APPLYING TO HAVE JUDGMENT SET ASIDE: BE QUICK TO BE SAFE: DELAY IN MAKING APPLICATION MEANT IT WAS “RIGHT ON THE LINE”
In Mountain Ash Portfolio Ltd v Vasilyev [2021] EWHC 1853 (Comm) Stephen Houseman QC, sitting as a Deputy High Court Judge, set aside a default judgment. However this was done by the narrowest of margins, the delay in making the…
APPLYING TO SET ASIDE DEFAULT JUDGMENT: A DRAFT DEFENCE IS NOT MANDATORY, BUT ITS ABSENCE MAY WELL BE TELLING
In Alli-Balogun v On the Beach Ltd & Ors [2021] EWHC 1702 (QB) Mr Justice Jacobs considered the relevant criteria for a party seeking to set aside a default judgment on the merits. The defendant in this case did not…
DEFENDANTS FAIL TO HAVE DEFAULT COSTS CERTIFICATE OF US$3 MILLION SET ASIDE: DRAFT POINTS OF DISPUTE NOT AVAILABLE AT THE APPLICATION
In National Bank of Kazakhstan & Anor v The Bank of New York Mellon SA/NV, London Branch & Ors [2021] EWHC B7 (Costs) Costs Judge Rowley refused an application by the defendants to set aside a default costs certificate. This…
BEREAVEMENT DAMAGES IN THE “DIS-UNITED” KINGDOM: THE “POSTCODE LOTTERY” FOLLOWING A FATAL ACCIDENT
The Association of Personal Injury lawyers made a presentation yesterday in relation to re-consideration of the law relating to bereavement damages in the UK. It point, in particular, to the differences between the law in England,Wales and Northern Irelan compared…
SERVICE OF DEFENCE BY EMAIL NOT GOOD SERVICE: RELIEF FROM SANCTIONS REQUIRED TO SET ASIDE JUDGMENT (AND GRANTED)
The judgment of Mr Justice Calver in Ipsum Capital Ltd v Lyall & Ors [2020] EWHC 3508 (Comm) shows the dangers of serving documents by email. The judge held that service of a defence by email was not good service…
A PANDEMIC DOESN’T STOP YOU TICKING A BOX: DEFENDANT’S APPLICATION FOR ADJOURNMENT OF DEFAULT JUDGMENT APPLICATION REFUSED
In Glenn v Kline [2020] EWHC 3182 (QB) Mr Justice Nicklin refused the defendant’s application for an adjournment of an application for judgement in default of acknowledgement of service. The reasons provided by the defendant, including COVID, did not provide…
ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF SERVICE FILED LATE – BUT JUDGMENT IN DEFAULT WAS IRREGULAR AND SET ASIDE: A REMINDER THAT THE RULES HAVE CHANGED
The judgment of Mr Justice Choudhury in MB v RBG [2020] EWHC 3022 (QB) is the first I have seen considering the new provisions of CPR 12.3 and the circumstances in which a default judgment can be set aside. It…
COVID REPEATS 48: REPLIES AND DEFENCE TO COUNTERCLAIM: A PRIMER
Today we are taking a look back at what turned out to be the second most read post on this blog in 2016. The basic rules about when to file a Reply and, more importantly, a defence to counterclaim. A…
JUDGMENT IN DEFAULT – AFTER DEFENCE IS DUE BUT WHEN DEFENCE IS FILED LATE: ISSUE TO BE DETERMINED BY THE COURT OF APPEAL
An earlier post dealt with rule changes that come into force in April in relation to default judgment being entered. The new rules make it clear that judgment cannot be entered if the court has received an acknowledgement of service…
NEW RULES ON ENTERING A DEFAULT JUDGMENT WHERE ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF SERVICE OR DEFENCE IS FILED LATE
We have looked several times at the cases (sometimes conflicting cases) about whether a defence can be filed late. In some cases it has been held that a claimant faced with a late defence can enter default judgment even when…
SETTING ASIDE JUDGMENT IN DEFAULT: DEFENDANT’S SOLICITOR FAILED TO NOTICE THAT PARTICULARS OF CLAIM HAD BEEN SERVED WITH THE CLAIM FORM
The judgment of HH Judge Hodge QC (sitting as a HIgh Court Judge) in Praetura Asset Finance Ltd v Hood [2019] EWHC 2231 (Comm) shows how important it is to check what has been served. The one, overwhelming, lesson for…
COURT ENTERS JUDGMENT IN DEFAULT OF DEFENCE – SIDESTEPPING THE LATE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF SERVICE ARGUMENT: DENTON PRINCIPLES APPLIES
In Hanson & Ors v Carlino & Anor [2019] EWHC 1940 (Ch) Mrs Justice Falk neatly sidestepped the vexed question of when a claimant can enter judgment in default of acknowledgement of service by entering judgment in default of defence. …
CAN YOU ENTER JUDGMENT IN DEFAULT WHEN THE DEFENCE IS SERVED LATE? HIGH COURT DECISION THAT SAYS NOT
In Clements Smith v Berrymans Lace Mawer Service Co. & Anor [2019] EWHC 1904 (QB) Master McCloud considered the issue of whether a judgment entered after a defence had been filed late was a regular judgment. Permission was given to…
CLAIMANT CANNOT ENTER JUDGMENT AFTER ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF SERVICE IS FILED LATE: DENTON PRINCIPLES APPLIED TO GRANT DEFENDANT EXTENSION OF TIME TO DISPUTE THE JURISDICTION
The judgment in Cunico Resources NV & Ors v Daskalakis & Anor [2018] EWHC 3382 (Comm) addresses several procedural issues. Firstly the much debated question of whether a claimant can obtain judgment when the defendant has acknowledged service late. Mr Justice…
APPLYING FOR AN EXTENSION OF TIME FOR FILING A DEFENCE – AFTER THE DEFENCE IS DUE: DENTON PRINCIPLES APPLIED: FULL TRANSCRIPT NOW AVAILABLE
The judgment of Deputy Master Pickering in Billington v Davies & Anor [2016] EWHC 1919 (Ch) has only recently appeared on BAILLI. It raises an interesting issue of how the courts should approach the question of a late application to extend…
RESPONDENT CAN STILL RAISE ISSUES ON DAMAGES AFTER LIABILITY IS DETERMINED: IMPORTANT POINT ON PROTECTING AN APPLICANT AS TO COSTS
The Court of Appeal decision in Office Equipment Systems Ltd v Hughes [2018] EWCA Civ 1842 is in relation to procedure in the Employment Tribunal. However there are two points in the judgment that are of general importance to civil practitioners. …
SERVICE OF THE CLAIM FORM: DEFENDANT’S LAST KNOWN ADDRESS: CLAIMANT’S “REASON TO BELIEVE”: A FEW POINTS TO WATCH
In Wards Solicitors v Hendawi [2018] EWHC 1907 (Ch) HHJ Paul Matthews (sitting as a judge of the High Court) considered the issue of whether a claimant had “reason to believe” that a defendant did not live at the address…
SETTING JUDGMENT ASIDE: LIMITATION, SECTION 33 AND DENTON: CARDS ON THE TABLE PLEASE – THIS IS THE CPR
In TPE v Franks [2018] EWHC 1765 (QB) Mr Justice Julian Knowles set aside a default judgment. The case contains some important observations as to how the courts should consider an application to set aside a default judgment – considering…
INSURANCE COMPANY ENTITLED TO EXEMPLARY DAMAGES AGAINST FRAUDSTERS: COURT OF APPEAL DECISION TODAY
In Axa Insurance UK Plc v Financial Claims Solutions Ltd & Ors [2018] EWCA Civ 1330 the Court of Appeal held that an insurance company was entitled to exemplary damages against parties who had attempted to defraud it. “the present case…
SETTING ASIDE A DEFAULT JUDGMENT DURING CLOSING SUBMISSIONS AT TRIAL: A “HIGHLY UNUSUAL CASE”
I am grateful to barrister Robert Smith for sending me a copy of the judgment of His Honour Judge Gargan in the case of Jackson -v- Durham County Council & ors (20th December 2017). The judgment dealt with the issue…