Writs and appeals are sometimes not the only routes (or even the preferred routes) to relief from an adverse order or judgment. Motions for reconsideration, post-trial motions for new trial or to vacate the judgment, and motions to set aside a judgment all have the possibility of getting you a “reversal” of sorts without ever leaving the superior court. I’ve written before about how a superior court judge may change a prior interim ruling on his own motion, even when the decision to do so is triggered by a faulty motion for reconsideration. The chief limitation on this practice is that, in most cases, one judge on a superior court…
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I Hate Motions for Reconsideration
Another good post from Professor Martin yesterday, this time concerning In Re Marriage of Barthold (1st Dist. Jan. 15, 2008). The court summarizes its holding in the initial paragraphs: The California Supreme Court held, in Le Francois v. Goel (2005) 35 Cal.4th 1094 (Le Francois), that even when Code of Civil Procedure section 1008 (section 1008) precludes a party from moving for reconsideration, a trial court has inherent authority to correct an erroneous ruling on its own motion. In this marital dissolution case, the trial judge denied a post-judgment motion filed by the wife. She promptly filed a motion for reconsideration. The trial judge determined that the motion did not…