Gens

Respondent Hopkins & Carley (H&C) secured an arbitration award against appellant Timothy Gens on a debt for unpaid bills for legal services. Gens moved unsuccessfully to vacate the award, and judgment was duly entered against him. Six months later, he brought a motion to set aside the judgment under Code of Civil Procedure section 473, subdivision (b) (section 473(b)). Although the motion included perfunctory assertions that the judgment was the result of mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect, Gens made no attempt to substantiate them. The real gist of the motion was that he had now discovered a defense to the underlying claim, namely, that H&C had committed ethical violations in providing the legal services on which the arbitration award rested. The trial court denied the motion for relief from the judgment and granted H&C’s motion for sanctions. Because Gens offered no coherent explanation for his failure to raise the supposed defense sooner, we affirm both orders as to him. In a related appeal, Hopkins & Carley v. Gens (Nov. 21, 2011, H032780) (nonpub. opn.), we affirm the sanctions order as it affects his present attorneys.

*1406 Background

Gens is a…