Recently, Michael Lesage successfully obtained a default judgment for his client after having the defendant’s defences stricken. In the commercial litigation that had been ongoing for approximately two years, several Orders had been made against the defendant, with which he made no effort to comply. In the face of such non-compliance, I moved to have his defences stricken, which after hearing (and further non-compliance) the Ontario Court granted.

The authority to strike a party’s claim or defence is set forth by subrules 57.03(2) and 60.12 of the Ontario Rules of Civil Procedure.

Subrule 57.03(2) provides:

Where a party fails to pay the costs of a motion as required under subrule (1), the court may dismiss or stay the party’s proceeding, strike out the party’s defence or make such other order as is just.

The other rule that comes into play is subrule 60.12 which provides:

Where a party fails to comply with an interlocutory order, the court may, in addition to any other sanction provided by these rules,

1. stay the party’s proceeding;
2. dismiss the party’s proceeding or strike out the party’s defence; or
3. make such other order as is just.

If you need a results oriented civil litigation lawyer, contact our GTA and Hamilton Lawyers at 647-495-8995 to discuss how they could assist with your case.

Michael’s Law Firm has offices in both Hamilton and Toronto and can even come to you if necessary.