Introduction
A recent High Court decision,1 which arose as an
appeal from a circuit court ruling, has confirmed that a regular
judgment obtained in default of defence should not be set aside in
circumstances where the party which obtained that judgment has
complied with every procedural rule and extended every professional
courtesy to its opponent. The court had to consider whether to set
aside a default judgment obtained by the plaintiff where the
defendant's insurer, having permitted the default judgment to
be obtained, wanted to be given the opportunity of a full hearing
of the defence in the proceedings.
Facts
The case commenced as circuit court proceedings in which the
plaintiff sought damages for injuries he claimed to have suffered
on various dates in 2010 and 2011 during the course of his
employment with the defendant. Various communications passed
between his solicitors and the in-house solicitors at the
defendant's insurer, which ultimately entered an
