Judge: Lynne M. Hobbs, Case: 23STCV02069, Date: 2025-01-24 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: 23STCV02069    Hearing Date: January 24, 2025    Dept: 61

ATTILA GAZDAG vs ALBERT WHITMAN & COMPANY, A DELAWARE CORPORATION, et al.

Tentative

Cal. Code of Civ. Proc. (“CCP”) section 284 states that “[t]he attorney in an action or special proceeding may be changed at any time before or after judgment or final determination” upon either consent of both client and attorney, or upon the order of the court under application of either the client of the attorney, after notice from one to the other. Cal. Rule of Court 3.1362 states the requirements for a motion to be relieved as counsel under CCP section 284. No memorandum is required, but the motion must be accompanied by (1) a declaration stating why a motion has been brought instead of filing a consent (without compromising attorney-client confidentiality), (2) proof of service of the motion, and (3) all hearing dates scheduled in the action or proceeding, including the date of trial, if know. Additionally, “[t]he proposed order relieving counsel must be prepared on the Order Granting Attorney's Motion to Be Relieved as Counsel--Civil (form MC-053) and must be lodged with the court with the moving papers.”

The present motions pertain to attorney Philip J. Azzara, of the firm Fisher & Phillips, LLP, counsel for Defendants John Quattrocchi and Albert Whitman & Company. The motions are accompanied by a declaration of Azzara, who states there has been an irreconcilable breakdown in the attorney-client relationship. The motions include proofs of service and a filled-out proposed order form listing upcoming dates of hearing. Trial is set for April 22, 2025.

Philip J. Azzara’s Motions to be Relieved as Counsel for Defendants John Quattrocchi and Albert Whitman & Company are GRANTED, effective upon moving counsel filing with the court proof of service of a copy of the signed order on the client, as set forth in Cal. Rules of Court Rule 3.1362(e).