Judge: Mark E. Windham, Case: 21STLC02672, Date: 2022-12-07 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: 21STLC02672    Hearing Date: December 7, 2022    Dept: 26

Zhang v. Singh, et al.

MOTION TO COMPEL FURTHER RESPONSES TO REQUEST FOR PRODUCTION

AND REQUEST FOR SANCTIONS

(CCP §§ 2031.310, 2023.010)

TENTATIVE RULING:

Plaintiff Xiafou Zhang’s Motion to Compel Further Responses to Request for Production of Documents and Request for Monetary Sanctions is DENIED.

ANALYSIS:

Plaintiff Xiaofu Zhang (“Plaintiff”), in pro per, filed the instant action for dental malpractice against Defendants Ravinder Steven Singh, DDS (“Defendant Singh”) and Singh Dental Corporation dba Long Beach Total Dental Care (erroneously sued as Long Beach Total Dental Care) (“Defendant Singh Dental”) (collectively, Defendants”) on April 5, 2021. Defendants filed an Answer to the Complaint on October 12, 2021.

On October 25, 2022, Plaintiff filed the instant Motion to Compel Further Responses to Request for Production of Documents and Request for Monetary Sanctions. Defendants filed an opposition on November 14, 2022.

Procedural Requirements

Notice of the motion to compel further must be given “within 45 days of service of the verified response, or any supplemental verified response, or any specific later date to which the requesting party and the responding party have agreed in writing,” otherwise, the propounding party waives any right to compel a further response. (Code Civ. Proc., § 2031.310, subd. (c).) The Motion does not produce evidence demonstrating that Plaintiff served any request for production of documents on Defendants, let alone, that responses were served 45 days prior to service of this Motion. (Motion, pp. 1-3.) The Motion consists entirely of three pages, with no supporting declaration or exhibits.

Also, the motion must be accompanied by a meet and confer declaration. (Code Civ. Proc., § 2031.310, subd. (b).) No evidence of a meet and confer effort prior to the filing of this Motion is provided. (Motion, pp. 1-3.)

Without evidence of service of the discovery requests, or of a meet and confer effort, the Motion cannot be granted.

Conclusion

Plaintiff Xiafou Zhang’s Motion to Compel Further Responses to Request for Production of Documents and Request for Monetary Sanctions is DENIED.