Judge Shirley K. Watkins, Case 21VECV01101 2022-10-17 Tentative Ruling

Judge: Shirley K. Watkins, Case: 21VECV01101, Date: 2022-10-17 Tentative Ruling

If ALL parties submit on the tentative, then no appearance is necessary unless some other matter (i.e., Case Management Conference) is on calendar. It is not necessary to call the court to request oral argument. Oral argument is permitted on all tentative rulings.

Case Number: 21VECV01101 Hearing Date: October 17, 2022 Dept: T

TENTATIVE
RULING

The court grants leave to Plaintiffs to
file and serve a Second Amended Complaint. It must be separately served
and e-filed within 20 days of this order. The court finds that the declarations
submitted reasonably support the reasons why there was a delay in seeking this
amended complaint. The court notes that having to respond to the Second
Amended Complaint and having to conduct discovery on the Second Amended
Complaint are not recognized bases for a claim of prejudice. There are no
other real claims of prejudice other than concerning Ms. MacLaughlin's
deposition. There is no trial date set
on this case. Discovery has not closed. The court will order that a
second deposition may be taken of Ms. MacLaughlin limited to the issues raised
by the changes in the Second Amended Complaint and plaintiffs will bear the
expense of that deposition. This is ordered because it was agreed to as
part of the proposed stipulation and ordinarily only one deposition of a party
may take place without a court order. Otherwise, there are no other
conditions attached to the granting of this motion.

(If this order becomes the order of the
court): The Case Management Conference is continued to Jan. 11, 2023, at 8:30
a.m. Counsel are ordered to meet and confer per CRC 3.724 prior to the
CMC.

Finally, the court requests that counsel engage in
civility. The statements made in the papers are bordering on
incivility. The court will not tolerate that. Please stop making
negative personal comments about the opposite side, or attribute bad
motives. See the State Bar Rules and the
Local Rules on Civility.

Clerk of the court to give notice.