courts do not vacate judgments on legal argument alone. The motion must be supported by declarations, exhibits, and a proposed answer or responsive pleading that sets out the defense. That means the seller needs to produce organized, complete records. In our practice, the most common gap at this stage is the sourcing record – sellers who purchased from a legitimate distributor or authorized channel but cannot now reconstruct the supply chain because invoices were not retained or the supplier is unresponsive.

A second common gap is the account registration record. Schedule A complaints often allege that the seller is a "rogue" foreign counterfeiter. A seller who can document their identity, legal business registration, and the actual source of their goods immediately changes the character of the case. Courts respond differently to a properly documented small business than to an unresponsive entry on a sealed list.

One seller we worked with – a household-goods seller on Amazon US (winter 2025) – came to us after a default judgment had been entered during a period when the account suspension email had been routed to a dormant inbox. The account's frozen balance included funds from unrelated product lines. We moved promptly to vacate the default and simultaneously sought modification of the freeze on the unrelated funds. The seller's complete sourcing records for the accused products, recovered from a supplier in two weeks, were central to the motion. The case was resolved without the full judgment amount being enforced.

Checklist – Phase 5:

• Pull all purchase invoices and supplier communications for the accused products – going back as far as the complaint's "relevant period."
• Gather business registration documents, tax identification, and bank records that confirm the seller's legal identity.
• Save all Amazon seller account records: registration date, performance history, correspondence with Amazon about the freeze.
• Identify any trademark or copyright licenses, brand authorizations, or resale certificates relevant to the accused goods.
• Preserve communications showing when and how the seller first learned of the case.
• Organize the documentation by product ASIN or SKU and match it to the Schedule A allegations.
• If the complaint alleges counterfeiting, gather any authentication records from the brand or an authorized distributor.

Phase 6: Work through the decision matrix – contest, settle, or both in sequence

The right path is not the same for every seller, and the choice between contesting and settling is rarely binary in practice.

If the notice identifies a clear jurisdictional defect – for example, the seller has no US presence and was never properly served – the route is a motion to vacate on jurisdictional and service grounds, on a timeline that depends on how promptly the motion is filed and the court's schedule. If the seller has a documented legitimate sourcing defense but the cost and delay of litigation are prohibitive, the route is a negotiated resolution that leverages the sourcing evidence as settlement currency, usually on a faster timeline than full briefing and argument. If the default judgment amount is disproportionate to the frozen balance, the first step may be a motion to modify the freeze while a parallel settlement discussion proceeds – a hybrid approach that protects cash flow without conceding the underlying dispute.

In matters we handle, sellers who appear promptly and arrive with organized documentation typically have better settlement outcomes than those who wait. Plaintiff's counsel negotiates differently with a represented seller who has moved on the docket than with an unresponsive default entry. The decision matrix also needs to account for the seller's ongoing business: if the account holds significant inventory or ongoing FBA disbursements beyond the accused SKUs, the freeze modification motion is often the highest-priority commercial action even when the underlying contest is also worth pursuing.

A second situation we handle regularly is a seller who was not the actual infringer – they were reselling genuine goods from an authorized channel, or their storefront was confused with a different seller. In those cases, a meritorious-defense argument is strong, and the motion to vacate is often the right first move rather than a negotiated settlement, because settling on a default implies liability that does not exist.

Checklist – Phase 6:

• Map the grounds: jurisdictional defect, improper service, lack of personal jurisdiction, misjoinder, meritorious substantive defense, or some combination.
• Quantify the frozen balance and separate the funds tied to accused SKUs from unrelated funds.
• Estimate the timeline and cost of a full contest against the timeline and cost of a negotiated resolution.
• Assess the plaintiff's litigation posture from the docket – volume filers respond to different signals than single-case plaintiffs.
• Decide whether a freeze modification motion is commercially urgent regardless of the main strategy.
• Do not take any action on the docket – appearance, filing, or communication with plaintiff's counsel – without a clear strategy for each step that follows.

Phase 7: After the motion or settlement – restore the account and close the loop

Winning the legal contest is necessary but not sufficient: the account and payment channels need to be restored through separate steps with Amazon and any payment processors.

A court order vacating the judgment or releasing the freeze does not automatically unblock the Amazon account or release the payment processor hold. Amazon's internal compliance and legal-response teams act on court orders, but the process requires the correct documents submitted through the correct channels – typically a certified copy of the court order, served on Amazon's registered legal contact and also uploaded or communicated through Seller Central's case-log system. Payment processors have their own procedures. Timing matters: disbursement cycles can mean additional delay even after the order is received.

If the case was resolved by settlement, the consent judgment or dismissal order needs to be in the correct form for Amazon to act on it. Settlement agreements that release only some claims, or that are structured as a private agreement without a court order, may not be sufficient to trigger the account or fund release. A well-drafted consent judgment is part of the settlement deliverable, not an afterthought.

Checklist – Phase 7:

• Obtain a certified copy of the vacatur order, dismissal, or consent judgment immediately after entry.
• Serve the order on Amazon Legal and submit through Seller Central simultaneously – do not rely on one channel alone.
• Contact each affected payment processor with the court order and a written request for fund release, referencing the specific case number and account identifiers.
• Track disbursement timing after the hold is released – confirm that the full restrained balance, less any agreed payment, is actually released.
• Review the Amazon account for any related suspension notices that may have been triggered by the freeze – these may require a separate response.
• Retain all court filings, orders, and settlement documents permanently in the business's legal file.

Related areas

• Schedule A / TRO Defense – full practice coverage for Amazon US sellers named as Schedule A defendants
• Complete guide: Schedule A / TRO defense for sellers – procedural overview from TRO through judgment and settlement

If you are at an early stage of a Schedule A matter – perhaps the TRO has just issued and no default has yet been entered – the checklist above still applies as preparation. The earlier it is worked through, the more options remain open. For a read on where your matter stands, email info@tutamenlaw.com.

Frequently asked questions

How long does resolving default judgment in a Schedule A case usually take on Amazon US?

The timeline depends on whether the seller is contesting the judgment in court, negotiating a settlement, or both. A motion to vacate default judgment requires briefing and a hearing; courts handling high-volume Schedule A dockets vary in how quickly they schedule argument. Settlement can move faster – sometimes within several weeks of first contact with plaintiff's counsel – but only if the seller appears promptly and arrives with documentation. The freeze modification, when filed early, can sometimes produce a partial fund release on a shorter timeline than the main case resolves. There is no single answer, but delay by the seller is the factor most likely to extend the timeline unnecessarily.

What are the main risks if I handle default judgment in a Schedule A case alone?

The most serious risk is missing the window for a Rule 60 motion. Courts weigh promptness heavily; an unrepresented seller who spends weeks researching the issue may forfeit the strongest argument for vacatur. A second risk is making inadvertent admissions – in communications with plaintiff's counsel, in Seller Central case logs, or in correspondence with payment processors – that complicate the defense later. A third is structuring a settlement without proper release language, so the freeze is not actually lifted or the consent judgment is not in the form Amazon requires to restore the account. Schedule A cases move on federal litigation timelines; the procedural requirements are not forgiving of informal approaches.

Do I need a lawyer for default judgment in a Schedule A case?

Yes, in almost every situation. A motion to vacate a federal default judgment is a substantive court filing that requires legal drafting, knowledge of the applicable procedural rules, and a supporting record assembled to evidentiary standards. Settlement with an IP plaintiff likewise involves legal drafting and negotiation. The consequences of an unchallenged default judgment – a permanent injunction, a damages award, and a permanently frozen balance – are significant enough that attorney-led representation is not optional in practice. Tutamen's work on Schedule A matters is attorney-led and confidential, with fixed fees quoted up front after a short review of the docket and the seller's records.

About Tutamen

Tutamen is an independent law firm for online marketplace sellers. We represent Amazon, Walmart, Etsy and eBay sellers in account deactivations, frozen-funds recovery, intellectual-property disputes, arbitration and Notices of Dispute, and US federal Schedule A defense, plus EU marketplace regulation. Our work is attorney-led and confidential, with fees quoted up front. We act for founders, brand owners and in-house teams who need a specialist for a marketplace dispute. Our Schedule A practice covers the full range of TRO and asset-freeze defense, motion work, and settlement – on a fixed-fee basis quoted after a short review of the docket. To discuss your situation, email info@tutamenlaw.com.

By Sofia Marchetti – Partner, Schedule A / Federal Defense, Tutamen

Disclaimer: This article is general information, not legal advice, and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Marketplace policies and the law change, and every account and case is different. For advice on your situation, contact Tutamen at info@tutamenlaw.com.