Superior Court of California 

County of Los Angeles 

Department 78 

¿ 

 

I. BACKGROUND 

On June 30, 2023, plaintiff Kyung Ae Baek (“Plaintiff”) initiated this lemon law action against defendant Mercedes-Benz, USA, LLC (“Defendant”). 

On September 18, 2024, Defendant filed the instant motion for an order deeming its Requests for Admission (“RFAs”), Set One, admitted against Plaintiff, in addition to monetary sanctions against both Plaintiff and Plaintiff’s counsel. The motion was served on Plaintiff’s counsel, Steven J. Barkin (“Mr. Barkin”) of the Law Offices of Steven J. Barkin. The motion is unopposed. 

 

II. LEGAL STANDARD 

Where there has been no timely response to a request for admission under CCP § 2033.010, the propounding party may move for an order that the genuineness of any documents and the truth of any matters specified in the requests be deemed admitted, as well as for a monetary sanction.¿ (Code of Civ. Proc., § 2033.280, subd. (b).)¿ The party who failed to respond waives any objections to the demand, unless the court grants that party relief from the waiver, upon a showing that the party (1) has subsequently served a substantially compliant response, and (2) that the party’s failure to respond was the result of mistake, inadvertence, or excusable neglect.¿ (Code of Civ. Proc., § 2033.280, subds. (a)(1)-(2).)¿ The court “shall” grant a motion to deem admitted requests for admissions, “unless it finds that the party to whom the requests for admission have been directed has served, before the hearing on the motion, a proposed response to the requests for admission that is in substantial compliance with Section 2033.220.”¿ (Code of Civ. Proc., § 2033.280, subd. (c).)¿ 

 

III. DISCUSSION 

The Court notes that around the time Defendant served the RFAs, Mr. Barkin was disbarred by the California State Bar. It is unclear to this Court whether Plaintiff is aware of Mr. Barkin’s ineligible status, and whether Plaintiff has any knowledge of Defendant’s written discovery and/or knowledge of the instant motion that was served on his counsel. Thus, although the Court will grant Defendant’s motion to deem its RFAs, Set One, admitted against Plaintiff, the Court will also be open to consider a motion for relief pursuant to Code Civ. Proc., § 2033.300 at a future point should Plaintiff bring one. In terms of sanctions, barring evidence that Plaintiff was knowingly complicit in failing to timely serve responses, the Court declines to award sanctions against Plaintiff at this time. Defendant is awarded 1 hour to draft the motion at the rate of $300 per hour, and $60 for the motion filing fee as costs; sanctions will be imposed against Mr. Barkin only. 

Because the status of Plaintiff’s representation remains uncertain, Defendant is directed to serve all Notices to Plaintiff in pro per from here on out to provide Plaintiff adequate notice and the opportunity to potentially seek future relief.  

 

IV. CONCLUSION 

Based on the foregoing, Defendant’s motion is GRANTED. (CCP §2033.280(b).) Defendant’s RFAs, Set One, is deemed admitted against Plaintiff. 

Sanctions are imposed against Mr. Barkin of the Law Offices of Steven J. Barkin only. (CCP §2033.280, subd. (c).) Mr. Barkin is ordered to pay sanctions to Defendant, by and through counsel of record, in the total amount of $360.00, within twenty (20) days. 

 

Moving Party is ordered to give notice to Plaintiff. 

 

DATED: November 4, 2024 

__________________________ 

Hon. Michelle C. Kim 

Judge of the Superior Court 

 

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 SMCDEPT78@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.