Judge: Kimberly Knill, Case: 30-2022-01259824-CU-BC-CJC, Date: 2023-07-28 Tentative Ruling

Plaintiffs’ Motion for an Order Compelling Defendant Joseph A. Morabito to Provide Further Responses to First Set of Form Interrogatories and Request for Sanctions in the Amount of $4,259.50

Plaintiffs James J. Jennings, Sladen W. Hall, as Trustee of The Hall Family Trust dated June 9, 2005, Robert U. Bill, and Mary K. Legate Corn’s Motion to Compel Further Responses to Form Interrogatory 15.1, is GRANTED.

Plaintiffs through the declaration of counsel, Gordon V. Dunn III, have satisfied the meet and confer requirement prior to filing the motion.  (Code Civ. Proc., § 2016.040.)

Plaintiffs assert defendant’s response to form interrogatory 15.1 is non-responsive, evasive and incomplete because it contains boilerplate, meritless objections and insufficient answers.  Moreover, the responses are void of any facts supporting defendant’s affirmative defenses.

The court disagrees defendant’s responses are wholly insufficient.  To the extent, however, he has additional facts to support the following affirmative defenses: sixth, seventh, ninth, twelfth, fifteenth, and sixteenth – defendant is ORDERED to provide further responses within 20 days.  Additionally, defendant is to identify the judicial determinations he contends preclude plaintiffs’ claims. 

The court declines to award sanctions, because defendant was substantially justified in failing to provide further responses to some of the interrogatory responses at issue.  (Code Civ. Proc., § 2030.300, subd. (h).)

Plaintiffs to give notice. 

Plaintiffs’ Motion for an Order Compelling Defendant Joseph A. Morabito to Provide Further Responses to First Set of Special Interrogatories and Request for Sanctions in the Amount of $4,868.00

Plaintiffs James J. Jennings, Sladen W. Hall, as Trustee of The Hall Family Trust dated June 9, 2005, Robert U. Bill, and Mary K. Legate Corn’s Motion to Compel Further Responses to Special Interrogatories, Set One, is GRANTED.

Plaintiffs through the declaration of counsel, Gordon V. Dunn III, have satisfied the meet and confer requirement prior to filing the motion.  (Code Civ. Proc., § 2016.040.)

The special interrogatories in dispute are 10-12, 14-27, and 29-34.  Defendant does not assert any specific objections to each of the interrogatories.  Rather, defendant’s responses include a preliminary statement of five standard objections, which plaintiffs urge the court to disregard as improper.   

The court agrees defendant’s responses are not Code complaint. A blanket statement of objections is not sufficient to preserve an objection.  The objections are not incorporated into each interrogatory response, and any specific objections have been waived, including relevance and burdensome objections.

Defendant argues each interrogatory has been answered with straightforward responses and the documentation supporting the interrogatories have been provided to plaintiffs more than four times – with the discovery responses, in the prior litigation and arbitration, to the receiver in this case, and on this court’s record in the interpleader motion of the Paragon entity (now dismissed).  (Opp., p. 4, ¶¶ 10-14.) 

Defendant’s responses are incomplete, evasive, and vague.  They provide no detail such as dates, names, or factual specifics.  Some of the responses do not even appear to be responsive to the interrogatory. 

The court awards plaintiffs and their counsel of record $4,868 in sanctions.  (Code Civ. Proc., § 2030.300, subd. (h).)

Defendant is ORDERED to serve further Code-compliant responses, without objection, to Plaintiffs’ Special Interrogatories Nos. 10-12, 14-27, and 29-34 and to pay sanctions to plaintiffs and their counsel of record within 20 days. 

Plaintiffs to give notice. 

Plaintiffs’ Motion for an Order Compelling Defendant Joseph A. Morabito to Provide Further Responses and Produce Documents Responsive to First Set of Requests for Production of Documents and Request for Sanctions in the Amount of $6,802.50

Plaintiffs James J. Jennings, Sladen W. Hall, as Trustee of The Hall Family Trust dated June 9, 2005, Robert U. Bill, and Mary K. Legate Corn’s Motion to Compel Further Responses to Request for Production of Documents, Set One, is GRANTED.

Plaintiffs’ unopposed Request for Judicial Notice is GRANTED.

Plaintiffs through the declaration of counsel, Gordon V. Dunn III, have satisfied the meet and confer requirement prior to filing the motion.  (Code Civ. Proc., § 2016.040.) 

Defendant’s argument the requests are overbroad is not well taken. Defendant executed a stipulation with plaintiffs limiting the documents sought to the previous four-year period “which are necessary and relevant to the purposes of the testimony without being overburdensome on Defendants, subject to further meet and confer efforts as necessary.”  (Plaintiffs’ RJN, Exhibit 9.) 

Defendant did not object to the requests on grounds they are not reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence, and the declaration of Mr. Dunn establishes good cause for compelling production. 

Defendant also asserts he previously produced documents responsive to these requests in arbitration but provides no Bates numbers which would identify the documents produced. 

Defendant is ORDERED to either produce the responsive documents or, if previously produced, to identify by Bates numbers the responsive documents previously produced. 

The court awards plaintiffs and their counsel of record $6,802.50 in sanctions.  (Code Civ. Proc., § 2031.310, subd. (h).) 

Defendant is ORDERED to serve further responses to plaintiffs’ Request for Production of Documents Nos. 11 and 13, to produce documents, and to pay sanctions to plaintiffs and their counsel of record within 20 days. 

Plaintiffs to give notice. 

Plaintiffs’ Motion for an Order Compelling Defendant Joseph A. Morabito to Provide Responses and Produce Documents Responsive to Second Set of Requests for Production of Documents and Request for Sanctions in the Amount of $4,201.50

Plaintiff James J. Jennings, Sladen W. Hall, as Trustee of The Hall Family Trust dated June 9, 2005, Robert U. Bill, and Mary K. Legate Corn’s Motion to Compel Defendant Joseph A. Morabito, individually and as Trustee of The Morabito Living Trust dated June 2, 1997, Further Responses to Request for Production of Documents, Set Two, is DENIED.

Plaintiffs’ unopposed Request for Judicial Notice is GRANTED.

Plaintiffs submit the declaration of counsel Gordon V. Dunn III, who merely states that he “met and conferred with Morabito’s counsel by telephone, but we were unable to come to a resolution.” (Dunn Decl., ¶ 25.) Such statement is insufficient to demonstrate a meaningful meet and confer. (Code Civ. Proc., § 2016.040.)

Plaintiffs to give notice.