ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE

This is a judicial order directing an adversarial party of a case to come to court to convince the judge why the relief or request asked of the judge by either (a) the other party or (b) by the judge on her own (sua sponte) should not be granted. While both sides have the ability to convince the judge equally to grant or deny an order, there are usually requirements needed to allow the judge to grant an order to show cause. For example, a defendant who had a default judgment against the defendant entered, may bring an order to show cause why the case should resume allowing the defendant to defend him or herself (and usually requiring an excuse, such as that the defendant was never served of notice to appear when the decision was made.)