· An action or proceeding does not abate by the disability of a party. The court, on motion, shall allow the action or proceeding to be continued by or against the party's representative. « Prev. Next ». Read this complete California Code, Code of Civil Procedure - CCP § 375 on Westlaw.
· Next ». (a) (1) The court may, in furtherance of justice, and on any terms as may be proper, allow a party to amend any pleading or proceeding by adding or striking out the name of any party, or by correcting a mistake in the name of a party, or a mistake in any other respect; and may, upon like terms, enlarge the time for answer or demurrer.
· This is often where the rubber meets the road in legal malpractice cases. Even where an attorney made an obvious mistake, that mistake must have injured the client. The classic example of negligence is the attorney who did not file a lawsuit before the statute of limitations expired. Even if it was an inexcusable error, it gives rise to a ...
· In Martin Potts and Associates, Inc. v. Corsair, LLC (No. B263198 - filed January 28, 2016), Division Two of the Second Appellate District ruled that a motion for relief from default...
The court may likewise, in its discretion, after notice to the adverse party, allow, upon any terms as may be just, an amendment to any pleading or proceeding in other particulars; and may upon like terms allow an answer to be made after the time limited by this code.
FindLaw Codes may not reflect the most recent version of the law in your jurisdiction. Please verify the status of the code you are researching with the state legislature or via Westlaw before relying on it for your legal needs.
Legal malpractice cases are expensive because you are essentially litigating two cases: the malpractice case and the underlying matter (i.e., the case-within-the-case). In addition to legal fees, the client will almost always need an expert to establish that the attorney’s conduct fell below the standard of care.
Was the attorney negligent? Often, clients review an attorney’s actions with the full benefit of hindsight, but to determine negligence, put yourself in the attorney’s shoes when the “mistake” happened. Decisions that were reasonable at the time may look foolhardy with the benefit of hindsight. Nor is every attorney expected to be Clarence Darrow or Perry Mason. Rather, attorneys ordinarily must act consistently with the community standard of care. In other words, not every mistake rises to a breach of the duty of care.
In Martin Potts and Associates, Inc. v. Corsair, LLC (No. B263198 - filed January 28, 2016), Division Two of the Second Appellate District ruled that a motion for relief from default under Code of Civil Procedure § 473 (Section 473) could not be denied merely because the attorney submitting a supporting declaration failed to articulate the reasons for his “mistake, inadvertence, surprise or excusable neglect."
Corsair, the defendant in an action to recover unpaid real estate management fees, failed to respond to the complaint filed by its former management company (Potts). Thereafter, the court entered Corsair’s default and later entered a default judgment for $100,000. Corsair then timely moved to set aside the default under Section 473 (b). Its longtime attorney submitted a supporting declaration in which he attested that the sole reason for Corsair’s failure to respond to Potts’ complaint was his failure to take action after receiving the complaint from his client; however, he declined to elaborate on the reasons for his failure to act. The trial court set aside the default and default judgment, finding that Corsair’s attorney’s declaration established the requisite “mistake, inadvertence, surprise or excusable neglect,” ordering Corsair to respond to the complaint within thirty days and ordering the attorney to pay Potts’ attorney’s fees and costs in connection with the Section 473 (b) motion. Potts then appealed.
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While the appellate court suggested that it may be a “good idea” to include the reasons due to the statute’s causation requirement, it explained that the statute does not require more than the attorney’s acceptance of responsibility. Given the three policies triggered by Section 473 (b) motions - ...
Following the wrong procedure may later make your dispute untimely, and may require additional procedural hurdles to even entertain your dispute. Failing to read a judge’s procedures (of both the district judge and the magistrate judge) does not make a good impression upon the Court. The Case Management Order is just as important as ...
Another relevant discovery deadline – which many, many attorneys overlook – is known as the “30-day deadline.” Many federal judges in this district require that attorneys bring a discovery motion within 30-days of the event giving rise to the discovery dispute, though some judges’ procedures have different dates. For written discovery, this is typically the date that written responses or documents are provided. For depositions, it is typically 30 days after the deposition. Meeting and conferring does not toll the 30-day deadline and for many judges neither does the production of supplemental responses. Once discovery responses are provided, attorneys have a very short timeline for bringing a motion to compel. If the responses are in any way deficient, attorneys need to move quickly. For most judges, the failure to comply with this rule will bar a party from being able to file a corresponding discovery motion. Again, all of the procedures relevant for your case can be found by reading the assigned judges’ procedures and the Case Management Order.
When proceeding before judges that require that motions be filed and heard before the discovery cutoff date, attorneys need to make sure that they call the court at least 28-days before that deadline.
When calling the court to get a hearing date, attorneys should be prepared to discuss: (1) what they are seeking to compel and how many (e.g . six interrogatories and nine document requests);
Still, other judges require that a motion to compel be filed, heard, and any discovery ordered as a result of a motion to compel be produced by the discovery cutoff date. For these judges, all discovery motions need to be filed long before the discovery cutoff date. Attorneys should check the CMC order carefully in each case to see which situation ...
Many attorneys fail to properly meet and confer prior to calling the court to get a hearing date for a motion to compel. Under the Southern District of California’s Local Rule 26.1 (a), if plaintiff’s counsel and defense counsel are in the same county, they need to meet and confer in person. If they are in different counties then they can meet ...
Further, the judge’s law clerk will likely want to discuss with the attorney whether a full-blown motion to compel is necessary, or whether the discovery dispute could be handled with an informal conference with the judge. Accordingly, attorneys (not their staff) should be the one calling the judge’s chambers to discuss discovery disputes.
The California Arbitration Act, in California Code of Civil Procedure § 1284, by its reference to § 1286.6 ( c) expressly allows an arbitration award to be corrected as to “matters of form”, where the award in imperfect or. And an award may be corrected by the arbitrator where there is an apparent miscalculation of some numbers or figure s ...
State and Federal arbitration statutes also allow the California Superior Court or the United States District Courts, whichever has jurisdiction, - and depending on the law applicable to the arbitration, as spelled out in the contract between the parties or otherwise - to correct or modify arbitration awards on certain limited but slightly broader grounds, or to vacate the Arbitration Award in whole or in part, or order a rehearing before the arbitrators or a new arbitrator.
Consequently, "the absence of a statutory provision authorizing amendment of an award does not deprive the arbitrator of jurisdiction to do so." Ibid. at p. 1476.
Although arbitration can seem more informal and less legally complicated than a court trial, do not be deceived or lulled into complacency by this seeming informality as the procedural issues at least can be quite complex, and the deadlines VERY short, so your rights and remedies could be lost if you are not well informed or represented by competent legal counsel.
And an award may be corrected by the arbitrator where there is an apparent miscalculation of some numbers or figures or amounts in the award, or mistake in the description of persons, things, or property in the award, per Code Civil Proc. §§ 1284, 1286.6 (a).
In Shayan v. Spine Care and Orthopedic Physicians (Jan. 9, 2020, B293857), the Court of Appeal, Second District, Division Eight (Los Angeles), clarified that a motion for relief under the mandatory provision of Code of Civil Procedure section 473, subdivision (b) (“section 473 (b)”), applies only to defaults, default judgments, and dismissals—not just any attorney error.
On appeal, the court determined that the plain language of the statute is controlling and unambiguous—the mandatory provision of section 473 (b) applies only in the limited circumstances of defaults, default judgments and dismissals.
In Shayan, the plaintiff filed an interpleader action to resolve claims about a disputed sum of money. Two claimants and the defendants had notice of the trial date but failed to appear. The court conducted the trial, adjudicated the case on the merits, and entered judgment.
Throughout the judge’s mark-up, he changes “order” to “Order” and “Motion” to “motion.”
Plaintiff filed this action against the wrong defendant. 3. Faulty punctuation of quoted material.
A federal judge in Florida recently “corrected” dozens of errors in a routine motion.
Supreme Court: Defendant was not Plaintiff’ s employer.
Code of Civil Procedure section 473, subdivision (b), contains the attorney-fault provision for relief from default which provides “…the court shall, whenever an application for relief is made no more than six months after entry of judgment, is in proper form, and is accompanied by an attorney’s sworn affidavit attesting to his or her mistake, ...
While the court must exercise discretion in determining whether the default or dismissal was in fact caused by the attorney’s mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or neglect, and therefore may deny relief—when the default judgment or dismissal is the procedural equivalent of a default, without any opportunity for the court to evaluate why timely opposition had not been filed, the mandatory attorney-fault provision requires that relief be granted if default or dismissal was due to attorney’s inexcusable conduct.
Code of Civil Procedure section 473, subdivision (b), contains the attorney-fault provision for relief from default which provides “…the court shall, whenever an application for relief is made no more than six months after entry of judgment, is in proper form, and is accompanied by an attorney’s sworn affidavit attesting to his or her mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or neglect, vacate any . . . resulting default judgment or dismissal entered against his or her client, unless the court finds that the default or dismissal was not in fact caused by the attorney’s mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or neglect.”
Relief under the statute is mandatory if the conditions are fulfilled. The motion is timely if filed within six months of the entry of default judgment or dismissal. Due diligence is not required. Nor is it necessary for the attorney attesting to mistake, inadvertence, surprise or neglect be attorney of record for the party requesting relief. The statute only requires the affidavit be executed by an attorney who represents the client and whose mistake, inadvertence, surprise or neglect in fact caused the client’s default or dismissal.