Judge: Gregory Keosian, Case: 22STCV16061, Date: 2024-01-10 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: 22STCV16061    Hearing Date: January 10, 2024    Dept: 61

Cal. Code of Civ. Proc. (“CCP”) section 284 states that “[t]he attorney in an action or special proceeding may be changed at any time before or after judgment or final determination” upon either consent of both client and attorney, or upon the order of the court under application of either the client of the attorney, after notice from one to the other. Cal. Rule of Court 3.1362 states the requirements for a motion to be relieved as counsel under CCP section 284. No memorandum is required, but the motion must be accompanied by (1) a declaration stating why a motion has been brought instead of filing a consent (without compromising attorney-client confidentiality), (2) proof of service of the motion, and (3) all hearing dates scheduled in the action or proceeding, including the date of trial, if know. Additionally, “[t]he proposed order relieving counsel must be prepared on the Order Granting Attorney's Motion to Be Relieved as Counsel--Civil (form MC-053) and must be lodged with the court with the moving papers.”

The present motion pertains to attorney Michael Leight, counsel for non-party Garry Itkin. Leight seeks to be relieved for Itkin’s non-payment of fees and costs in this matter.

The motion is defective in two respects. First, it does not include a proposed order prepared on the MC-053 form. Second, Garry Itkin, the party for whom Leight seeks to be relieved as counsel, is not a party to this action. Although Leight’s moving papers refer to a “consolidated” case of Itkin v. Greenfield, LASC Case No. 22STCV20177, that case and the present one have merely been related, not consolidated.

Michael Leight’s Motion to be Relieved as Counsel for Non-Party Garry Itkin is therefore DENIED.