Judge: Douglas W. Stern, Case: 22STCV08051, Date: 2023-08-14 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: 22STCV08051    Hearing Date: August 14, 2023    Dept: 68

Gavrieli Brands LLC vs. Empire Container Freight Station, Inc., 22STCV08051Motion to Enforce Court Order

This Court’s March 17, 2023 Order begins:

“In this Court’s Order of February 6, 2023 (Demurrer ruling) the Court observed:

“It is generally a poor practice to entirely ignore a motion filed against a party. At a minimum, the failure to file anything deprives the Court of the benefits of the view of the party.”

Once again Defendant/Cross-Complainant Empire Container Freight, Inc. has chosen to remain silent. This silence is in the face of a very significant discovery motion following its repetitive failure to voluntarily comply with its discovery obligations, followed by its failure to comply with numerous court orders on that discovery.”

This was followed on May 16, 2023 when the Court heard the Demurrer to the Second Amended Complaint.  On that occasion Plaintiff did not file an opposition until the day prior to the hearing, and this Court did not consider the opposition.

No Opposition was filed to this Motion.

Background

            Plaintiff Gavrieli Brands LLC (Plaintiff) filed this motion pursuant to CCP Sections 128(a)(4), 2023.010, 2023.030, 2023.040, 2030.290 because of Defendant Empire Container Freight Station’s (Defendant) failure to pay court-ordered sanctions. 

On March 17, 2023, this Court ordered Defendant to serve complete, code-compliant responses to Plaintiff’s First Set of Form Interrogatories by March 21, or sanctions would accrue at $2,000 per day. Defendant did not serve answers until April 4, 2023, meaning that $26,000.00 in sanctions accrued. Also on March 17, the Court ordered Defendant to pay Plaintiff $13,060.00 for the costs incurred in bringing that motion payable by April 21, 2023. Defendant has failed to pay those sanctions.

Plaintiff has also requested $26,383.00 in sanctions for having to bring this motion.

Analysis

            This Court ordered Defendant to pay sanctions equivalent to $26,000.00 and $13,060.00. Defendant failed to pay those sanctions. CCP § 128(a)(4) allows the Court to compel obedience to its orders. As such, the Court orders Defendant to comply with its previous orders and pay sanctions to Plaintiff in the amounts of $26,000.00 and $13,060.00.

            Next are the sanctions requested by Plaintiff for having to bring this motion. The following is how long each of Plaintiff’s counsel spent on the motion: Marta Rocha spent 30.7 hours at $615.00 an hour for a total of $18,880.50 (Smith Decl., ¶ 16); An Le spent 6.1 hours at $575.00 an hour for a total of $3,507.50 (Smith Decl., ¶ 18); Ehsun Forghany will spend 2.0 hours preparing for and attending the hearing on the motion at $925.00 an hour for a total of $1,850.00 an hour (Smith Decl., ¶ 19); and Benjamin P. Smith spent 1.5 hours at $1,390.00 an hour for a total of $2,085.00 (Smith Decl., ¶ 20). This, plus the $60.00 filing fee, adds up to $26,383.00. (Smith Decl., ¶ 21.)

            Given the nature of this motion and the fact that there was no opposition filed so no reply was necessary, this seems like an excessive amount of attorney’s fees. While the Court acknowledges that it likely took some time for Plaintiff to assemble the 18 exhibits included with the motion, around 40 hours of time between 4 lawyers seems unreasonable. The Court will use its discretion to reduce the amount of sanctions for bringing the motion to $16,000.00.

Order

1.     Defendant Empire Container Freight Station is ordered to pay $26,000.00 in sanctions within 10 days of service of this order.    (This amount was previously ordered by the Court.)

2.     Defendant Empire Container Freight Station is ordered to pay $13,060.00 in sanctions within 10 days of service of this order.     (This amount was previously ordered by the Court.)

3.     Defendant Empire Container Freight Station is ordered to pay an additional (new sanction) of $16,000.00 in sanctions for Plaintiff having had to bring this motion within 10 days of service of this order.