Judge: Timothy B. Taylor, Case: 37-2022-00051795-CU-PO-CTL, Date: 2023-08-04 Tentative Ruling

SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA,

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HALL OF JUSTICE

TENTATIVE RULINGS - August 03, 2023

08/04/2023  01:30:00 PM  C-72 COUNTY OF SAN DIEGO

JUDICIAL OFFICER:Timothy Taylor

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Civil - Unlimited  PI/PD/WD - Other Motion Hearing (Civil) 37-2022-00051795-CU-PO-CTL ROE 206 M M VS COUNTY OF SAN DIEGO [IMAGED] CAUSAL DOCUMENT/DATE FILED: Motion to Be Relieved as Counsel of Record, 04/24/2023

Tentative Ruling on Motion to be Relieved as Counsel Roe v. County of SD, Case No. 2022-51795 August 4, 2023, 1:30 p.m., Dept. 72 1. Overview and Procedural Posture.

This is a childhood sexual abuse case arising out of conduct plaintiffs allege occurred in 1994 and 2013 at GRF and Juvenile Hall. The complaint was filed in late 2022. The County answered in March, 2023.

ROA 10. Not long thereafter, plaintiffs' counsel filed the present motion for leave to withdraw as counsel for one of the two plaintiffs. ROA 12-15.

At the initial CMC, the court noted the absence of any response from counsel regarding the earlier OSC regarding counsel's failure to obtain leave of court before filing the case using pseudonyms. ROA 8, 38.

The court continued the OSC to today, and counsel has now responded to the OSC. ROA 40. The court also set the case for trial in May of 2024. ROA 28-33. At a subsequent hearing, the court set aside the earlier minute order dismissing the fictitious parties. ROA 37-38.

There is no opposition to the motion for leave to withdraw.

2. Applicable Standards.

Motions for leave to withdraw are governed by Code of Civil Procedure section 284 and CRC 3.1362.

Counsel are directed to use Judicial Council Forms MC-051, 052, and 053.

3. Disclosure.

The undersigned, while engaged in the practice of law in the early 1990s, was associate counsel for the class in an action challenging conditions of confinement at Juvenile Hall. See Keith G. v. Bilbray (1995) 43 Cal.Rptr.2d 277 (depublished as the result of a determination by the Supreme Court that review was improvidently granted). Given that the male plaintiff's confinement at Juvenile Hall was around two decades removed from the matters raised in Keith G. (complaint at paragraph 61), and given that Keith G. did not concern (to the court's recollection 30 years on) conditions at GRF, the court concludes that no disqualifying facts exist.

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2966595  62 CASE NUMBER: CASE TITLE:  ROE 206 M M VS COUNTY OF SAN DIEGO [IMAGED]  37-2022-00051795-CU-PO-CTL 4. Discussion and Rulings.

Counsel states: 'There has been an irreconcilable breakdown of the attorney-client relationship between the client on the one hand and the Becker Law Group and McNicholas & McNicholas, LLP on the other hand making it unreasonably difficult for the attorneys to carry out the representation effectively.' This is a valid basis for withdrawal. Accordingly, the unopposed motion to be relieved as counsel is granted. The court will sign the Judicial Council MC-053 form submitted with the moving papers (ROA 15). Counsel is directed to comply with the requirements of CRC 3.1362(e) upon receipt of the executed copy of the order.

The OSC is hereby discharged, and leave to use pseudonyms is granted nunc pro tunc to December 27, 2022.

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