Judge Lee S. Arian, Case Number: 21STCV07309, Date: 2024-03-05 Tentative Ruling

Judge: Lee S. Arian, Case: 21STCV07309, Date: 2024-03-05 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: 21STCV07309 Hearing Date: March 5, 2024 Dept: 27

Complaint Filed: 2/24/21¿¿

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Hon. Lee S. Arian¿¿

Department 27¿¿

Tentative Ruling¿¿

Hearing Date: 3/5/2024 at 1:30 p.m.¿¿

Case No./Name: 21STCV07309 MONIQUE VON FLOTOW vs BAY HARBOR MARINA, et al.

Motion: DEFENDANT THE BAY CLUBS COMPANY, LLC’S MOTION TO COMPEL DISCOVERY RESPONSES AND REQUEST FOR MONETARY SANCTIONS

Moving Party: Defendant The Bay Clubs Company, LLC

Responding Party: Plaintiff Monique Von Flotow

Notice: Sufficient¿¿

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Ruling: DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO COMPEL FORM INTERROGATORIES, SET ONE, IS GRANTED.

DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO COMPEL PRODUCTION OF DOCUMENT, SET ONE, IS GRANTED.

DEFENDANT’S REQUEST FOR SANCTIONS IS GRANTED.

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BACKGROUND¿¿

On February 24, 2021, Plaintiff Monique Von Flotow initiated the current lawsuit for general negligence and premises liability against Defendant THE BAY CLUBS COMPANY, LLC. On July 21, 2023, Defendant served Plaintiff with its request for the production of documents, set one, and form interrogatories, set one. (Capabianco Decl., ¶ 4, Ex. A & B.) The deadline to respond to these discovery requests was August 20, 2023. From August 2023 to January 2024, Plaintiff's counsel requested numerous extensions, all granted by Defendant. (Capabianco Decl., ¶ 7-10.) Despite these extensions, Plaintiff did not provide any discovery responses. As a result, on January 25, 2024, Defendant filed the current motion to compel and request for sanctions. (Capabianco Decl., ¶ 11.) While Plaintiff has filed an opposition, it does not challenge the request to compel; Plaintiff’s counsel requests additional time to reestablish contact with her client. Defendant opposes this request for an extension in its reply.

ANALYSIS¿¿

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1. Interrogatories and Requests for Production

A plaintiff may make a demand for production of documents and propound interrogatories without leave of court at any time 10 days after the service of the summons on, or appearance by, the party to whom the demand is directed, whichever occurs first. (Code Civ. Proc., § 2031.020, subd. (b); Code Civ. Proc., § 2030.020, subd. (b).) The demand for production of documents is not limited by number, but the request must comply with the formatting requirements in Code Civ. Proc., § 2031.030. A party may propound 35 specially prepared interrogatories that are relevant to the subject matter of the pending action and any additional number of official form interrogatories that are relevant to the subject matter of the pending action. (Code Civ. Proc., § 2030.030, subd. (a)(1) - (a)(2).)¿

The party whom the request is propounded upon is required to respond within 30 days after service of a demand, but the parties are allowed to informally agree to an extension and confirm any such agreement in writing. (Code Civ. Proc., § 2031.260, subd. (a); Code Civ. Proc., § 2030.260, subd. (a); Code Civ. Proc., § 2031.270, subd. (a) - (b); Code Civ. Proc., § 2030.270, subd. (a) - (b).)¿

If a party fails to timely respond to a request for production or interrogatories, the party to whom the request is directed waives any right to exercise the option to produce writings under Code Civ. Proc., § 2030.230, and waives any objection, including one based on privilege or on the protection for work product. (Code Civ. Proc., § 2031.300, subd. (a); Code Civ. Proc., § 2030.290, subd. (a).)¿¿

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Code of Civil Procedure section 2023.030, subdivision (a) provides, in pertinent part, that the court may impose a monetary sanction on a party engaging in the misuse of the discovery process to pay the reasonable expenses, including attorney’s fees, incurred by anyone as a result of that conduct. A misuse of the discovery process includes failing to respond or submit to an authorized method of discovery. (Code Civ. Proc., § 2023.010, subd. (d).)¿¿¿A court has discretion to fix the amount of reasonable monetary sanctions. (Cornerstone Realty Advisors, LLC v. Summit Healthcare Reit, Inc. (2020) 56 Cal.App.5th 771, 791.)¿¿¿

It is undisputed that Plaintiff did not serve timely initial responses to Defendant's form interrogatories Set One and Requests for Production Set One. Defendant claims they have lost contact with their client and requests 60 more days from the court to reestablish contact. However, Defendant fails to provide legal authority for the court to grant such an order. Furthermore, Defendant afforded Plaintiff a 5-month extension from August 2023 to January 2024. Defendant has not demonstrated how granting another 60 days would enable Plaintiff to reestablish contact, given the 5 months already provided by Defendant. Therefore, the present motions to compel are GRANTED.

2. Sanctions¿

Plaintiff's failure to provide timely responses necessitated Defendant's filing of the present motions, leading to Defendant incurring attorney's fees. Defendant has requested $2,310.00 in attorneys' fees. ((Declaration of Yusof S. Nazari, ¶ 3.) Considering the simplicity of the issues involved, the Court reduces the sanctions awarded to $1,000. Further, because Plaintiff's counsel has made diligent, albeit unsuccessful attempts to communicate with Plaintiff (Adams Decl. ¶ 6-10), the Court will impose sanctions on Plaintiff only.

Accordingly, the Court orders Plaintiff to pay sanctions in the amount of $1,000 to Hawkins Parnell & Young, payable within 30 days of today.

PLEASE TAKE NOTICE:¿¿¿

· If a party intends to submit on this tentative ruling,¿the party must send an email to the court at¿sscdept27@lacourt.org¿with the Subject line “SUBMIT” followed by the case number.¿ The body of the email must include the hearing date and time, counsel’s contact information, and the identity of the party submitting.¿¿¿¿¿

· Unless¿all¿parties submit by email to this tentative ruling, the parties should arrange to appear remotely or in person for oral argument.¿ You should assume that others may appear at the hearing to argue.

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· If the parties neither submit nor appear at hearing, the Court may take the motion off calendar or adopt the tentative ruling as the order of the Court.¿ After the Court has issued a tentative ruling, the Court may prohibit the withdrawal of the subject motion without leave.¿¿¿¿

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