CONFESSION OF JUDGMENT
A procedure whereby a defendant did not enter a
plea, the usual response to a plaintiff ’s declaration
in COMMON-LAW PLEADING, but instead either
confessed to the accuracy of the plaintiff ’s claim or
withdrew a plea already entered.
The result of a confession of judgment was
that judgment was entered for the plaintiff on
the confession alone without further proceed-
ings being required.
A confession of judgment could also be
accomplished if the plaintiff offered a cognovit
actionem, a written confession made out earlier
by the defendant. A creditor could demand that
a borrower sign a cognovit note when the debtor
first became indebted to the creditor. The cog-
novit note said in writing that the debtor owed a
particular sum and voluntarily submitted him-
self or herself to the authority of the court. If the
debtor later fell into arrears, the creditor could
obtain a judgment against the debtor without even bothering to notify the debtor of the proceedings. A warrant of attorney served the same
purpose as a cognovit note. The unfairness of
the procedure has prompted most states to enact
laws making agreements for the confession of
judgment void.
