Judge: Michelle C. Kim, Case: 20STCV44691, Date: 2023-04-21 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: 20STCV44691    Hearing Date: April 21, 2023    Dept: 31

TENTATIVE

The motion is GRANTED. 

Plaintiff is ordered to serve verified responses to Defendants’ form interrogatories, set one, special interrogatories, set one, and Request for Production Documents, set one, without objections, within ten days.  (CCP §§ 2030.290(a), (b), 2031.300(a), (b).)

Defendants’ request for monetary sanctions is denied.  Defendants do not identify “every person, party, and attorney against whom the sanction is sought” in the notice of motion.  (CCP § 2023.040.) 

As a final note, the court realizes that Defendants’ motion to compel responses is actually three motions combined into one: (a) motion to compel responses to form interrogatories, set one, (b) motion to compel special interrogatories, set one, and (c) motion to compel demand for production of documents, set one.  In the future, moving party is ordered to obtain separate hearing reservations and pay separate filing fees.  Combining multiple motions under the guise of one motion with one hearing reservation manipulates the Court Reservation System and unfairly jumps ahead of other litigants.  Moreover, combining motions to avoid payment of separate filing fees deprives the Court of filing fees it is otherwise entitled to collect.

Be that as it may, in the absence of any objection by Plaintiff and lack of any showing of prejudice, the Court will exercise its discretion to hear all three motions, but the above orders will not become effective until moving party pays an additional $120 in filing fees (2 motion filing fees not paid for x $60 filing fee). 

PLEASE TAKE NOTICE:

• Parties are encouraged to meet and confer after reading this tentative ruling to see if they can reach an agreement.
• If a party intends to submit on this tentative ruling, the party must send an email to the court at sscdept31@lacourt.org with the Subject line “SUBMIT” followed by the case number.  The body of the email must include the hearing date and time, counsel’s contact information, and the identity of the party submitting.  
• Unless all parties submit by email to this tentative ruling, the parties should arrange to appear remotely (encouraged) or in person for oral argument.  You should assume that others may appear at the hearing to argue.  
• If the parties neither submit nor appear at hearing, the Court may take the motion off calendar or adopt the tentative ruling as the order of the Court.  After the Court has issued a tentative ruling, the Court may prohibit the withdrawal of the subject motion without leave. 

Dated this 21^st day of April 2023