Judge: Elaine W. Mandel, Case: 22SMCV02549, Date: 2023-03-27 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: 22SMCV02549    Hearing Date: March 27, 2023    Dept: P

Tentative Ruling

VST 2020-NPL1 REO, LLC v. Ashley Aarons et al., Case No. 22SMCV02549

Hearing Date March 27, 2023

Plaintiff’s Omnibus Motion to Compel Responses to Written Discovery and to Deem RFAs Admitted (UNOPPOSED)

On February 9, 2023 and February 21, 2023, plaintiff VST 2020 served defendants Aarons and Adjed, who is in pro per, respectively, with form interrogatories, special interrogatories, requests for production and requests for admission. Plaintiff received no responses from defendant Adjed and contends Aarons responded with boilerplate objections. Plaintiff moves to compel responses and deem the RFAs admitted as to both defendants. No oppositions were filed.

Aarons Responses

Aarons responded identically to all requests, objecting on grounds of burden, overbreadth, vagueness, ambiguity, work product doctrine, attorney-client privilege and trade secrets. These boilerplate objections are not tailored to each request and do not apply to the requests as phrased. The objections are meritless. Aarons must respond substantively to each request. The court will not deem the requests for admission admitted, since although the responses were defective, Aarons did timely respond. Aarons to code-compliant responses within 15 days. GRANTED.

Adjed Responses

Adjed did not respond to plaintiff’s properly served discovery. Adjed must respond to each request without objection within 15 days, and the RFAs are deemed admitted. GRANTED.

Sanctions

Sanctions are warranted against defendants for failing to timely respond and offering boilerplate objections. The requested $5,800 (14.5 hours at $400/hour) is excessive for a straightforward discovery motion which involved no complex issues.

Acknowledging the length of the separate statement, the court awards 8 hours at $400/hour for preparing the motion. The court will not award time for reviewing the opposition or drafting a reply, which were not filed. The court awards one-half hour for the hearing.

Plaintiff is awarded sanctions of 8.5 hours of attorney time at $400/hour, totaling $3,400, to be split equally between Aarons/Aaron’s counsel and Adjed equally ($1,700 each), payable within 30 days. GRANTED.