Code of Civil Procedure Article 385

Where one of the parties fails to appear at the oral-argument session, the court may, on the appearing party's motion, enter a default judgment based on the appearing party's arguments; where the party who fails to appear is summoned and fails to appear again, the court may also on its own initiative enter a default judgment based on the appearing party's arguments.The provision of the preceding paragraph shall also apply to cases where the claims must be adjudicated jointly with regard to all co-parties and one of the co-parties appears in the oral-argument session.In entering a judgment provided in the preceding paragraph, the court shall take into consideration any argument made, evidence-taking conducted, or the preparatory pleading submitted by the party who fails to appear; if necessary, the evidence stated by the party who fails to appear shall also be taken.