Judge: William A. Crowfoot, Case: 21STCV27459, Date: 2022-12-20 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: 21STCV27459    Hearing Date: December 20, 2022    Dept: 27

SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

FOR THE COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES - CENTRAL DISTRICT

On July 18, 2022, defendant Richard Lawrence Joyce (“Defendant”) filed these two motions for orders compelling plaintiff Maria De Lourdes Miranda to provide further responses to Requests for Admission (Set One) and Form Interrogatories (Set Two).  After the informal discovery conference (“IDC”) held on November 14, 2022, Plaintiff provided verified supplemental responses on November 29, 2022.  Plaintiff filed an omnibus opposition on December 7, 2022 which included her own request for monetary sanctions against Defendant for his refusal to take these motions off calendar unless Plaintiff paid for the costs fees incurred in filing these motions. 

On December 13, 2022, Defendant filed a reply brief in which he maintains his request for monetary sanctions against Plaintiff and her attorneys of record, Yagoubzadeh Law Firm LLP. 

Pursuant to California Rules of Court rule 3.1348, a court may award sanctions under the Discovery Act in favor of a party who files a motion to compel discovery, even though the requested discovery was provided to the moving party after the motion was filed.  Here, defense counsel attempted to meet and confer with Plaintiff’s counsel and was willing to grant extensions to further meet and confer over Plaintiff’s discovery responses in exchange for a reciprocal extension to the deadline to file any motions to compel further.  Plaintiff’s counsel did not participate in the meet and confer efforts and essentially forced Defendant to file a motion to compel further in order to avoid forfeiting his right to do so.  It is irrelevant that the IDC was scheduled after the motions were filed, because the Standing Order only requires that the IDC occur before the motion to compel further is heard.  Had Plaintiff’s counsel been more responsive to defense counsel’s reasonable requests to discuss Defendant’s discovery requests, motion practice could have been avoided. 

Accordingly, Defendant’s requests for sanctions is GRANTED and imposed against Plaintiff and counsel of record, Yagoubzadeh Law Firm LLP, jointly and severally, in the amount of $1,380, consisting of 6 hours at defense counsel’s hourly rate of $210, including $120 in filing fees. 

Moving party to give notice.

Parties who intend to submit on this tentative must send an email to the Court at SSCDEPT27@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.