Ayala v. Southwest Leasing & Rental, Inc.

Opinion

WOODS (A. M.), P. J.

Respondents Jose Ayala and Jorge A. Urrutia, the plaintiffs in this personal injury action, received arbitration awards of $15,000 each against appellant Southwest Leasing and Rental, Inc., and $18,000 each against appellant James Hornell. When no request for trial de novo was filed within 30 days, the award was entered as the judgment. Ten days later appellants filed an untimely request for trial de novo. The request was denied. Appellants then moved to vacate the judgment pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure section 473. The motion was denied, and this appeal followed. After review, we affirm.

The arbitrator’s award in this case was filed on July 20, 1990. On August 21, 1990, that award was filed and entered as the judgment. Appellants’ untimely request for trial de novo was filed on August 31, 1990. Their motion to vacate the judgment was supported by the declaration of Attorney C. Curtis Scott, who declared that on August 2, 1990, his office took over responsibility from another law firm for 250 to 300 Southwest cases, including this case. He stated that he did not timely file the request for trial de novo in this case “for the simple reason that I was not informed of the adverse arbitration award until after the deadline of August 20, 1990 for requesting Trial De Novo.” He did not explain how or when he became informed of the award, but declared that his office subsequently took steps, including staff changes and weekly calendar meetings, to avoid similar problems.

[43]

In opposition to the motion, respondents’ counsel declared that this action involved a vehicle accident in which the question was “who ran the red lights.” He stated that appellants did not present any evidence at the arbitration hearing and did not “seriously contest that the plaintiffs’ injuries were at least sufficient to warrant awards against Southwest Leasing in the maximum amount allowable by law for owners of vehicles ($15,000.00 per plaintiff).” He argued that this demonstrated appellants’ failure to take judicial arbitration seriously, and that this affront to the court was compounded by appellants’ failure to timely file their request for trial de novo. He asserted that excusable neglect had not been shown because the declaration in support of the motion established merely that counsel for appellants had accepted more business than he could competently handle.