Judge Lee W. Tsao, Case Number: 23NWCV02307, Date: 2024-07-17 Tentative Ruling

Judge: Lee W. Tsao, Case: 23NWCV02307, Date: 2024-07-17 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: 23NWCV02307 Hearing Date: July 17, 2024 Dept: C

MARIA E. SALMERON v. JAGUAR LAND ROVER NORTH AMERICA, LLC

CASE NO.: 23NWCV02307

HEARING: 7/17/24 @ 9:30 A.M.

TENTATIVE ORDER

Plaintiff’s Motion to Compel Further Response to Defendant’s First Set of Requests for Production is CONTINUED.

Moving Party to give NOTICE.

Background

This is a Song-Beverly action.

Plaintiff Maria E. Salmeron moves to compel further responses to her Request for Production of Documents, Set One from defendant Jaguar Land Rover North America, LLC.

Timeliness

Notice of the motion to compel further must be provided within 45 days of service of the verified response or on or before any specific later date to which the parties have agreed. (Code Civ. Proc., § 2031.310, subd. (c).) This 45-day deadline runs from the date the verified response is served and is extended for service by mail in accordance with Code of Civil Procedure sections 1010.6, subdivision (a)(4) and 1013, subdivision (a). Failure to timely move to compel within the specified period constitutes a waiver of any right to compel a further response. (Code Civ. Proc., § 2031.310, subd. (c).)

On October 25, 2023, Defendant served unverified responses to Plaintiff’s first set of requests for production of documents. (Decl. Kohanoff, ¶ 22, Ex. 5.) Responses consisted of objections and responses. (Decl. Kohanoff, ¶ 22, Ex. 5.) Defendant served verifications on November 21, 2023. (Decl. Kohanoff, ¶ 22. Ex, 6.) The 45-day clock runs only upon service of verified responses. (Code. Civ. Proc., § 2031.250, subd. (a).) Plaintiff filed the instant motion on December 8, 2023.

Taking into account of November 21, 2023 as the response date, Plaintiff is timely.

Meet and Confer

The motion shall be accompanied by a meet and confer declaration. (Code Civ. Proc., § 2031.310, subd. (b)(2).) A meet and confer declaration in support of a motion shall state facts showing a reasonable and good faith attempt at an informal resolution of each issue presented by the motion. (Code Civ. Proc., § 2016.040.)

For purposes of determining whether a motion to compel discovery was preceded by a reasonable and good faith effort to meet and confer, such an attempt at informal resolution requires something more than bickering with opposing counsel; rather, the law requires that counsel attempt to talk the matter over, compare their views, consult, and deliberate. (Clement v. Alegre (2009) 177 Cal.App.4th 1277, 1294.)

Based on the meet-and-confer letters, it appears that the parties did not meet and confer in good faith. For example, Plaintiff proposed that the parties stipulate a protective order, and Defendant said that it will produce responsive documents pursuant to a protective order. (Decl. Kohanoff, ¶¶ 27, 29, Ex. 7, 8.) Defendants also suggested that the parties speak by telephone to further deliberate. (Decl. Kohanoff, ¶ 29, Ex. 8.)

The parties are ordered to meet and confer telephonically, in person, or by video conference. If there are outstanding issues remaining, they are to submit a joint amended separate statement by August 16, 2024. The Court will hear any outstanding issues on Wednesday, August 28, 2024 at 10:30 A.M. in Dept. SE-C.