Judge: Mark H. Epstein, Case: 23SMCV05631, Date: 2024-08-02 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: 23SMCV05631    Hearing Date: August 2, 2024    Dept: I

The unopposed motions to compel are GRANTED.  Sanctions against plaintiff are GRANTED in the amount of $320.00 for all motions combined.

This is a personal injury case.  Defendants served written discovery but received no responses.  There is no opposition to the motions.  Given that there is no opposition, no justification has been shown for ignoring the discovery.  Verified responses to the discovery will be served without objection other than privilege within 30 days.  Documents and a privilege log (if any) will be served at the same time.  As to sanctions, the reason for the low amount is that it appears that counsel never reached out to plaintiff to inquire as to whether responses would be forthcoming or why they had not been served other than by sending a form letter.  There was not so much as a phone call to see what was going on.  Because the court believes a simple phone call might have obviated the need for this motion, sanctions in the amount of $100.00 per motion plus the filing fees will be awarded.  The number is low because sanctions, though mandatory, must be both reasonable and necessary.  The lack of any serious attempt to work this out informally causes the court to doubt that the amount requested was necessary.  (It would have been $10.00 per motion but for the letter).