Jackson v. Kaiser Found. Hosps., Inc.

*651 *169 Section 473, subdivision (b) (hereafter section 473(b) ), of the Code of Civil Procedure 1 contains a provision authorizing mandatory relief from a "default judgment or dismissal" that is entered against a party due to the fault of the party's attorney. When a party moving for such relief submits the required attorney affidavit of fault and otherwise complies with all statutory requirements, the default judgment or dismissal "shall" be vacated "unless the court finds that the default or dismissal was not in fact caused by the attorney's mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or neglect." ( Ibid .) Here, the plaintiff voluntarily dismissed her action against the defendant without prejudice, and she thereafter moved to vacate that dismissal pursuant to the foregoing provision. On appeal, we address the appealability of the trial court's order denying that motion, and the applicability of section 473(b)'s mandatory relief provision to the plaintiff's voluntary dismissal. Although we find the order is appealable, we conclude that relief under the mandatory provision is unavailable for the type of voluntary dismissal at issue here. The judgment is affirmed.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL…