Judge Lee S. Arian, Case Number: 22STCV20100, Date: 2024-07-11 Tentative Ruling

Judge: Lee S. Arian, Case: 22STCV20100, Date: 2024-07-11 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: 22STCV20100 Hearing Date: July 11, 2024 Dept: 27

Hon. Lee S. Arian, Dept 27

MOTION FOR RELIEF FROM DISMISSAL

Hearing Date: 7/11/24

CASE NO./NAME: 22STCV20100 MARIA JAIME, et al. vs CITY OF PICO RIVERA

Moving Party: Plaintiff

Responding Party: Unopposed

Notice: Sufficient

Ruling: MOTION FOR RELIEF FROM DISMISSAL IS GRANTED

Legal Standard

“It is … well established that it is the policy of the law to bring about a trial on the merits whenever possible, so that any doubts which may exist should be resolved in favor of the application, to the end of securing to a litigant his day in court and a trial upon the merits.”¿ (Frank E. Beckett Co. v. Bobbitt¿(1960) 180 Cal.App.2d Supp. 921, 928.)

Section 473, subdivision (b) provides for two distinct types of relief—commonly differentiated as “discretionary” and “mandatory”—from certain prior actions or proceedings in the trial court. (Luri v. Greenwald (2003) 107 Cal.App.4th 1119, 1124.) “Under the discretionary relief provision, on a showing of ‘mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect,’ the court has discretion to allow relief from a ‘judgment, dismissal, order, or other proceeding taken against’ a party or his or her attorney.¿ Under the mandatory relief provision, on the other hand, upon a showing by attorney declaration of ‘mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or neglect,’ the court shall vacate any ‘resulting default judgment or dismissal entered.’” (Ibid., internal citations and quotation marks omitted, quoting CCP § 473, subd. (b).)

The mandatory portion of section 473 requires the court to, “whenever an application for relief is made no more than six months after entry of judgment, is in proper form, and is accompanied by an attorney’s sworn affidavit attesting to his or her mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or neglect, vacate any (1) resulting default entered by the clerk against his or her client, and which will result in entry of a default judgment, or (2) resulting default judgment or dismissal entered against his or her client, unless the court finds that the default or dismissal was not in fact caused by the attorney’s mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or neglect.”¿ (Code Civ. Proc., § 473, subd. (b).)¿ A timely mea culpa declaration by a plaintiff’s attorney establishing that a dismissal was taken against her client as a result of attorney mistake, inadvertence, or neglect deprives the court of the discretion to deny relief.¿ (Tackett v. City of Huntington Beach (1994) 22 Cal.App.4th 60, 65.)¿

Discussion

On June 21, 2022, Plaintiff filed the present case. On May 21, 2024, Plaintiff’s counsel did not attend an Order to Show Cause Re: Dismissal for Failure to File Entry of Default. As a result, the Court dismissed the case with prejudice pursuant to CCP 581(b)(3). Plaintiff now moves the Court to vacate the dismissal on the basis that it was a calendaring error that led to Plaintiff’s counsel not appearing for the OSC.

This motion is timely, as the dismissal order was issued on May 21, 2024, and the present motion was filed on June 20, 2024, within the six-month deadline. The motion is mandatory because it seeks relief from a dismissal order, and Plaintiff’s attorney’s sworn affidavit confirms that a calendaring error caused the failure to attend the hearing. Because the relief is mandatory and the Court finds that the dismissal resulted from attorney’s inadvertence, the Court grants Plaintiff’s motion.

Plaintiff to give Notice of this ruling.

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.