Judge: Cherol J. Nellon, Case: 21STCV47154, Date: 2023-05-18 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: 21STCV47154    Hearing Date: May 18, 2023    Dept: 28

Defendants Nestor R. Gonzalez, MD and Cedars-Sinai Health System’s Motion to Continue Trial

Having considered the moving papers, the Court rules as follows.

BACKGROUND

On December 28, 2021, Plaintiff Saghar Yadegar (“Plaintiff”) filed this action against Defendants Nestor R. Gonzalez, MD (“Gonzalez”), Zachary Barnard, MD (“Barnard”) and Cedars-Sinai Health System (“CS”) for medical malpractice.

On May 17, 2022, Plaintiff filed the FAC.

On June 21, 2022, the Court dismissed Barnard, with prejudice, pursuant to Plaintiff’s request.

On June 20, 2022, Gonzalez and CS filed an answer.

On April 21, 2023, Defendants filed a Motion to Continue Trial to be heard on May 18, 2023.

Trial is currently scheduled for June 27, 2023.

PARTY’S REQUESTS

Defendants request the Court continue trial to March 2024.

LEGAL STANDARD

CRC rule 3.1332(b) outlines that “a party seeking a continuance of the date set for trial, whether contested or uncontested or stipulated to by the parties, must make the request for a continuance by a noticed motion or an ex parte application under the rules in chapter 4 of this

division, with supporting declarations. The party must make the motion or application as soon as reasonably practical once the necessity for the continuance is discovered.”

Under CRC 3.1332(c), The Court may grant a continuance only on an affirmative showing of good cause requiring the continuance. Circumstances that may indicate good cause include “a party's excused inability to obtain essential testimony, documents, or other material evidence despite diligent efforts,” or the unavailability of a party, counsel, or expert due to death, illness or other excusable circumstance. The Court should consider all facts and circumstances relevant to the determination, such as proximity of the trial date, prior continuances, prejudice suffered, whether all parties have stipulated to a continuance, and whether the interests of justice are served. CRC 3.1332(d).

DISCUSSION

Defendants request the Court continue trial to allow parties to engage in a subsequent round of mediation. The first round of mediation took place on March 13, 2023; however, due to the medical complexity of the case, there was not enough time to complete the mediation. Parties wish to utilize the same mediator for an additional session. However, Defendants did not provide potential mediation dates. Instead, Defendants merely stated that the current trial date would preclude parties from mediation due to the calendars of counsel and their chosen mediator.

The Court is not opposed to granting a continuance to allow parties to engage in mediation. However, Parties need to submit a proposed mediation date or an expected time frame, should they wish the Court to grant a continuance.

Additionally, parties have still yet to conduct Gonzalez’s deposition or obtained updated medical records. The only reason given is that there has been unavailability of counsel and witness. This is insufficient to justify a continuance. Defendants first appeared in the case in June of 2022; there is no explanation offered for why Gonzalez's deposition has yet to occur, nor why these medical records have not been subpoenaed. Therefore, Defendants have failed to demonstrate an excused failure to complete discovery.

The Court denies the motion. Should parties appear at Court with a reasonable date or set of dates for mediation, based on all parties’ and their mediator's availability, the Court will grant a continuance to enable mediation.

CONCLUSION

Defendants Nestor R. Gonzalez, MD and Cedars-Sinai Health System’s Motion to Continue Trial is DENIED.

Moving party is ordered to give notice of this ruling.

Moving Party is ordered to file the proof of service of this ruling with the Court within five days.

The parties are directed to the header of this tentative ruling for further instructions.