ISSUE
Must the Statement in Support of a Default Judgment be signed by an attorney or a person who has filed a Form 50 when the plaintiff
is an artificial entity?

SHORT ANSWER
If the artificial entity is represented by an attorney or someone who has filed a Form 50, the person who signs the Statement does not
need to be an attorney or to file a Form 50.

The appropriate qualification for signing the Statement is personal knowledge of the facts to which the person attests.

DISCUSSION

Supreme Court Rule 57 provides that persons prosecuting or defending a civil action in the Justice of the Peace Court need not be an
attorney if they file a certificate of representation with the Chief Magistrate. However, a person need not be an attorney or have filed
a Form 50 to sign a Statement in Support of a Default Judgment (Civil Form 13) for an artificial entity when it is already represented
by an attorney or a person who has filed a Form 50. The Statement in Support of a Default Judgment is an affidavit.

See Superior Court Rule 55(b)(1). Superior Court Rule 55(b)(1) requires that to obtain a default judgment, an affidavit must be
signed which states that the party against whom judgment is sought is not an infant or an incompetent person; that the party has made
default in appearance in the action; and that the amount shown by the statement is justly due and owing and that no part thereof has
been paid).
1 Because this is the same information which is required to be supplied in Civil Form 13, and that Form must be signed and notarized,
it is clear that Civil Form 13 is also an affidavit. Because an affidavit is evidence, it need not be signed by an attorney for an artificial
entity.
2 See Coro Federal Credit Union v. Cameo Club of Newport, R.I. Supr., 161 A.2d 410, 411 (1960) (affidavit for default judgment
by treasurer of corporation would be permitted, but affidavit by attorney). On the contrary, in many cases, it should not be signed by
the attorney. Justice of the Peace Court Rule 5 (and Superior Court Rule 11) provide that with respect to pleadings, motions and
other papers, the signer is certifying to the best of the signer's knowledge, information, and belief, formed after an inquiry reasonable
under the circumstances, that the factual contentions have evidentiary support. However, the standards for an affidavit are different.

The requirements of an affidavit to secure a default judgment are substantially the same as those required to secure a summary
judgment. Coro, 161 A.2d at 411; cf. Selly v. Fleming Coal Co., Del. Super.,180 A.326, 328 (1935) (referring to a summary
judgment by default).

Superior Court Civil Rule 56 (e) states that supporting affidavits for summary judgment shall be made on personal knowledge, shall
set forth such facts as would be admissible in evidence and shall show affirmatively that the affiant is competent to testify to the
matters stated therein. Thus, the standard is higher for swearing to an affidavit for default than for a pleading.
See also Miller v. Rondeau, Mich. App., 436 N.W. 2d 393, 396 (1988) (stating in the context of a motion to vacate a default
judgment, that the requirements regarding the form of verification for a pleading and the form of an affidavit are significantly different -
a pleading may be verified merely by information, knowledge and belief, while an affidavit must be made on personal knowledge).
Superior Court Rule 55(b)(1) provides that either the party or the party's attorney may sign the affidavit in support of the default
judgment.

However, as provided under Superior Court Rule 56(e), the person signing the affidavit must do so on personal knowledge.
See Conti v. Geffrey, R.I. Supr., 486 A.2d 579, 581 (1985). In Conti, the Rhode Island Supreme Court ruled that the attorney was
not competent to sign the affidavit for default where the complaint alleged the defendant owed a sum of money on book account for
goods sold and delivered and for services rendered to repair a leaky roof. Although she was familiar with the business' books and
records, the Court held that without a showing that she had been in charge of keeping such books and records in the ordinary course
of business, she would not have been competent to testify concerning the books and records of the business. The Court also noted
that she would not have been competent to testify concerning the quality of the repairs that had been performed.

See also Coro, 161 A.2d at 411 (suggesting that the company's treasurer or person in charge of the books would be the best person
to sign the affidavit). In contrast, in Marks v. B.A. Davis Construction Corp., R.I. Supr., 546 A.2d 883 (1988), the Court upheld the
competency of an attorney to sign the affidavit of default. In that case, the defendants had asserted only that the affidavit did not
comply with Rhode Island Superior Court Civil Rule 55(b)(3) which requires that no judgment by default shall be entered until the
filing of an affidavit from the affiant's own knowledge setting forth facts showing that the defendant is not a person in military service.

Thus, only the issue of the attorney's competence to attest to this fact was at issue and the Court found that the attorney, from
working on the case, did have personal knowledge concerning this fact. Thus, the affidavit must be signed by someone with personal
knowledge.

However, it need not be signed by an attorney or person registered under Form 50 when the plaintiff is an artificial entity and is
appropriately represented.



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