Judge: Elaine W. Mandel, Case: 22SMCV00900, Date: 2022-09-29 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: 22SMCV00900    Hearing Date: September 29, 2022    Dept: P

Tentative Ruling
Cantaloupe Holdings, LLC v. Jackson, et al., Case No. 22SMCV00900
Hearing Date: September 29, 2022
Plaintiff Cantaloupe Holdings’s Motion to Strike Jackson’s Answer

Plaintiff SNF sued defendant patient Jackson and Ransom-Lundy for failure to pay for services. 

Plaintiff moves to strike defendant Jackson’s Answer (per Code of Civil Procedure section 436(b)) because the answer is signed by defendant Ransom-Lundy, who is not a California licensed attorney.

Code of Civil Procedure section 436 provides, “[t]he court may, upon a motion made pursuant to Section 435, or at any time in its discretion, and upon terms it deems proper: . . . (b) Strike out all or any part of any pleading not drawn or filed in conformity with the laws of this state, a court rule, or an order of the court.”  (Code Civ. Proc., § 436, subd. (b).) “The grounds for a motion to strike shall appear on the face of the challenged pleading or from any matter of which the court is required to take judicial notice.”  (Code Civ. Proc., § 437, subd. (a).)

A party’s pleading may be subject to a motion to strike, on the ground the pleading has not been “filed in conformity with the laws of this state,” where the pleading is signed by the party’s purported representative who is not licensed to practice law in the State of California.  (CLD Construction, Inc. v. City of San Ramon (2004) 120 Cal.App.4th 1141, 1147 [holding a complaint filed by a nonlawyer on behalf of another person may be properly stricken].)

Business and Professions Code section 6125, part of “The State Bar Act,” provides, while a party may represent their own interests in legal proceedings, a party may not be represented by another unless the party’s representative “is an active licensee of the State Bar.” (Bus. & Prof. Code, § 6125; Drake v. Superior Court (1994) 21 Cal.App.4th 1826, 1830. Code of Civil Procedure section 446 requires “[e]very pleading shall be subscribed [or signed] by the party or his or her attorney.” (Code Civ. Proc., § 446.)

Defendant Jackson’s Answer fails to comply with Business and Professions Code section 6125 and Code of Civil Procedure section 446. The Answer is signed by co-defendant Ransom-Lundy, who is not a licensed attorney in California.  (Salamoff Decl., Ex. A). The answer is STRICKEN. Defendant Jackson may file a proper Answer within twenty (20) days, either in propria persona or represented by licensed counsel.