Judge: Mark H. Epstein, Case: 19SMCV01899, Date: 2025-03-19 Tentative Ruling

If the parties wish to submit on the tentative ruling and avoid a court appearance on the matter, the moving party must contact the opposing party and all other parties who have appeared in the action and confirm that each will submit on the tentative ruling. Please call the court no later than 4:30 p.m. on the court day before the hearing, leave a message with the court clerk at (310) 260-3629 advising her that all parties will submit on the tentative ruling and waive hearing, and finally, serve notice of the Court's ruling on all parties entitled to receive service. If any party declines to submit on the tentative ruling, then no telephone call is necessary, and all parties should appear at the hearing.

Case Number: 19SMCV01899    Hearing Date: March 19, 2025    Dept: I

The court normally would be inclined to deny the motion.  The fact that new counsel substituted in is not cause to continue the trial, nor is the fact that over the last five years plaintiff has not done substantial discovery or finished discovery good cause.  The court frankly simply lacks the band width to move things around.  The court has over 1200 cases on its docket and assumes that 95% of its cases will settle or resolve without a trial and further assumes that nothing is continued.  That might not be a bad assumption, but it is not low.

That said, though, the court is likely to be otherwise engaged in trial on the current trial date.  The court is currently in trial.  What that trial is over, there is a UD case that is ready to go and a priority case after that.  Following that, there are two very old cases that are ready to go and have been for a while and have been essentially trailing.  As a result, the court sees no reasonable likelihood that it will be able to try the case on April 7, or within a few days of that.  Given that, the only reason to deny the motion to continue would be for spite, which is hardly a good reason.  Therefore, the motion to continue the trial will be GRANTED.  Accordingly, the FSC and trial dates are VACATED.  The court will set a TSC for about a month or so from now.

But while the trial will be continued, the court does not see a ground to extend the discovery cut off.  It remains closed.  The parties may, of course, stipulate to take discovery.  And this is without prejudice to a more laser-beam motion for particular discovery that a party might want to take, but the court warns the parties that the court will view any such request with a jaundiced eye.