Legal Blog

Court of Appeal Dismisses Motion to Set Aside Default Judgment But Does Review and Reduce Damages

Sammut v. Sammut 2018 Ont CA

A judge granted default judgment for $466,000. The defendant moved to set aside the judgment, claiming that she did not receive the relevant legal documents, including the statement of claim. The motions judge decided that she had received appropriate notice and dismissed the motion. The Court of Appeal agreed with the motions judge regarding notice, but held that the motions judge still had to deal with the quantification of damages, which were extensively argued in the motion material. Contrary to the motions judge’s findings, it was not too late for her to have reviewed the damages. The court did review the damages and ultimately reduced the amount of the judgment to $289,000.

Written by Jonathan Speigel, the founding partner of Speigel Nichols Fox LLP, leads the litigation and construction practices.