Ellis v Palss Pty Ltd (McDonald's East Victoria Park)

The applicant, Ellis, sought to set aside default judgment orders made against him in the Magistrates Court of Western Australia at Perth. The respondent, Palss Pty Ltd (trading as McDonald's East Victoria Park), had obtained these orders in Ellis's absence. Ellis subsequently applied to have these orders set aside.

The primary legal issue before the Court was whether the default judgment orders made against Ellis in his absence should be set aside. This involved considering the principles governing applications to set aside default judgments, particularly where the applicant has failed to appear at the hearing where the orders were made. A secondary issue concerned the costs of the application to set aside the orders, given Ellis's non-appearance.

Judge Lucev applied the well-established principles for setting aside default judgments. The Court considered that the applicant must demonstrate either a meritorious defence to the claim or that the judgment was irregular. In this instance, the Court found that Ellis had not provided sufficient evidence to establish a meritorious defence. Furthermore, the Court noted that Ellis had failed to appear at the hearing where the default judgment was entered, and subsequently failed to appear at the hearing of his application to set aside those orders. This repeated non-appearance weighed heavily against granting the application.

The application to set aside the default judgment orders was dismissed. The Court ordered that Ellis pay the costs of the dismissed application.