Judge: David B. Gelfound, Case: 23CHCP00486, Date: 2024-05-17 Tentative Ruling
Counsel wishing to submit on a tentative ruling may inform the clerk or courtroom assistant in North Valley Department F49, 9425 Penfield Ave., Chatsworth, CA 91311, at (818) 407-2249. Please be aware that unless all parties submit, the matter will still be called for hearing and may be argued by any appearing/non-submitting parties. If the matter is submitted on the court's tentative ruling by all parties, counsel for moving party shall give notice of ruling. This may be done by incorporating verbatim the court's tentative ruling. The tentative ruling may be extracted verbatim by copying and pasting, as unformatted text, from the Los Angeles Superior Court’s website, http://www.lasuperiorcourt.org.
All hearings on law and motion and other calendar matters are generally NOT transcribed by a court reporter unless one is provided by the party(ies).
Case Number: 23CHCP00486 Hearing Date: May 17, 2024 Dept: F49
| Dept. F49 |
| Date: 5/17/24 |
| Case Name: State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company v. Jeffrey Anthony |
| Case # 23CHCP00486 |
LOS ANGELES SUPERIOR COURT
NORTH VALLEY DISTRICT
DEPARTMENT F49
MAY 17, 2024
MOTION TO COMPEL RESPONSES TO FORM INTERROGATORIES, SET ONE
Los Angeles Superior Court Case # 23CHCP00486
Motion filed: 12/19/23
MOVING PARTY: Petitioner State Farm Automobile Insurance Company (“State Farm” or “Petitioner”)
RESPONDING PARTY: None
NOTICE: OK
RELIEF REQUESTED: An order from this Court to compel Respondent Jeffrey Anthony’s verified responses to Petitioner’s Form Interrogatories, Set One.
TENTATIVE RULING: The motion is GRANTED.
BACKGROUND
On December 13, 2023, State Farm filed a Petition to Open Unlimited Civil Court File to Establish Jurisdiction over Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Arbitration Matters (the “Petition”). The purpose of the Petition is to have this Court exercise jurisdiction over discovery matters with Respondent, in accordance with Insurance Code section 11580.2(f). (Pet. ¶ 6.)
On December 14, 2023, State Farm filed its Proof of Service, establishing that papers were served upon Respondent’s counsel by mail on the same day.
On December 19, 2023, State Farm filed the instant Motion to Compel responses to its Form Interrogatories, Set One.
No opposition has been received by the Court.
ANALYSIS
If a party to whom interrogatories are directed fails to serve a timely response, the propounding party may move for an order compelling responses and for a monetary sanction. (Code Civ. Proc., § 2030.290(b).) The statute contains no time limit for a motion to compel where no responses have been served. All that needs to be shown in the moving papers is that a set of interrogatories was properly served on the opposing party, that the time to respond has expired, and that no response of any kind has been served. (Leach v. Superior Court (1980) 111 Cal.App.3d 902, 905-06.)
A. Motion to Compel Responses to Form Interrogatories, Set One
Petitioner’s counsel attests that on February 2, 2023, State Farm served Respondent with the first set of Form Interrogatories, Special Interrogatories, and Demand for Inspection and Production of Documents. (Grant Decl., ¶ 4, Ex. “B.”) Subsequently, State Farm granted an extension of the deadline to respond from March 8 to March 31, 2023. (Id., ¶ 5, Ex. “C.”) Petitioner further presents that a second extension was granted by it on May 2, 2023, moving Respondent’s deadline to respond to June 1, 2023. (Id., ¶ 7, Ex. “E.”) Furthermore, two additional extensions were provided by State Farm, extending the deadlines to June 23, and November 3, 2023, respectively. (Id., ¶¶ 8-9.) Despite these efforts by Petitioner and indications from Respondent of intent to meet the deadlines, no responses were received by Petitioner at the filing of the instant Motion. (Id., ¶ 11.)
Given the absence of any opposition from the Respondent and the records above, the Court finds that Respondent has failed to serve a timely response, thereby waiving any objection to the interrogatories, including those based on privilege or the protection for work product, pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure section 2030.290, subdivision (a).
Therefore, the Court GRANTS the Motion to Compel Respondent’s Responses to Petitioner’s Form Interrogatories, Set One.
CONCLUSION
Petitioner’s Motion to Compel Respondent’s Responses to Form Interrogatories, Set One, is GRANTED.
Respondent Jeffrey Anthony is ordered to serve verified responses without objections to Petitioner’s Form Interrogatories, Set One, within 20 days.