The following summaries are of recent published decisions of the California appellate courts, the Ninth Circuit, and the United States Supreme Court. The summaries are presented without regard to whether Severson & Werson represented a party in the case.
The trial court erred in granting relief from a default judgment under CCP 473's attorney fault provision. That provision permits relief only when the attorney error causes the client's default to be entered, not when, as in this case, the error occurs after entry of default and before entry of a default judgment. This is true even in a quiet… Read More
The mandatory attorney-fault provision of Code of Civil Procedure section 473(b) applies only to judgments of dismissal or default and not to other types of judgment, such as, here, a trial on the merits of an administrative mandate proceeding in which judgment was rendered for the defendant agency. Read More
