California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from Mcelvany, Inc. v. Ahmadi, F069809 (Cal. App. 2016):
Defendants have also failed to establish any prejudice to them. "An error is prejudicial and results in a miscarriage of justice only if the reviewing court concludes, based on its review of the entire record, that it is reasonably probable that the trial court would have reached a result more favorable to the appellant absent the error." (Jones v. Farmers Ins. Exchange (2013) 221 Cal.App.4th 986, 999.) The burden is on defendants, as the appellants, to establish prejudice; they must tender a proper prejudice argument, spelling out in their brief exactly how the alleged error caused a miscarriage of justice. (In re Marriage of McLaughlin (2000) 82 Cal.App.4th 327, 337.) Defendants argue here, as they did in the trial court, that the denial of a continuance prevented them from presenting their case. They have not pointed to any evidence in the record or offered any argument demonstrating a probability the outcome of the arbitration would have been different if they had presented their case on the merits. They have not asserted or shown that they had a potentially viable defense to plaintiff's claims.
The above passage should not be considered legal advice. Reliable answers to complex legal questions require comprehensive research memos. To learn more visit www.alexi.com.