Lei v Chance Trading Pty Ltd

In the matter of *Lei v Chance Trading Pty Ltd*, the applicant, Lei, sought to set aside a default judgment entered against them in favour of the respondent, Chance Trading Pty Ltd. The dispute arose from an alleged breach of a loan agreement. The application to set aside the default judgment was heard by Judge Riley in the District Court of New South Wales.

The primary legal issue before the court was whether the applicant had established sufficient grounds to set aside the default judgment. This required the court to consider whether the applicant had a meritorious defence to the claim and whether there was a good reason for the delay in filing a defence. The court also had to determine if the default judgment had been irregularly obtained.

Judge Riley applied the principles established in *Colonial Bank of Australasia Ltd v Berridge* and *Commonwealth Bank of Australia v Hasham*, which require a party seeking to set aside a default judgment to demonstrate both a defence on the merits and a satisfactory explanation for the failure to file a defence. The court found that the applicant had failed to provide a sufficiently detailed or credible explanation for their delay in responding to the proceedings. Furthermore, the defence as pleaded was considered to be vague and lacking in particularity, failing to raise a real question to be tried. Consequently, the court concluded that the applicant had not satisfied the necessary criteria for setting aside the default judgment.

The application to set aside the default judgment was dismissed.