Judge Salvatore Sirna, Case Number: 22PSCV02020, Date: 2023-06-29 Tentative Ruling

Judge: Salvatore Sirna, Case: 22PSCV02020, Date: 2023-06-29 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: 22PSCV02020 Hearing Date: August 16, 2023 Dept: G

Defendants City of West Covina and City of West Covina Public Services Department’s Demurrer to Plaintiff David Madrid’s Complaint

Respondent: Plaintiff David Madrid

TENTATIVE RULING

Defendants City of West Covina and City of West Covina Public Services Department’s Demurrer to Plaintiff David Madrid’s Complaint is CONTINUED to a date to be determined at the hearing in Department G (Pomona).

Defendants’ counsel is also ordered to meet and confer with Plaintiff’s counsel regarding the Demurrer and to file a supplemental declaration describing such meet and confer efforts at least nine (9) court days before the next scheduled hearing.

BACKGROUND

This is a personal injury action. On November 28, 2021, while riding a bicycle in West Covina, Plaintiff David Madrid allegedly hit an unmarked or uncovered guy-wire and sustained severe injuries. On November 23, 2022, Plaintiff filed a complaint against the City of West Covina (West Covina), the City of West Covina Public Services Department (West Covina PSD), City of Vincent (Vincent), City of Covina (Covina), City of Covina Public Works Department (Covina PWD), County of Los Angeles, and Does 1-100, alleging the following causes of action: (1) premises liability and (2) general negligence.

On July 18, 2023, West Covina and West Covina PSD (collectively, Defendants) filed the present demurrer. Prior to filing the present demurrer, Defendants’ counsel sent Plaintiff’s counsel a meet-and-confer letter on May 25. (Ferrante-Alan Decl., ¶ 3.)

A hearing on the present demurrer is set for August 16, 2023. A case management conference and OSC Re: Failure to File Proof of Service are set for August 29. A hearing on a motion for summary judgment is also set for October 5.

ANALYSIS

Defendants demur to Plaintiff’s entire Complaint. For the following reasons, the court finds parties did not adequately meet and confer.

Legal Standard

Pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure section 430.41, subdivision (a), prior to filing a demurrer, “the demurring party shall meet and confer in person or by telephone with the party who filed the pleading that is subject to demurrer for the purpose of determining whether an agreement can be reached that would resolve the objections to be raised in the demurrer.” This section further provides that “the demurring party shall identify all of the specific causes of action that it believes are subject to demurrer and identify with legal support the basis of the deficiencies.” (Code Civ. Proc., § 430.41, subd. (a)(1).)

While Code of Civil Procedure section 430.41, subdivision (a)(4) makes clear failing to meet and confer is not grounds to overrule a demurrer, courts “are not required to ignore defects in the meet and confer process” and if the court determines “no meet and confer has taken place, or concludes further conferences between counsel would likely be productive, it retains discretion to order counsel to meaningfully discuss the pleadings with an eye toward reducing the number of issues or eliminating the need for a demurrer, and to continue the hearing date to facilitate that effort.” (Dumas v. Los Angeles County Bd. of Supervisors (2020) 45 Cal.App.5th 348, 355 & fn. 3.)

Discussion

In this case, Defendants’ counsel filed a declaration stating counsel attempted to meet and confer by sending a letter to Plaintiff’s counsel. (Ferrante-Alan Decl., ¶ 3.) Because Code of Civil Procedure section 430.41 places the burden to meet and confer telephonically or in-person on Defendant, the court finds this attempt insufficient as Defendants’ counsel did not attempt to reach out to Plaintiff over the telephone or in-person and a letter is not a code-compliant form of meeting and conferring. Thus, the court finds a continuance of the hearing on Defendants’ demurrer is appropriate.

CONCLUSION

Based on the foregoing, Defendants’ demurrer is CONTINUED to a date to be determined at the hearing in Department G (Pomona).

Defendants’ counsel is also ordered to meet and confer with Plaintiff’ counsel regarding the Demurrer and to file a supplemental declaration describing such meet and confer efforts at least nine (9) court days before the next scheduled hearing.