Urias v. Harris Farms, Inc

In Urias v. Harris Farms, Inc. (1991) 234 Cal. App. 3d 415, the plaintiff in a wrongful termination action challenged the trial judge for cause when he discovered, shortly after summary judgment was entered for the defendant, that the judge had recently been a member of a law firm that had represented the defendant for the past 10 years. The judge filed no response to the challenge, and so was deemed to have consented to the disqualification. (Code Civ. Proc., 170.3, subd. (c)(4).) The question then was whether the summary judgment was void, or voidable. We held the judgment was voidable and, since the undisputed facts in the defendant's motion clearly established the judgment had been rendered by a disqualified judge, we reversed. (Urias, supra, 234 Cal. App. 3d at pp. 426-427.)