Judge Lee S. Arian, Case Number: 21STCV41745, Date: 2024-03-19 Tentative Ruling

Judge: Lee S. Arian, Case: 21STCV41745, Date: 2024-03-19 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: 21STCV41745 Hearing Date: March 19, 2024 Dept: 27

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Hon. Lee S. Arian¿¿¿¿

Department 27¿¿¿¿

Tentative Ruling¿¿¿

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Hearing Date: 3/19/2024 at 1:30 p.m.¿¿¿¿¿

Case No./Name.: 21STCV41745 CHRISTIAN BRAVO, AN INDIVIDUAL vs CANDY MARTINEZ

Motion: MOTION TO BE RELIEVED AS COUNSEL¿¿

Moving Party: Plaintiff’s Counsel Timothy M. Ghobrial

Responding Party: Unopposed¿¿

Notice: Insufficient¿¿¿¿¿

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Ruling: MOTION TO BE RELIEVED AS COUNSEL IS GRANTED

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Background¿¿

Plaintiff is currently represented by Attorney Timothy M. Ghobrial.

Plaintiff’s counsel moves to be relieved as counsel, citing an irremediable breakdown in the attorney-client relationship and/or communication, which rendered it unreasonably difficult, if not impossible, for Plaintiff's counsel to continue representing Plaintiff 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¿¿

Counsel seeks to be relieved as counsel for Plaintiff on the grounds that there has been a breakdown in the attorney-client relationship. The Court finds this to be proper grounds for withdrawal. A breakdown in the attorney-client relationship is grounds for allowing the attorney to withdraw. (Estate of Falco (1987) 188 Cal.App.3d 1004, 1014.) The motion and related documents were mailed to 672 W. 16th St., Upland, CA 91784, purportedly the address of Plaintiff Christian Bravo. Plaintiff's counsel utilized a “skip trace” to determine this address. However, there is no explanation in the request of what a “skip trace” is, its reliability, or any documentation of the search process. The Court, thus, has significant concerns regarding whether proper notice was given to Plaintiff.

Furthermore, an Order to Show Cause re Failure to File Default Judgment and other matters are on calendar for March 20. Plainitff has insufficient time to bring in new counsel. Consequently, the current motion is denied without prejudice, pending further clarification and/or evidence from counsel re the “skip trace” and pending the upcoming court appearances.

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¿PLEASE TAKE NOTICE:¿¿¿¿¿¿¿

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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.¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿

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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.¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿

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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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