Judge: Gary I. Micon, Case: 23CHCV03519, Date: 2024-05-16 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: 23CHCV03519    Hearing Date: May 16, 2024    Dept: F43

Dept. F43

Date: 5-16-24

Case #23CHCV03519, Daysi Dominguez De Lucano vs. Volkswagen Group of America, Inc., et al.

Trial Date: N/A

MOTION TO COMPEL FURTHER DISCOVERY RESPONSES

MOVING PARTY: Plaintiff Daysi Dominguez De Lucano

RESPONDING PARTY: Defendant Volkswagen Group of America, Inc.

RELIEF REQUESTED

Further Responses to Defendant’s Answers to Plaintiff’s Requests for Production

RULING: Parties are ordered to conduct a meaningful meet and confer

SUMMARY OF ACTION AND ANALYSIS

On November 16, 2023, Plaintiff Daysi Dominguez De Lucano (Plaintiff) filed this lemon law case against Defendant Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Defendant).

Plaintiff propounded discovery on Defendant on December 26, 2023. On February 16, 2024, Defendant served responses to Plaintiff’s requests for production. On April 3, 2024, Plaintiff filed a motion to compel further responses to the requests for production. Plaintiff argues that all of Defendant’s responses to Request Nos. 1 through 31 were inadequate and not code-compliant, and that Defendant failed to produce many of the documents requested. Defendant opposes Plaintiff’s motion on the basis that Plaintiff failed to establish good cause for the motion and because Defendant has not waived its objections regarding electronically stored information.

There is also a dispute between the parties over the sufficiency of the meet and confer. Defendant argues in its opposition that Plaintiffs failed to conduct a good faith meet and confer because all Plaintiffs did was send Defendant a generic meet and confer letter that ignored Defendant’s substantive responses. Defendant’s counsel responded to Plaintiff’s letter and offered to meet telephonically, but all Plaintiff did was send another letter. Defendant once again offered to meet telephonically, but Plaintiff filed this motion instead.

The Court has reviewed the documents related to this motion and will not decide the motion on the merits at this time. The Court orders the parties to meet and confer directly, not by email or letter. Additionally, the parties are ordered to file a joint statement of remaining issues by a date to be set by the Court. The joint statement should briefly describe the matters in dispute, followed by Plaintiffs’ arguments, then Defendant’s arguments.

Prior to meeting and conferring, the parties should refer to the Court’s new discovery order for lemon law cases for this motion and any future discovery motions that may be filed in this case. There is a section in that order for the production of documents. The Court’s discovery order is posted online, along with this Department’s courtroom information and Final Status Conference Order, all of which the parties are ordered to review.

ORDER

1. The parties are ordered to conduct a meaningful meet and confer.

2. The parties shall submit a joint statement of the remaining issues as described above. The format should be as follows: the parties should recite the specific discovery request at issue, followed by the moving party’s statement of why it should be compelled, followed by the opposing party’s statement of why it should not be compelled. To the extent that an argument is repeated for a subsequent request, the party shall simply refer to the section where the argument was previously made.

3. The dates for the status report and continued hearings will be set at the hearing on this motion.