Case Background

• Mr. Jean-François Simard and Ms. Nancy Tremblay, administrators and shareholders of 9192-2401 Québec inc. and 9228-7374 Québec inc., filed a motion to retract a default judgment issued on June 13, 2024.
• This judgment held them jointly liable for payment of legal fees claimed by Lévesque Lavoie Avocats inc. for professional services.
• They claim to have learned of the judgment only on July 15, 2024, and state that they had filed two motions in February 2024 to transfer the case to the Small Claims Division, which, according to them, received no response.

Court Decision

• Under Article 346 of the Code of Civil Procedure (C.p.c.), retraction of judgment is possible if a party was prevented from defending itself due to fraud, surprise, or another sufficient cause.
• The defendants had filed two motions to transfer the case to the Small Claims Division, both of which were immediately denied because the claim exceeded the division’s monetary jurisdiction.
• The defendants failed to file a response within the legal deadline (January 25, 2024), resulting in the default judgment.
• Since the legal fees had already been allocated among the defendants, their main argument for contestation became irrelevant.

Conclusion

• The Court found that the defendants failed to demonstrate a sufficient reason to justify retracting the judgment.
• The motion for retraction is denied, and the June 13, 2024, judgment remains in effect.
• No monetary award specfied.