The opinion
UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT
DISTRICT OF MAINE
In re:
Chapter 7
Northern New England Case No. 19-10564
Diagnostics, LLC,
Debtor
Edmond J. Ford,
Plaintiff
v. Adv. Proc. No. 20-1019
Jorgensen Consulting, LLC,
Defendant
DEFAULT JUDGMENT
On January 26, 2021, the Clerk entered a default against the Defendant in this proceeding
under Fed. R. Civ. P. 55(a). [Dkt. No. 6.] Since then, the Plaintiff has applied for a default
judgment on his complaint, seeking the entry of judgment in his favor and against the Defendant
in the amount of $376,998.64 plus interest, costs, expenses, and attorney’s fees. See [Dkt. Nos. 1 &
7]. After conducting two hearings on the motion for default judgment and considering the signed
statements offered by the Plaintiff in support of the motion [Dkt. Nos. 15 & 16], the Court
concludes that the Plaintiff is entitled to the following relief:
1. Judgment is hereby entered under Fed. R. Civ. P. 55(b)(2) in favor of the Plaintiff and
against the Defendant on Count I of the Plaintiff’s complaint in the amount of $256,280.04.
2. Because the Plaintiff’s claim against the Defendant is premised on state law, the Court looks
to Maine law to determine the applicable rule of prejudgment interest. See Lassman v.
Keefe (In re Keefe), 401 B.R. 520, 526 (B.A.P. Ist Cir. 2009). Under 14 M.R.S. § 1602-
B(3), the applicable rate of prejudgment interest is the one-year United States Treasury bill
rate plus 3%. Prejudgment interest in this matter accrued from November 19, 2020 (the date
the complaint was filed) until the date of this judgment. See 14 M.R.S. § 1602-B(5).
According to the website maintained by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve
System, the interest rate on one-year Treasury bills for the week ending December 27, 2019
was 1.53%. See id. § 1602-B(3)(A) (defining “one-year United States Treasury bill rate” as
the “weekly average one-year constant maturity Treasury yield, as published by the Board of
Governors of the Federal Reserve System, for the last full week of the calendar year
immediately prior to the year in which prejudgment interest begins to accrue”).
Accordingly, prejudgment interest is awarded at the rate of 4.53%.
3. Postjudgment interest in this proceeding is governed by 28 U.S.C. § 1961(a). See In re
Keefe, 401 B.R. at 526. Such interest shall accrue from the date of this judgment at the rate
of 0.09%. See 28 U.S.C. § 1961(a) (“Such interest shall be calculated from the date of the
entry of the judgment, at a rate equal to the weekly average 1-year constant maturity
Treasury yield, as published by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, for
the calendar week preceding[] the date of the judgment.”).
4. The Plaintiff is allowed costs (but not attorney’s fees) under Fed. R. Bankr. P. 7054(b)(1).
Date: June 30, 2021 a Lo
Michael A. Fagone
United States Bankruptcy Judge
District of Maine
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