The High Court has refused a solicitor’s application to set aside a default judgment for €38,747.76, citing an almost three-year delay and the absence of evidence explaining why she did not respond to the claim.
FCR Media Limited, formerly Truvo Ireland Limited, had issued a summary summons against Angela Farrell in September 2009, claiming the sum as due. No appearance was entered, and judgment was recorded by default in September 2010. Farrell brought a motion under Order 13, rule 11 in July 2013 seeking to set it aside.
In affidavits, Farrell raised queries about figures in documents relating to her firm’s account with the company for Golden Pages telephone directory publishing. She asked for the agreement underlying the claim and other documents. The ruling noted that correspondence indicated €84,665 had never been claimed as due and that the balance outstanding was the amount claimed in the summons.
The court said Farrell’s affidavits did not explain how the judgment came to be entered, why she had not acted sooner, or when she learned judgment had been entered. She did not claim that the summons had been improperly served or that she was unaware of the claim. The only explanation offered for her failure to act was that she had been “inundated with other proceedings”.
Justice Cooke said the court had a wide discretion to set aside a default judgment, but needed evidence explaining the failure to appear or defend, evidence of an irregularity or mistake or surprise, and a basis for a bona fide defence with a real prospect of success. He found those elements were not established. Farrell’s queries about the figures were vague, and she did not swear that she had a defence or state its basis, the contract terms she relied on, or what amount she considered properly due.
The court concluded it would be manifestly unjust to deprive the plaintiff of the judgment in light of the unexplained delay. The motion was denied; the ruling did not set aside the default judgment.