shall be made by delivering a copy personally to any officer or director of the corporation in this State, or the registered agent of the corporation in this State, or by leaving it at the dwelling house or usual place of abode in this State of any officer, director or registered agent (if the registered agent be an individual), or at the registered office or other place of business of the corporation in this State. Church-El v. Bank of New York, 2013 WL 1190013, at *5 (D. Del. Mar. 21, 2013) (quoting 8 Del. C. § 321(a)).
Plaintiff has not demonstrated that Defendant was properly served as required for an entry of default. See id. at *6-7 n.2 (“Before a default can be entered, the court must have jurisdiction over the party against whom the judgment is sought, which also means that the party must have been effectively served with process.” (quoting 10A Charles A. Wright, Arthur R. Miller & Mary K. Kane, Federal Practice and Procedure § 2682, at 14 (3d ed. 1998)) (internal quotation marks omitted)); Church-El v. Bank of New York, Civil No. 11-877 NLH/KMW, 2013 WL 1190013, at *4 (D. Del. March 21, 2013) (“The Third Circuit and multiple district courts within the Circuit have recognized that an entry of default or a default judgment can be set aside if it was not properly entered at the outset, including circumstances where proper service of the complaint is lacking.”).
Because the Court is granting the Republic and PDVSA's motion to vacate the Clerk's entry of default, for the reasons to be explained, it follows that the Court cannot grant Saint-Gobain's motion to enter a default judgment. See Church-El v. Bank of N.Y., 2013 WL 1190013, at *4 (D. Del. Mar. 21, 2013) ("The Third Circuit and multiple district courts within the Circuit have recognized that an entry of default or a default judgment can be set aside if it was not properly entered at the outset, including circumstances where proper service of the complaint is lacking.") (citing cases); Fed. R. Civ. Proc. 55 (explaining that entry of default judgment involves two-step process, beginning with Clerk's entry of default). Further, there is "good cause" to set aside the default against the Republic because it will not prejudice Saint-Gobain (which presumably will have an opportunity after the case is transferred to continue to attempt to collect on its ICSID judgment); the Republic has a meritorious defense to proceeding here (i.e., improper venue); and the default was not the result of the Republic's "culpable conduct" but rather due (at least as it appears from the record) to the change in government in the Republic, the crises that nation is experiencing, and a vast amount of pending li