Q: Is it within the court's discretion to decide on a pending motion for reconsideration?
I am involved in a civil case in California where the defendant's demurrer was sustained without leave to amend. The court scheduled a hearing on an order to show cause, but I filed a motion for reconsideration of the order sustaining the demurrer. Subsequently, the court entered a judgment with prejudice after the motion for reconsideration was filed and vacated the hearing on the order to show cause; however, the judgment does not reference the motion for reconsideration or the hearing on it. The hearing on the motion for reconsideration is still on the court calendar and is pending for next week. The court did not provide any reasoning for entering the judgment with prejudice. In this situation, if no explicit procedure or rule exists to define the court's actions, is it within the court's discretion to determine if the hearing on the motion for reconsideration will proceed, and an order will be made on the motion?
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A:
Yes, it can be within the court's discretion to decide whether to proceed with the hearing on your motion for reconsideration, even after entering judgment. However, once a final judgment is entered, the court generally loses jurisdiction to change the ruling that led to that judgment unless the judgment is first set aside. This means the court could decline to rule on the motion simply because the judgment has already been entered.
That said, if the hearing is still on calendar and no order has been issued vacating it, the judge may still choose to hear the motion. California Code of Civil Procedure § 1008 gives the court discretion to grant reconsideration, but that discretion becomes limited after final judgment. Sometimes, judges will use the reconsideration hearing as a chance to review whether the judgment should be vacated or modified, especially if the motion raises significant new facts or legal arguments.
Since the judgment doesn’t mention the motion, and the hearing is still scheduled, it’s worth showing up prepared. Be ready to respectfully raise the issue that judgment was entered while your motion was pending and ask the court to consider either hearing the motion or treating it as a request to vacate under CCP § 473. While there’s no guarantee, courts sometimes address motions like this if they believe justice or fairness requires a closer look.
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