Liljeberg v. Health Servs. Acquisition Corp.

Liljeberg v. Health Servs. Acquisition Corp., 486 U.S. 847 (1988), established three factors for courts to use when deciding whether to vacate a judgment due to non-recusal by a judge:

(1) "the risk of injustice to the parties in the particular case";

(2) "the risk that the denial of relief will produce injustice in other cases"; and

(3) "the risk of undermining the public's confidence in the judicial process."

486 U.S. at 864.

The Liljeberg decision concerned a violation of 28 U.S.C. §455(a) discovered after a judgment was rendered. Justices Stevens (author of the decision), Brennan, Marshall, Blackmun, and Kennedy formed the court majority requiring disqualification of the judge even though he was unaware of the conflict at the time he rendered his judgment.

The more conservative wing of the court, Chief Justice Rehnquist and Justices White, O'Connor, and Scalia, dissented and said that the standard should be actual knowledge rather than constructive knowledge.