Lamb v. Holy Cross Hospital

Opinion

KINGSLEY, J.

Plaintiff appeals from a judgment confirming an award of arbitration adverse to her. We dismiss the appeal.

Plaintiff filed a medical malpractice action against defendant hospital and her attending physicians and surgeons. The defendants demanded arbitration, which was ordered by the trial court.

1

The arbitration was in favor of the defendants who moved, successfully, for confirmation.

After defendant’s petition for confirmation had come duly on for hearing, no one appeared in opposition and an order of confirmation was entered on June 10, 1976. The clerk’s notice of that order was mailed on June 11, 1976, to the then counsel for plaintiff. On July 9, 1976, plaintiff, appearing by new counsel, filed her motion to vacate the judgment of confirmation. After the filing of declarations in support of and in opposition to the motion, and oral argument, the motion was denied on August 26, 1976. On September 24, 1976, plaintiff filed a notice of appeal, reciting that it was both from the “judgment” of the confirmation and from the order denying the motion to vacate.

I

The notice, insofar as it purports to appeal from the order of confirmation, having been filed more than 60 days after notice of entry of that order, was not timely under subdivision (a) of rule 2, California

[1010]

Rules of Court, unless the time for appeal had been extended under subdivision (b) of rule 3 of those rules.

That subdivision reads as follows; “When a valid notice of intention to move to vacate a judgment or to vacate a judgment and enter another and different judgment is served and filed by any party on any ground within the time in which, under rule 2, a notice of appeal may be filed, or such shorter time as may be prescribed by statute, and the motion is denied or not decided by the superior court within 150 days after entry of the judgment, the time for filing the notice of appeal from the judgment is extended for all parties until 30 days after entry of the order denying the motion to vacate or until 180 days after entry of the judgment, whichever shall be less.”