Judge: Mark C. Kim, Case: 21LBCV00491, Date: 2023-04-11 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: 21LBCV00491    Hearing Date: April 11, 2023    Dept: S27

1.     Motions to Compel Further Responses

The Court was originally scheduled to hear the first of Plaintiffs’ motions to compel further responses on 1/19/23.  The motion was unopposed.  The Court continued the hearing on the motion to 2/23/23, to be heard with the other five motions to compel further responses.  The Court did so because the parties were engaged in ongoing settlement discussions and were using a mediator to assist in the settlement negotiations. 

The parties appeared on 1/25/23 and sought a continuance of the trial, FSC, and hearing date on all of the motions.  The Court granted the request and continued the hearing on these motions to 4/11/23.  To date, there remains no opposition to the motions. 

The Court presumes there is no opposition because there are ongoing settlement discussions between the parties and they are not proceeding with the hearing on the motions at this time.  To the extent this is incorrect, the Court previously noted, in its 1/19/23 order, “The Court has briefly reviewed the responses to discovery and finds they consist largely of objections; Defendants are reminded that they have the burden to justify their objections by way of opposition to the motions if they wish to stand by the objections.  The Court strongly admonishes Defendants to meaningfully participate in the meet and confer process prior to the deadline for filing opposition to the continued hearing, and strongly admonishes Defendants to provide code-compliant responses to all of the subject discovery.”

The Court wishes to hear from the parties concerning the status of the motions.  If the motions remain unopposed and are going forward, the Court will grant the motions and impose sanctions at the time of the hearing.  The Court will hear argument concerning the appropriate amount of sanctions at the time of the hearing.   

2.     Trial Setting Conference and OSC re: Dismissal (Settlement)

The Court reminds the parties that there is a TSC and OSC on calendar today concurrently with the hearing on the above motions.  The Court asks the parties to make arrangements to appear remotely at the hearing on the motions and the TSC/OSC.