News & Publications

Los Angeles Daily Journal (July 27, 2015)
Code of Civil Procedure section 473(b) offers lawyers an important lifeline – in certain circumstances, it requires the court to vacate a default judgment resulting from attorney mistake or neglect. But what happens when the court rejects as lawyer’s first request for relief as inadequate and the lawyer wants to try again? Do the usual limits on motions for reconsideration apply? Resolving a split in the case law, the California Supreme Court recently held that they do: In Even Zohar Construction & Remodeling, Inc. v. Bellair Townhouses, LLC it ruled that renewed motions for relief, like motions for reconsideration of other rulings, must be based on “new or different facts, circumstances, or law” not available at the time of the initial motion.