Judge: Daniel M. Crowley, Case: 21STCV18998, Date: 2023-01-23 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: 21STCV18998    Hearing Date: January 23, 2023    Dept: 28

Defendants Oganes Nalbanndyan and United Independent Taxi Drivers Inc.’s Motion to Consolidate Cases

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

BACKGROUND

On May 20, 2021, Plaintiff Lupita de Tejeda (“Plaintiff”) filed this action against Defendants Oganes Nalbanndyan (“Nalbanndyan”) and United Independent Taxi Drivers Inc. (“Taxi”) for motor vehicle negligence and general negligence.

On July 28, 2021, Defendants filed an answer.

On December 22, 2022, Defendants filed a Motion to Consolidate Cases to be heard on January 20, 2023.

Trial is current scheduled for July 20, 2023.

PARTY’S REQUESTS

Defendants request the Court consolidate this case with Case No. 21STCV37276 entitled Antonio Beltran v. United Independent Taxi Drivers, Inc., et al.

LEGAL STANDARD

According to CCP § 1048, when actions involved a common question or law or fact, it may order a joint hearing or trial, or order all actions consolidated.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Local Rule 3.3(g) provides as follows: “(1) Cases may not be consolidated unless they are in the same department. A motion to consolidate two or more cases may be noticed and heard after the cases, initially filed in different departments, have been related into a single department, or if the cases were already assigned to that department. (2) Upon consolidation of cases, the first filed case will be the lead case, unless otherwise ordered by the court. After consolidation, all future papers to be filed in the Consolidated case must be filed only in the case Designated as the lead case”

DISCUSSION

Defendants allege that both cases arise out of the incident and involve common parties to the action. Both cases stem from the same multi vehicle collision that occurred on October 8, 2021. Defendants are identified as the defendants in both cases. They have the same basic questions of fact or law. The cases were deemed related on September 8, 2022. It is within the interest of judicial economy to consolidate these actions. As such, the Court grants the motion.

CONCLUSION

Defendants Oganes Nalbanndyan and United Independent Taxi Drivers Inc.’s Motion to Consolidate Cases is GRANTED. Case No. 21STCV18998 and Case No. 21STCV37276 are consolidated, with Case No. 21STCV18998 designated as the lead case.

All hearings in the non-lead case are advanced and vacated.

              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.