Gilbert & BG Projects v Broadoak Private Finance [2024] EWHC 2046 (Comm)

The High Court gave guidance on the procedure for setting aside default judgment last week in Gilbert & BG Projects v Broadoak Private Finance [2024] EWHC 2046 (Comm). Andrew Hochhauser KC, sitting as a Deputy High Court Judge, confirmed that a draft Defence should be filed well in advance of the hearing. He did so in a costs judgment following his recent decision in Gilbert & BG Projects v Broadoak Private Finance (unreported, 28 June 2024) to affirm a substantial default judgment in part, rejecting an application by the Defendant to set it aside completely (the “Set-Aside Application”).

The substantive proceedings concerned claims for repayment of various loans made by the Claimants to the Defendant for onward lending to a third party. The Claimants accepted that the defence to repayment of certain loans should be allowed to go to trial. However, they maintained that the Default Judgment should be preserved in relation to four loans, with a cumulative value of approximately 58% by value of the Default Judgment (the “Opposed Loans”).

On 25 April 2024, HH Judge Pelling KC made a directions order materially in the terms sought by the Claimants. He confirmed that the rules in the CPR and Practice Directions governing the filing and service of evidence for applications also apply to applications to set aside default judgment, and that a party which seeks to rely on a draft Defence in such an application should file and serve that document at the point of issuing the set-aside application. In Gilbert [2024] EWHC 2046 (Comm), on the costs of the Directions Application, the Defendant contended that it had nevertheless been the successful party – and so entitled to their costs – because that Order had not included a provision debarring the Defendant from relying on any draft Defence filed after the deadline, which had been sought by the Claimants. By his approved judgment dated 1 August 2024, Andrew Hochhauser KC, rejected the Defendant’s arguments and awarded costs in favour of the Claimants, stating that:

Max Marenbon and Ryan Tang represented the successful Claimants in Gilbert & BG Projects v Broadoak Private Finance [2024] EWHC 2046 (Comm), instructed by Marc Keidan, Ben Rutledge and Alex Boardman of Keidan Harrison LLP.

Max Marenbon was sole counsel for the Claimants in the Set-Aside Application.

Ryan Tang was sole counsel for the Claimants in the Directions Application.

Related Barristers

Max Marenbon is a commercial chancery barrister specialising in civil fraud, company and insolvency disputes. He is recognised by the Legal 500 directory as a ‘Leading Junior’ at the London Bar and a ‘Rising Star’ in the Middle East.

Max has appeared as sole counsel in significant cases, including a leading authority on the English courts’ jurisdiction to grant worldwide freezing orders against third parties. He has assisted with cases at all appellate levels. His Middle East practice is centred on the courts of the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) and the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM).

He is interested in how the law treats new ways of doing business, has experience of cryptocurrency-related litigation, and is growing a practice in artificial intelligence litigation. He has acted as sole advocate in AI-related cases in the UK and Middle East, including the leading ADGM authority on the use of AI-generated documents in litigation.

Appointed to the UK Attorney General’s Panel of Junior Counsel to the Crown in 2024, Max previously qualified as a solicitor at a leading City firm and served as judicial assistant to Lord Wilson at the UK Supreme Court.

Max Marenbon

Call: 2020

Ryan Tang is developing a broad commercial chancery practice across Chambers’ core practice areas. Building on his prior experience in large-scale commercial litigation as an associate at a Magic Circle law firm, he has acted in the ongoing Mariana dam litigation since joining Chambers in October 2023. In addition to his commercial work, he is also developing a practice in intellectual property and charity law, and has been ranked as a Rising Star by Legal 500 in the latter category. Ryan is routinely instructed as sole counsel in High Court litigation in all of these areas. Alongside his English practice, he is developing an active practice in the Middle East