Judge: Alison Mackenzie, Case: 23STCV04723, Date: 2023-12-14 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: 23STCV04723    Hearing Date: December 14, 2023    Dept: 55

NATURE OF PROCEEDINGS:  Motion to Reset Filing Date of Complaint.

The Court grants the motion, and deems the Complaint filed on 2/2/23.

Generally, documents are deemed filed when the court clerk receives them for filing, during open hours, at the clerk's place of business (with exceptions, including failures to pay required fees, or to file documents in the proper form required by the rules, or when clerks have no authority for rejecting documents).  E.g., Duran v. St. Luke's Hospital (2003) 114 Cal. App. 4th 457, 461-62;  Carlson v. Dep't of Fish & Game (1998) 68 Cal. App. 4th 1268, 1276.  “If a document is presented to the clerk's office for filing in a form that complies with the rules of court, the clerk's office has a ministerial duty to file it....  Even if the document contains defects, the clerk's office should file it and notify the party that the defect should be corrected.…”  Voit v. Sup. Ct.  (2011) 201 Cal.App.4th 1285, 1287. Here, the Clerk rejected Plaintiff's February 2, 2023 filing because the initial complaint was incorrectly captioned as an amended complaint. This is a minor deficiency that was not prejudicial to any defendant. The Court therefore finds good cause to grant the motion.