Judge: Holly J. Fujie, Case: 21STCV36334, Date: 2022-08-16 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: 21STCV36334    Hearing Date: August 16, 2022    Dept: 56

SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

FOR THE COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES - CENTRAL DISTRICT

MOVING PARTY: Sarah K. O’Brien on behalf of Law Offices of Thomas F. Nowland (“O’Brien”)

O’Brien seeks to be relieved as counsel for Defendant Anchor Marina, Inc. (“Defendant”).  O’Brien’s motion to be relieved as counsel (the “Motion”) is compliant with California Rules of Court, rule 3.1362.  The Motion is unopposed.  Any opposition papers were required to have been filed and served at least nine court days before the hearing under California Code of Civil Procedure section 1005, subdivision (b).

DISCUSSION

The court has discretion on whether to allow an attorney to withdraw, and a motion to withdraw will not be granted where withdrawal would prejudice the client.  (Ramirez v. Sturdevant (1994) 21 Cal.App.4th 904, 915.) 

In connection with the Motion, O’Brien declares that Defendant is in breach of the retainer agreement and is consistently uncooperative with counsel.  The Court finds this to be an adequate basis for withdrawal.  The Court therefore GRANTS the Motion.  (Sexton v. Superior Court (1997) 58 Cal.App.4th 1403, 1410.)  Because corporate entities such as Defendant cannot appear except through counsel, the Court will hold an OSC regarding Defendant’s representation on September 27, 2022 at 8:30 a.m.

Moving party is ordered to give notice of this ruling.

In consideration of the current COVID-19 pandemic situation, the Court¿strongly¿encourages that appearances on all proceedings, including this one, be made by LACourtConnect if the parties do not submit on the tentative.¿¿If you instead intend to make an appearance in person at Court on this matter, you must send an email by 2 p.m. on the last Court day before the scheduled date of the hearing to¿SMC_DEPT56@lacourt.org¿stating your intention to appear in person.¿ The Court will then inform you by close of business that day of the time your hearing will be held. The time set for the hearing may be at any time during that scheduled hearing day, or it may be necessary to schedule the hearing for another date if the Court is unable to accommodate all personal appearances set on that date.¿ This rule is necessary to ensure that adequate precautions can be taken for proper social distancing. 

Parties who intend to submit on this tentative must send an email to the Court at SMC_DEPT56@lacourt.org as directed by the instructions provided on the court website at www.lacourt.org.  If the department does not receive an email and there are no appearances at the hearing, the motion will be placed off calendar. 

              Dated this 16th day of August 2022