The defendants brought a motion to set aside a noting in default and a subsequent default judgment of over $1.1 million.
The plaintiff had obtained the default judgment without notifying the defendants, despite ongoing settlement discussions and an earlier agreement to hold the action in abeyance pending a jurisdictional challenge.
The court found that the defendants moved promptly upon learning of the judgment, adequately explained the default as resulting from a reasonable belief that the action was in abeyance, and demonstrated an arguable defence on the merits regarding the termination of the distributorship agreement.
The motion was granted and the default judgment was set aside.
