Judge: Mark H. Epstein, Case: 19SMCV01960, Date: 2022-10-24 Tentative Ruling

The Court generally uploads tentative rulings the morning of the hearing.  Because of that, the parties cannot submit on the tentative the night before and not appear.  However, if after reviewing the tentative ruling ALL COUNSEL submit, they should tell the Court's judicial assistant when checking in and the Court will endeavor to either not hear the case in light of the submission or, if the Court believes that a hearing is still needed for some other reason, then the Court will be inclined to give priority.

In some cases, tentative rulings may be given by email the morning of the hearing rather than on the tentative ruling site.  Please check your email if you have not seen the tentative.  The email is generally sent to the persons who have signed up for a remote hearing.

For those appearing in the courtroom, the Court will provide a hard copy of the tentative ruling. 

Case Number: 19SMCV01960    Hearing Date: October 24, 2022    Dept: R

This is a final status conference.  The Court is in receipt of the following FSC documents: (1) notices of lodging of transcripts; (2) Joint Exhibit List; (3) Joint Short Statement of the Case; (4) Joint Statement of Unusual Issues; (5) Jointly Proposed Jury Instructions; (6) Joint Witness List (reflecting 8 witnesses for a total of about 32 hours of direct and cross-examination testimony); (7) Joint Deposition Chart; (8) Joint Special Verdict Statement (plaintiff requests a general verdict and defendant requests a special verdict); and (9) Defendant’s Trial Brief.  The Court has received no separate jury instructions, which are not required if both parties are satisfied with the jointly proposed instructions.  The Court has also not received a proposed jury questionnaire, which is not required if no one wants one.

It appears, then, that the case is READY FOR TRIAL.  The Court will discuss scheduling issues at the conclusion of the morning calendar as the Court believes that it will be engaged in another trial on October 31, 2022.  Options include: (1) having this case potentially trail week to week until that trial concludes; or (2) re-setting the trial date. 

Because the case is ready for trial, the Court will discuss whether the parties would like the Court’s rulings on the MIL’s, which the Court is prepared to give this morning.

The Court appreciates the work that the parties put in to preparing the FSC materials.

The motion to admit counsel pro hac vice is GRANTED.  Moving party to submit the appropriate order.