Judge: Mark A. Young, Case: 20SMCV01143, Date: 2022-08-30 Tentative Ruling
Case Number: 20SMCV01143 Hearing Date: August 30, 2022 Dept: M
CASE NO.: 20SMCV01143
MOTION: Motion to be Relieved as Counsel
HEARING DATE: August 30, 2022
SUMMARY OF RULING
Counsel Bret D. Lewis’s motion to be relieved is GRANTED. The order is effective upon the filing of the proof of service of the order on the client. Until then, counsel remains counsel of record. Moving party is ordered to give notice. Counsel is further ordered to add the demurrer date of March 21, 2023, to the notice.
Legal Standard
The court may order that an attorney be changed or substituted at any time before or after judgment or final determination upon request by either client or attorney and after notice from one to the other. (CCP § 284(2).) The attorney seeking to withdraw must take “reasonable steps to avoid reasonably foreseeable prejudice to the rights of the client, including giving due notice to the client, allowing time for employment of other counsel.” (Cal. Rules of Prof. Conduct, 3-700(A)(2). See, e.g., Vann v. Shilleh (1975) [holding withdrawal prejudicial where attorney withdraw from the representation of defendant on the Friday before trial began the following Monday].) “The determination whether to grant or deny a motion to withdraw as counsel lies within the sound discretion of the trial court.” (Manfredi & Levine v. Superior Court (1998) 66 Cal.App.4th 1128, 1133.)
An application to be relieved as counsel must be made on Judicial Counsel Form MC-051 (Notice of Motion and Motion), MC-052 (Declaration), and MC-053 (Proposed Order). (CRC 3.1362(a), (c), (e).) The requisite forms must be served “on the client and on all parties that have appeared in the case.” (CRC, 3.1362(d).) When a client is served by mail, the attorney’s declaration must indicate that the client’s address was confirmed within the last 30 days and how it was confirmed. (Id.) If the attorney is unable to confirm the client’s current address, the declaration must state the reasonable efforts made within the last 30 days to obtain the client’s current address. (Id.)
Additionally, the declaration “must state in general terms and without compromising the confidentiality of the attorney client relationship why” a motion is brought instead of filing a substitution of attorney. (CRC, 3.1362(c).)
Analysis
The Court finds that all the mandatory forms were submitted. Counsel states that an irreparable breakdown of the attorney-client relationship has occurred amongst other issues. Counsel personally served the clients and confirmed their address within the past 30 days. The declaration notes the hearings that are on calendar with the exception of the March 2023 demurrer date. The Court concludes that the client will not be prejudiced by withdrawal. Accordingly, Counsel’s motion is GRANTED. Counsel is ordered to give their client notice of the March 21, 2023, demurrer date.