Case Number: BS149167    Hearing Date: August 13, 2014    Dept: 92

SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA FOR THE COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES – CENTRAL DISTRICT

CURTISS ROOKS,
Plaintiff(s),
vs.
COMMERCE WEST INSURANCE CO., et al.,
Defendant(s).

Case No.: BS149167

[TENTATIVE] ORDER GRANTING PETITIONER’S MOTION TO COMPEL

Dept. 92
1:30 p.m. — #22
August 13, 2014

Respondent’s Motion to Compel is Granted. Claimant is ordered to serve responses to special interrogatories, set two, without objections, within ten days. Claimant is ordered to pay sanctions to Plaintiff, by and through counsel of record, in the amount of $550.

1. Facts
Respondent, Commerce West Insurance Company, filed this petition against Claimant, Curtiss Rooks, in connection with Rooks’s uninsured motorist claim.

2. Motion to Compel
Discovery procedures available to the parties in uninsured motorist cases are basically the same as those available in California civil litigation, subject to certain limitations not applicable here. Ins. Code §11580.2(f). Jurisdiction to resolve discovery disputes (including the issuance of any orders to compel discovery) is vested in the superior court (a) in the proper county for the filing of a lawsuit against the uninsured motorist for bodily injury arising from the accident or (b) in any county specified in the policy as a proper county for arbitration or action on the policy. See Ins.C. § 11580.2(f)(1),(2); Miranda v. 21st Century Ins. Co. (2004) 117 CA4th 913, 921-926.

The party seeking court assistance in connection with a discovery dispute need not file and serve on the other party a formal complaint. An “application to commence discovery” coupled, e.g., with a motion to compel compliance, may be filed with the court and, where the party against whom discovery is sought is represented by counsel, served upon counsel (per CCP §1015; see CCP §1012–service on counsel by mail). See Miranda v. 21st Century Ins. Co., supra, 117 CA4th at 927-928.

The superior court has exclusive jurisdiction to hear and rule on discovery matters arising in a UM arbitration. The arbitrator has no such power. See Miranda v. 21st Century Ins. Co., supra, 117 CA4th at 924-926.

The motion to compel is unopposed and granted. Claimant is ordered to serve responses, without objections, within ten days.

Respondent seeks sanctions in the amount of $690 against Claimant. The amount is reasonable, with the exception of the one hour of anticipated time to file a reply; no opposition was filed, and therefore no reply was necessary. The Court therefore reduces the sanctions award from $690 to $550.

Dated this 13th day of August, 2014

Hon. Elia Weinbach
Judge of the Superior Court