Judge: Mark H. Epstein, Case: 21SMCV01627, Date: 2023-03-07 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: 21SMCV01627    Hearing Date: March 7, 2023    Dept: R

The court is pleased that the parties have reached an agreement on the deposition.  The court has already expressed some frustration concerning the scheduling problems that have been plaguing this case.  Defendants ask that the court order the witness to appear, presumably to forestall any last minute failures to appear.  Normally, the court would be disinclined to do so, but given the history here, the court believes that is appropriate.  The witness is ordered to appear for deposition on March 13, 2023 at the scheduled time and place without fail absent extraordinarily compelling circumstances.  The court is hopeful that there will be no further discovery motions.  The requests for sanctions are DENIED.