Ayala

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…