Judge: Michelle Williams Court, Case: 22SMCV00811, Date: 2023-02-16 Tentative Ruling
Case Number: 22SMCV00811 Hearing Date: February 16, 2023 Dept: 1
22SMCV00811 BRUCE
W FERGUSON vs MID-CENTURY INSURANCE COMPANY
Plaintiff’s Motion for Change of Venue
TENTATIVE RULING: Plaintiff’s Motion for Change of
Venue is GRANTED and 22SMCV00811 is ordered reassigned to the Van Nuys
Courthouse East in the Northwest District of the Los Angeles Superior Court.
Notice of case reassignment shall issue shortly.
Background
On
June 1, 2022, Plaintiff Bruce W. Ferguson filed this action against Mid-Century
Insurance Company arising out of Plaintiff’s insurance claim related to the
Woolsey fire. The complaint asserts causes of action for: (1) breach of
contract; (2) breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing;
and (3) violation of Business & Professions Code section 17200.
Motion
On
January 20, 2023, Plaintiff filed the motion to change venue seeking to
transfer the action from the Beverly Hills Courthouse to the Van Nuys
Courthouse East.
The
motion is unopposed and the parties filed a stipulation to transfer the action
on December 12, 2022.
Motion
to Transfer Between Courthouses
Standard
LASC Local Rule 2.3(b)(2)
authorizes Department 1 to transfer civil cases from one judicial district to
another, including when the case was filed in an improper district, or for the
convenience of witnesses or to promote the ends of
justice. (LASC Local Rule 2.3(b)(2).)
The Action Was Filed in the Wrong
District and the Parties Stipulated to a Transfer
Plaintiff seeks to transfer
this action to the Van Nuys Courthouse East, citing Code of Civil Procedure
section 397(a), which authorizes changes to the place of trial “[w]hen the
court designated in the complaint is not the proper court.” (Mot. at 3:17-20.) The
Los Angeles Superior Court is only one court, even though it is divided into
districts. (See generally Glade v. Glade (1995) 38 Cal.App.4th 1441, 1449
(“Even though a superior court is divided into branches or departments,
pursuant to California Constitution, article VI, section 4, there is only one
superior court in a county and jurisdiction is therefore vested in that court,
not in any particular judge or department. Whether sitting separately or
together, the judges hold but one and the same court.”).) Thus, the Local Rules
of the Los Angeles County Superior Court govern the assignment of cases between
its districts. (Code Civ. Proc. § 402; LASC Local Rule 2.3(b)(2).)
The case is assigned to
Department 207 in the Beverly Hills Courthouse, which sits in the West District
of the Los Angeles Superior Court. (LASC Local Rule 2.2(b).)
In
“Step 4” of the civil case coversheet where the filing party is asked to “[c]heck the appropriate boxes for the
numbers shown under Column C for the type of action that you have selected.
Enter the address, which is the basis for the filing location including zip
code,” Plaintiff selected Reasons 1,
2, 5, and 8 and listed the relevant address as “4006 Hunt Club Court,
Agoura Hills, CA 91301. The complaint alleges Plaintiff resided at 4006 Hunt
Club Court, Agoura Hills, CA 91301. (Compl. ¶ 5.)
Reason 1 does not apply as
the case is not a class action. Reason 2 allows permissive filing in the
Central District. The complaint alleged Defendant’s principal place of business
was in Woodland Hills, California. (Compl. ¶ 2.) Reason 5 is the “[l]ocation
where performance required or defendant resides” and Reason 8 is the
“[l]ocation wherein defendant/respondent functions wholly,” which appear
inapplicable as the listed address is not in Woodland Hills, California.
In Step 5 of the civil case
coversheet, where the filing party is asked to certify the proper filing
location, plaintiff’s counsel indicated the Central District was the
appropriate filing location under the applicable Local Rules.
Pursuant
to Local Rule 2.3(a)(1)(A), “[t]he filing court locator on the Los Angeles Superior Court website (www.lacourt.org)
should be used to determine the appropriate filing location.” Using the Hunt
Club Court address in the filing court locator yields a result for the Van Nuys
Courthouse East, in the Northwest District, for all unlimited civil actions. The parties also stipulated to transfer the
case to the Northwest District,
which is an appropriate filing location.
Based upon the information
provided and the stipulation of the parties, the motion is GRANTED