Judge: Theresa M. Traber, Case: 24STCV10717, Date: 2024-11-12 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: 24STCV10717    Hearing Date: November 12, 2024    Dept: 47

Tentative Ruling

Judge Theresa M. Traber, Department 47

HEARING DATE:     November 12, 2024               TRIAL DATE: NOT SET

CASE:                         Arias Sanguinetti Wang & Team LLP, et al. v. Teketa Bellamy, et al.

CASE NO.:                 24STCV10717           

MOTION TO DEPOSIT FUNDS

MOVING PARTY:               Plaintiffs Arias Sanguinetti Wang and Team, LLP; Law Offices of Hamed Yazdanpanah & Associates

RESPONDING PARTY(S): No response on eCourt as of 11/8/24

STATEMENT OF MATERIAL FACTS AND/OR PROCEEDINGS:

            This is an action in interpleader that was filed on April 29, 2024. Plaintiffs represented Defendant Bellamy in a personal injury lawsuit which resulted in a settlement of $35,000. After the settlement and payment of a Medicare lien, various medical providers and lienholders asserted competing claims on the remaining settlement funds.

Plaintiffs move to deposit the settlement funds and be discharged.

TENTATIVE RULING:

Plaintiffs’ Motion to Deposit Funds is GRANTED.

            Plaintiffs are directed to deposit the disputed funds with the Clerk of Court within 20 days of this order. Plaintiffs will be discharged from liability upon filing and service of proof of deposit.

            Said funds are to be held until further order of this Court.

            Plaintiffs’ request for a restraining order is DENIED.

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DISCUSSION:

Plaintiffs move to deposit the disputed settlement funds and be discharged. Plaintiffs also request an order restraining the Defendants from pursuing any other proceeding affecting the rights and obligations as between the parties to the interpleader.

Legal Standard

            “Any person, firm, corporation, association or other entity against whom double or multiple claims are made, or may be made, by two or more persons which are such that they may give rise to double or multiple liability, may bring an action against the claimants to compel them to interplead and litigate their several claims.” (Code Civ. Proc., § 386(b).) “When a person may be subject to conflicting claims for money or property, the person may bring an interpleader action to compel the claimants to litigate their claims among themselves. (Id.) Once the person admits liability and deposits the money with the court, he or she is discharged from liability and freed from the obligation of participating in the litigation between the claimants. [Citations.] The purpose of interpleader is to prevent a multiplicity of suits and double vexation. [Citation.]” (City of Morgan Hill v. Brown (1999) 71 Cal.App.4th 1114, 1122.) “In an interpleader action, the court initially determines the right of the plaintiff to interplead the funds; if that right is sustained, an interlocutory decree is entered which requires the defendants to interplead and litigate their claims to the funds. Upon an admission of liability and deposit of monies with the court, the plaintiff may then be discharged from liability and dismissed from the interpleader action. [Citations.] The effect of such an order is to preserve the fund, discharge the stakeholder from further liability, and to keep the fund in the court's custody until the rights of potential claimants of the monies can be adjudicated. [Citations.] Thus, the interpleader proceeding is traditionally viewed as two lawsuits in one. The first dispute is between the stakeholder and the claimants to determine the right to interplead the funds. The second dispute to be resolved is who is to receive the interpleaded funds. [Citations.]” (Dial 800 v. Fesbinder (2004) 118 Cal.App.4th 32, 42–43.)

Deposit & Discharge

            Plaintiffs in this action seek to deposit $31,849.11 in disputed funds with the Court and be discharged from liability as to those funds pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure section 386.

            Plaintiffs state that they represented Defendant Teketa Bellamy in a personal injury lawsuit against non-parties Albertson’s Companies, Inc., Islay Investments, L.P., and Todd Alvarez in the Superior Court of California for the County of Santa Barbara, Case No. 19CV05830. (Declaration of Travis M. Daniels ISO Mot. ¶ 2.) On October 19, 2021, the personal injury lawsuit was settled for $35,000. (Id. ¶ 4.) The settlement funds were deposited into Plaintiff Arias Sanguinetti Wang & Team, LLP’s client trust account. (Id.) The settlement proceeds were used to pay off a Medicare lien in the amount of $3,150.89, leaving a balance of $31,859.11. (¶ 5.) Since the settlement, Plaintiffs have received claims from 15 medical providers and lien holders asserting rights to the settlement proceeds, totaling $149,651.13. (¶¶ 7-8.) Defendant Bellamy also asserts a claim to $3,000 of the remaining proceeds. (¶ 9.) Plaintiffs expressly waived any rights to reimbursement for fees and costs for services in the underlying lawsuit. (Daniels Decl. ¶ 6.) Plaintiffs also state that they are unable to determine the validity of the conflicting demands. (Id. ¶ 11.)

            As no party has opposed this motion, the Court finds that Plaintiffs have demonstrated that the disputed funds of $31,849.11 should be deposited with the Court and Plaintiffs discharged from liability as to those funds.

Order Restraining Further Action

            Plaintiffs also requests that the Court enter an order pursuant to subdivision (f) of section 386 restraining all parties from instituting or further prosecuting any other proceeding affecting the rights and obligations as between the parties to the interpleader. As Plaintiffs do not explain why such an order is necessary in their moving papers, the Court declines to impose such an order at this time. This ruling is without prejudice to a subsequent motion for a restraining order under Code of Civil Procedure section 386(f) demonstrating good cause for that relief.

CONCLUSION:

            Accordingly, Plaintiffs’ Motion to Deposit Funds is GRANTED.

            Plaintiffs are directed to deposit the disputed funds with the Clerk of Court within 20 days of this order. Plaintiffs will be discharged from liability upon filing and service of proof of deposit.

            Said funds are to be held until further order of this Court.

            Plaintiffs’ request for a restraining order is DENIED.

            Moving Parties to give notice.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

Dated:  November 12, 2024                            ___________________________________

                                                                                    Theresa M. Traber

                                                                                    Judge of the Superior Court

            Any party may submit on the tentative ruling by contacting the courtroom via email at Smcdept47@lacourt.org by no later than 4:00 p.m. the day before the hearing. All interested parties must be copied on the email. It should be noted that if you submit on a tentative ruling the court will still conduct a hearing if any party appears. By submitting on the tentative you have, in essence, waived your right to be present at the hearing, and you should be aware that the court may not adopt the tentative, and may issue an order which modifies the tentative ruling in whole or in part.