17-CIV-02910 1893 WOODLAND EPA, LLC vs. VIDA CAPITAL GROUP, LLC, et al.

1893 WOODLAND EPA, LLC ANDREW C. CROSS

VIDA CAPITAL GROUP, LLC brian p. rigonan

Demurrer

TENTATIVE RULING:

The hearing on Defendants Vida Capital Group, LLC’s and Malcolm Durham’s Demurrer to Plaintiff 1893 Woodland EPA, LLC’s First Amended Complaint (FAC), filed 10-6-17, is continued to March 28, 2018 at 9 a.m. in the Law & Motion Department so that the parties may meet and confer. See Code Civ. Proc. Sect. 430.41. The demurring Defendants have not filed the declaration required by Section 430.41, nor provided any indication that the parties have properly met and conferred regarding the issues raised the Demurrer. The fact that the parties stipulated to Plaintiff withdrawing its request for entry of default, and stipulated to Defendants filing a Demurrer, does not satisfy this requirement. It is unclear whether the parties have ever discussed the substance of the arguments raised in the Demurrer.

The Demurring parties are required to file, no later than 7 days prior to the new hearing date, a declaration stating either: (1) the parties met and conferred and resolved the objections raised in the Demurrer, and that the hearing should be taken off calendar, or (2) the parties spoke and discussed the substance of the Demurrer, but did not reach an agreement resolving the objections raised in the Demurrer, or (3) the Demurring parties made a good faith effort to speak to Plaintiff’s counsel, who failed to respond to the request or otherwise failed to meet and confer in good faith. If the Demurring parties do not file and serve a further declaration demonstrating compliance with Sect. 430.41, the Court may strike the Demurrer as procedurally improper.

The Court notes that Section 430.41 requires that the party filing the Demurrer actually speak, or at least genuinely attempt to speak, to the party who filed the pleading subject to the Demurrer. An exchange of correspondence is not sufficient.