Judge: Audra Mori, Case: 21STCV10344, Date: 2022-08-24 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: 21STCV10344    Hearing Date: August 24, 2022    Dept: 31

SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

FOR THE COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES - CENTRAL DISTRICT

Defendant Dora Arzarte (“Defendant”) propounded form interrogatories, set one, special interrogatories, set one, and request for production of documents (“RPDs”), set one, on Plaintiff David Noyola Mariche (“Plaintiff”) on June 17, 2021.  Defendant asserts that after Plaintiff failed to serve timely responses, Defendant met and conferred with Plaintiff’s counsel regarding the responses.  On November 19, 2021, Plaintiff served unverified responses to the form interrogatories, and on December 9, 2021, Plaintiff served unverified responses to the special interrogatories and RPDs.  To date, Plaintiff has not served verified answers to the discovery.  Defendant therefore seeks an order compelling Plaintiff to respond, without objections, to the outstanding discovery and to pay sanctions.

An unverified response is tantamount to no response at all.  (Melendrez v. Superior Court (2013) 215 Cal.App.4th 1343, 1348.)  Defendant’s motions are unopposed and granted.  Plaintiff is ordered to serve verified responses to form interrogatories, special interrogatories, and RPDs, without objections, within ten days.  (CCP §§ 2030.290(a), (b), 2031.300(a), (b).)

Sanctions are mandatory.  (CCP §§ 2030.290(c), 2031.300(c).)  The court awards Defendant one hour for preparing each form motion to compel [three hours] and one hour to appear at the hearing- but awards this time once- all at the requested rate of $150 per hour, for a total of $600 in attorney fees.  Further, the court awards Defendant three motion filing fees of $60, or $180 total, as costs. 

Defendant seeks sanctions against Plaintiff and Plaintiff’s attorney of record.  Defendant does not describe any conduct warranting sanctions against Plaintiff personally.  Sanctions are imposed against Plaintiff’s attorney of record.  Plaintiff’s counsel is ordered to pay sanctions to Defendant, by and through counsel of record, in the total amount of $780.00, within twenty days.

Defendant is ordered to give notice. 

PLEASE TAKE NOTICE:

• Parties are encouraged to meet and confer after reading this tentative ruling to see if they can reach an agreement.
• If a party intends to submit on this tentative ruling, the party must send an email to the court at sscdept31@lacourt.org with the Subject line “SUBMIT” followed by the case number.  The body of the email must include the hearing date and time, counsel’s contact information, and the identity of the party submitting.  
• Unless all parties submit by email to this tentative ruling, the parties should arrange to appear remotely (encouraged) or in person for oral argument.  You should assume that others may appear at the hearing to argue.  
• If the parties neither submit nor appear at hearing, the Court may take the motion off calendar or adopt the tentative ruling as the order of the Court.  After the Court has issued a tentative ruling, the Court may prohibit the withdrawal of the subject motion without leave. 

Dated this 24^th day of August 2022