Legal Blog

Default Judgment

1705371 Ontario Ltd. v. Leeds Contracting Restoration Inc. 2018 Ont SCJ

Under the Rules, a defendant who does not defend is deemed to admit the allegations in the statement of claim. However, default judgment on some claims cannot be dealt with by a Registrar and requests for default judgment need to be brought before a judge on motion. The judge needs to view the materials in this situation to determine, even if the allegations are true, whether there are sufficient facts on which to impose liability and damages. Normally, one does not have to serve the defendant with the motion for judgment. In this case, the judge ordered that the plaintiff serve the motion, not because it is mandatory under the Rules, but because there have been too many instances in which a motion is held, judgment is granted, and then the defendant moves to set aside the judgment. This is a waste of judicial resources.

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