Unaware of an Adverse Judgment Against You or Your Business?

Are you or your company subject to an adverse judgment that you did not know about?

A Claimant is able to request and obtain default judgment under Civil Procedural Rule 12, where a Defendant fails to respond to a claim. This can have detrimental consequences, as an adverse judgment negatively impacts an individual and a companies ability to obtain credit.

Once a claim is issued, a Defendant has 14 days in which to respond to the claim. However, filing a document called an acknowledgement of service extends this period by a further 14 days, for a total of 28 days. Further extensions may be agreed by consent between the parties.

However, it is not uncommon for a claim to go unnotice. There may be a plethora of reasons why you or your business missed a claim, failed to respond and now face an adverse judgment.

In setting aside judgment, you must be able to show that you have a reasonable prospect in defending the claim or that there is a good reason why the claim should be disposed of at trial. You must also move quickly, as any application to set aside the judgment is required to be made promptly. You may be penalised, or even have an onward application refused, where you fail to act in a timely manner.

However, pursuing an application for and successfully setting aside judgment will likely involve a level of incurred cost and does not dispose of the claim presented. Therefore, before commencing an application, you must genuinely consider the viability of any defence, the costs involved, the value of the claim and your attitude to risk and litigation.

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If you or your business require assistance in addressing an adverse judgment, please contact our Litigation department who will be more than willing and able to assist your needs.