Judge: William A. Crowfoot, Case: 19STCV39777, Date: 2024-04-16 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: 19STCV39777    Hearing Date: April 19, 2024    Dept: 3

SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

FOR THE COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES - NORTHEAST DISTRICT

On December 22, 2023, defendants Geronimo Rodriguez, M.D. and Medical Offices of Geronimo Rodriguez (collectively, “Defendants”) filed this motion for an order deeming admitted their Requests for Admissions, Set One, served on Plaintiff on March 29, 2022.

Where a party fails to timely respond to a request for admission, the propounding party may move for an order that the genuineness of any documents and the truth of any matters specified in the requests be deemed admitted. (Code Civ. Proc., § 2033.280, subd. (b).) The court shall grant a motion to deem admitted requests for admissions, “unless it finds that the party to whom the requests for admission have been directed has served, before the hearing on the motion, a proposed response to the requests for admission that is in substantial compliance with Section 2033.220.”  (Code Civ. Proc., § 2033.280, subd. (c).)

Plaintiff opposes the motion on the grounds that meaningful verified responses will be served before the hearing. This is insufficient to oppose a motion to deem admitted because the statute requires the party to actually serve proposed responses before the hearing. There is no evidence that responses have been served because Plaintiff only promises to do so in the future.

Accordingly, the motion is GRANTED and the matters within Defendant’s Requests for Admission (Set One) are deemed admitted and conclusively established against Plaintiff in this pending action. (Code Civ. Proc., § 2033.410, subd. (a).) This order does not preclude the possibility for Plaintiff to withdraw or amend this admission under Code of Civil Procedure section 2033.300.

Where a party fails to provide a timely response to requests for admission, “[i]t is mandatory that the court impose a monetary sanction under Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 2023.010) on the party or attorney, or both, whose failure to serve a timely response to requests for admission necessitated this motion.”  (Code Civ. Proc., § 2033.280, subd. (c).) However, Defendants state that they are not seeking sanctions; therefore, the Court will not impose any.

Moving party to give notice.

Dated this 19th day of April 2024

Parties who intend to submit on this tentative must send an email to the Court at ALHDEPT3@lacourt.org indicating intention to submit on the tentative as directed by the instructions provided on the court website at www.lacourt.org. Please be advised that if you submit on the tentative and elect not to appear at the hearing, the opposing party may nevertheless appear at the hearing and argue the matter. Unless you receive a submission from all other parties in the matter, you should assume that others might appear at the hearing to argue. If the Court does not receive emails from the parties indicating submission on this tentative ruling and there are no appearances at the hearing, the Court may, at its discretion, adopt the tentative as the final order or place the motion off calendar.