Motion for reconsideration explained by Attorney Steve®
Channel: Steve Vondran
Date: 2023-02-25

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WHAT IS A MOTION FOR RECONSIDERATION?

GENERAL LEGAL STANDARDS

"It is a basic principle of federal practice that 'courts generally . . . refuse to reopen what has been decided.'" Magnesystems, Inc. v. Nikken, Inc., 933 F.Supp. 944, 948 (C.D. Cal. 1996), quoting Messenger v. Anderson, 225 U.S. 436, 444, 32 S. Ct. 739, 56 L. Ed. 1152 (1912). As a result, reconsideration is an "extraordinary remedy, to be used sparingly in the interests of finality and conservation of judicial resources." Carroll v. Nakatani, 342 F.3d 934, 945 (9th Cir. 2003). Reconsideration is not "granted absent highly unusual circumstances." McDowell v. Calderon, 197 F.3d 1253, 1255 (9th Cir. 1999). 

A motion for reconsideration "is not a vehicle for relitigating old issues, presenting the case under new theories, securing a rehearing on the merits, or otherwise taking a 'second bite at the apple.'" Sequa Corp. v. GBJ Corp., 156 F.3d 136, 144 (2d Cir. 1998); see also Weeks v. Bayer, 246 F.3d 1231, 1236 (9th Cir. 2001). 

"A party seeking reconsideration must show more than a disagreement with the Court's decision, and recapitulation of the cases and arguments considered by the court before rendering its original decision fails to carry the moving party's burden." United States v. Westlands Water Dist., 134 F.Supp.2d 1111, 1131 (E.D. Cal. 2001); see also Motorola, Inc. v. J.B. Rodgers Mechanical Contractors, 215 F.R.D. 581, 582 (D. Ariz. 2003) 

("Nor is reconsideration to be used to ask the Court to rethink what it has already thought.").

"Reconsideration is appropriate if the district court:

(1) is presented with newly discovered evidence, 

(2) committed clear error or the initial decision was manifestly unjust, 

or 

(3) if there is an intervening change in controlling law." Sch. Dist. No. 1J, Multnomah Cnty., Or. v. ACandS, Inc., 5 F.3d 1255, 1263 (9th Cir. 1993). 

A motion for reconsideration serves "a limited function: to correct manifest errors of law or fact or to present newly discovered evidence." Hefelbower v. U.S. Bank Nat'l Ass'n, Case No. CV F 13-1121-LJO-MJS, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 124120, 2013 WL 4647963, at *2 (E.D. Cal. Aug. 29, 2013), quoting Publishers Resource, Inc. v. Walker Davis Publications, Inc., 762 F.2d 557, 561 (7th Cir. 1985). 

A motion for reconsideration must describe "what new or different facts or circumstances are claimed to exist which did not exist or were not shown upon such prior motion, or what other grounds exist for the motion" and "why the facts or circumstances were not shown at the time of the prior motion."

Friends of Mariposa Creek v. Mariposa Pub. Utils. Dist., No. 1:15-cv-00583-EPG, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 87606, at *3-5 (E.D. Cal. July 5, 2016)