What is the legal test for discretion of a judge in a personal injury case?

The only limitation that the law places upon the exercise of that judicial discretion is that it not be abused. (Berry v. Chaplin (1946) 74 Cal.App.2d 652, 672, 169 P.2d 442.)

"Under no circumstances is the discretion of the court to be exercised arbitrarily, but it is a discretion governed by legal rules, to do justice according to law or to the analogies of the law, as near as may be.... It must be exercised within the limitations above stated to promote substantial justice in the case." (Lybecker v. Murray (1881) 58 Cal. 186, 189.)

[124 Cal.App.3d 367] Discretion is abused in the legal sense whenever, in its exercise, a court exceeds the bounds of reason, all the circumstances before it being considered. (Scherrer v. Plaza Marina Coml. Corp. (1971) 16 Cal.App.3d 520, 525, 94 Cal.Rptr. 85.)

The burden rests upon the appellant to establish that the trial court exceeded the limits of its discretion. (Rouse v. Palmer (1961) 197 Cal.App.2d 666, 669, 17 Cal.Rptr. 509.)