Judge: Lee S. Arian, Case: 21STCV18729, Date: 2024-01-25 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: 21STCV18729    Hearing Date: April 4, 2024    Dept: 27

Hon. Lee S. Arian

Department 27

Tentative Ruling

Hearing Date:           4/4/2024 at 1:30 p.m.

Case No./Name:       21STCV18729 NADELYNE MICHELLE REYES vs NATHAN'S TOWING LLC

Motion:                    MOTION TO BE RELIEVED AS COUNSEL

Moving Counsel:      Garrett A. Smee

Responding Party:    Unopposed

Notice:                     Insufficient

Ruling:                     MOTION TO BE RELIEVED AS COUNSEL IS DENIED

Background

Counsel Garrett A. Smee (“Smee”) currently represents Defendant John Gerald Ilizaliturri. Smee now moves the Court to be relieved as counsel on the grounds that the insurance company for Defendant has decided to transfer this matter to a different law firm. Smee no longer has authority from Defendant’s insurance carrier to represent him. Smee has been unable to reach Plaintiff to have Plaintiff sign a substitution of attorney.  No opposition has been filed.

Legal Standard

The Court has discretion to allow an attorney to withdraw, and such a motion should be granted provided that there is no prejudice to the client and it does not disrupt the orderly process of justice. (See Ramirez v. Sturdevant (1994) 21 Cal.App.4th 904, 915; People v. Prince (1968) 268 Cal.App.2d 398, 403-407.)

A motion to be relieved as counsel must be made on Judicial Council Form MC-051 (Notice of Motion and Motion), MC-052 (Declaration), and MC-053 (Proposed Order). (Cal. Rules of Court, rule 3.1362, subds. (a), (c), (e).) The requisite forms must be served “on the client and on all parties that have appeared in the case.” (Cal. Rules of Court, Rule 3.1362, subd. (d).)

Analysis and Conclusion

Judicial Council Form MC-051 (Notice of Motion and Motion), MC-052 (Declaration), and MC-053 (Proposed Order) have all been filed and properly served. Counsel seeks to be relieved as counsel for Defendant on the grounds that Defendant’s insurance carrier retained a new law firm to represent Defendant. No information is provided as to why the insurance company seeks to have a new attorney represent Plaintiff, or the insurance company’s ability to unilaterally make such decisions.  Further, the information provided regarding efforts to reach Smee – “searching all known public records with his address and sending letters” – is vague and ambiguous.  Given the inability of Smee to reach Plaintiff, trial upcoming in about 2 months (trial is set for June 27, 2024), and the lack of information regarding (a) why the insurance company decided to replace Smee and (b) regarding the insurance company’s authority to do so, the Court finds that Defendant is likely to be prejudiced by such withdrawal and such withdrawal is likely to interfere with the orderly judicial process.  Accordingly, the request to withdraw is DENIED.

¿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 (encouraged) or in person for oral argument.  You should assume that others may appear at the hearing to argue.

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.