Judge: Lee S. Arian, Case: 22STCV28222, Date: 2024-06-13 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: 22STCV28222    Hearing Date: June 13, 2024    Dept: 27

Hon. Lee S. Arian, Dept 27¿ 

¿ 

MOTION TO CONTINUE TRIAL 

Hearing Date: 6/13/24 

CASE NO./NAME: 22STCV28222 NORMA GALLARDO GARCIA vs CITY OF INGLEWOOD

Moving Party: Defendant City of Inglewood

Responding Party: Plaintiff

Notice: Sufficient 

Ruling: MOTION TO CONTINUE TRIAL IS GRANTED 

On August 30, 2022, Plaintiff filed the present trip and fall case. On May 8, 2024, Defendant City of Inglewood filed its motion for summary judgment with a hearing date set for February 21, 2025. The current trial date is set for August 27, 2024. Defendant moves the Court to continue the trial so the motion for summary judgment can be heard 30 days before the trial date.

"A trial court may not refuse to hear a summary judgment filed within the time limits of [Code of Civil Procedure] section 437c. [Citation.] Local rules and practices may not be applied so as to prevent the filing and hearing of such a motion." (Sentry Ins. Co. v. Superior Court (1989) 207 Cal.App.3d 526, 529); accord, First State Inc. Co. v. Superior Court (2000) 79 Cal.App.4th 324, 330 [invalidating case management order to the extent it precluded filing motions pursuant to section 437c].)

Continuing the trial so the MSJ can be heard constitutes good cause. Plaintiff, in her opposition, argues that the MSJ was not timely filed; however, this is not true. A motion for summary judgment is timely when it is filed 105 days before trial (75 days before the hearing and 30 days before trial (CCP § 437c(a).)) Here, the MSJ was filed on May 8, 2024, and the trial is set for August 27, 2024, with 111 days in between. Thus, the MSJ is timely, and the present motion is GRANTED.

The new Trial Date is set for May __, 2025, at 8:30 a.m. The Final Status Conference is continued to May__, 2025, at 10:00 a.m. The only basis for Defendant’s request for continuance of the trial is so that its MSJ can be heard, and Defendant did not discuss any of the factors to reopen discovery. Thus, fact discovery does not follow the new trial date. Should a party or the parties wish to reopen discovery, the Court will consider a motion or a stipulation filed for that purpose. 

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.