Judge: Mark A. Young, Case: 23SMCV02701, Date: 2024-01-04 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: 23SMCV02701    Hearing Date: January 4, 2024    Dept: M

CASE NAME:           Digirolamo v. McCarroll, et al.

CASE NO.:                23SMCV02701

MOTION:                  Motion to Compel Initial Discovery Responses

HEARING DATE:   1/4/2024

Legal Standard

Where there has been no timely response to a CCP section 2031.010 inspection demand, the demanding party must seek an order compelling a response. (CCP § 2031.300.) Failure to timely respond waives all objections, including privilege and work product. Thus, unless the party to whom the demand was directed obtains relief from waiver, he or she cannot raise objections to the documents demanded. There is no deadline for a motion to compel responses. Likewise, for failure to respond, the moving party need not attempt to resolve the matter outside court before filing the motion. Where the motion seeks only a response to the inspection demand, no showing of "good cause" is required.

If a party to whom interrogatories are directed fails to serve a timely response, the propounding party may move for an order compelling responses and for a monetary sanction. (CCP § 2030.290(b).) The statute contains no time limit for a motion to compel where no responses have been served. All that need be shown in the moving papers is that a set of interrogatories was properly served on the opposing party, that the time to respond has expired, and that no response of any kind has been served. (Leach v. Superior Court (1980) 111 Cal. App. 3d 902, 905-906.) 

Analysis

            Defendant Landon McCarroll moves to compel initial discovery responses from Plaintiff Athony DiGirolamo as to: a) special interrogatories, set one; b) form interrogatories, set one; and c) requests for production of documents, set one.

            Defendant served Plaintiff with his first set of discovery on October 2, 2023. (Costa Decl., ¶ 2, Exs. A.) Responses were therefore due on November 3, 2023. On November 7, 2023, counsel followed up with Plaintiff regarding the outstanding discovery requests but received no response. (Id., ¶¶ 3-5, Exs. B.) Defendant has not received any response to the above discovery. Given Plaintiff’s failure to respond to the properly served discovery requests, the motions to compel are GRANTED.

Further responses are ordered without objection within 10 days.  Defendant to give notice.