Judge: Lee S. Arian, Case: 21STCV21084, Date: 2023-10-24 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: 21STCV21084    Hearing Date: March 4, 2024    Dept: 27

Complaint Filed:    6/4/2021

Hon. Lee S. Arian  

Department 27  

Tentative Ruling 

Hearing Date:                     3/4/2024 at 1:30 p.m.   

Case No./Name.:               21STCV21084 GALINA KOPELEV vs CHURCHILL CONDOMINIUM ASSOCIATION et. al.

Motion:                                 MOTION TO BE RELIEVED AS COUNSEL

Moving Party:                     Plaintiff’s Counsel BETH E. GRAFF, ESQ

Responding Party:            Plaintiff GALINA KOPELEV

Notice:                                   Sufficient   

Ruling:                                  MOTION TO BE RELIEVED AS COUNSEL is Granted.   

Background

This action arises from a premises liability accident that occurred on June 8, 2019. On June 4, 2021, Plaintiff Galina Kopelev (“Plaintiff”) filed this action against Defendant Churchill Condominium Association (“Defendant”) and Does 1 to 10, alleging causes of action for premises liability and general negligence. On January 4, 2024, counsel for Plaintiff Beth E. Graff (“Counsel”) filed a motion to be relieved as counsel. On January 29, 2024, the Court denied the motion because certain procedural requirements had not been met.  On January 30, 2024, counsel filed a new motion to be relieved as Plaintiff’s counsel.

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

On January 29, 2024, as reflected in its Minute Order that day, the Court recognized the breakdown in the attorney-client relationship between Plaintiff and Counsel as proper grounds for withdrawal. Addressing concerns of potential prejudice to Plaintiff, the Court highlighted that the trial date is set for August 5, 2024, providing ample time for Plaintiff to secure new representation.

However, on January 29, the Court identified that the withdrawal motion did not include all necessary Judicial Council forms as required by Rule 3.1362 of the California Rules of Court. Specifically, the proposed order (form MC-053) was absent. Additionally, Plaintiff's address was not included in item 1 of the motion form (MC-051), and item 3a in the declaration (form MC-052) remained incomplete.

The current motion includes the previously missing proposed order and corrects the deficiencies in forms MC-051 and MC-052.  Plaintiff filed an opposition to this motion, which largely mirrors the initial opposition already reviewed by the Court in its January 29, 2024 Minute Order.  Although in the opposition, Plaintiff offers a generic statement about her inability, as a pro se plaintiff, to draft a motion to compel further discovery responses to be directed to Defendant, she does not provide any specific details regarding the discovery responses. This omission includes a lack of information about the content of the requests, deficiencies in the responses, the importance of the requested information, and, significantly, the deadline for filing a motion to compel further. Thus, Plaintiff failed to make a sufficient showing of undue prejudice.  Further, new counsel, to the extent Plaintiff seeks such counsel, will likely be able to assist Plaintiff in drafting such motion, and there is time for Plaintiff to obtain such counsel. 

Consequently, the Court GRANTS the motion for counsel to be relieved. Moving party to give notice.

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.