Judge: Michael Small, Case: 22STCV18797, Date: 2025-01-15 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: 22STCV18797    Hearing Date: January 15, 2025    Dept: 57

The Court is denying Defendant's Motion to Compel Plaintiff to Provide Further Responses to Requests for Production of Documents that the Defendant made during Plaintiff's deposition. 

A motion to compel further responses to discovery requests must be accompanied by a separate statement that sets forth the requests and the responses to the requests, including objections thereto.  Defendant's separate statement is defective.  It does not set forth Plaintiff's responses to the requests. Thus, the Court cannot ascertain if the responses, including objections, were valid.  If Plaintiff did not provide any responses at all, then Defendant should have filed a motion to compel responses, not a motion to compel further responses.

There is an additional problem with Defendant's motion.  It was made under Code of Civil Procedure Section 2025.480, which governs motions to compel production of documents set forth in a deposition notice.   Section 2025.480(b) states that such motions must be made within 60 days after the completion of the record of the deposition record.  Plaintiff was deposed on May 3, 2021. Defendant's Section 2025.480 motion was filed more than 60 days after the deposition was completed.  It was filed on August 1, 2021.