Dallas Partner Mark Cronenwett recently secured a decision from a Texas appellate court that affirmed a default judgment in favor of his freight carrier client.
The client, TForce Freight Inc., filed a lawsuit against a baked goods company, seeking to recover over $192,000 in unpaid freight charges. Shortly after service of the lawsuit, the defendant/appellant contacted Lewis Brisbois’ office to try to negotiate a settlement. However, no agreement was reached, and TForce filed a motion for default judgment, which was granted by the trial court.
The baked goods company argued in a motion to reconsider and on appeal that no default judgment should have been entered because it thought it was still engaged in settlement discussions, and never received a copy of the motion for default judgment. The appellant, however, admitted that its mailbox was broken at the time the motion for default judgment was sent to them. The trial court denied the motion to reconsider, leaving in place the default judgment in TForce’s favor. In a June 10 opinion, the Texas Court of Appeals in Dallas affirmed the default judgment, holding that a defendant’s mistaken belief that settlement discussions are ongoing is not an excuse to not answer a motion.
The case is Cake Craft Factory, LLC v. TForce Freight, Inc., No. 05-24-01466-CV, 2026 WL 1685080, 2026 Tex. App. LEXIS 5375 (Tex. App.—Dallas June 10, 2026, no pet. h.)