Judge: Michael Small, Case: 23STCV14973, Date: 2025-06-16 Tentative Ruling

Inform the clerk if you submit on the tentative ruling. If moving and opposing parties submit, no appearance is necessary.

Case Number: 23STCV14973    Hearing Date: June 16, 2025    Dept: 57

Pending before the Court is Defendants' motion for orders compelling Plaintiff to provide further deposition testimony and to produce documents.

The request for orders compelling Plaintiff to provide further deposition testimony arises from six questions posed by Defendants' counsel to Plaintiff at her deposition.  Plaintiff's counsel objected to each of those questions and instructed Plaintiff not to answer them based on Rifkind v. Superior Court (1994) 22 Cal.App.4th 1255.   In Rifkind, the Court held that "legal contention" questions are inappropriate at a deposition (Id. at p. 1263.)

The Court is denying Defendants' motion to as questions 1, 2, and 3.  In the Court's view, those questions run afoul of the rule regarding legal contention questions set forth in Rifkind.   The Court is denying Defendants' motion as to questions 4, 5, and 6.  Those questions are permissible under Rifkind.

The Court is denying Defendants' requests for an order compelling Plaintiff to produce documents.  The request appears to be moot based on a supplemental production that Plaintiff described in her opposition brief.  Defendants do not address this in their reply brief.

Defendants' request for an order imposing monetary sanctions against Plaintiff in the form of attorney's fees Defendants incurred in connection with the motion is denied.