Case Number: BC640212 Hearing Date: February 19, 2020 Dept: 32

Superior Court of California
County of Los Angeles
Department 32

CHRISTOPHER ALIGHIRE,

Plaintiffs,

v.

JOSE ANTONIO ALATORRE, et al.,

Defendants.

Case No.: BC640212

Hearing Date: February 19, 2020

[TENTATIVE] order RE:

motion to be relieved as counsel

Plaintiff Christopher Alighire (“Plaintiff”) moves to deem the matters specified in the Requests for Admission, Set Two (“RFAs”), which were served upon Defendant Jose Antonio Alatorre (“Defendant”) on July 18, 2019. Because they were served by mail, verified responses were due on or before August 22, 2019. There were delays in responding because Defendant resides outside of the United States. Defendant filed a motion for a protective order seeking additional time to respond to discovery. The Court denied the motion as moot because Plaintiff agreed to extend the deadline to November 28, 2019. Defendant provided verified responses to the RFAs before the hearing, so the motion is denied as moot except with respect to sanctions.

Plaintiff seeks sanctions in the amount of $1,110 against Defendant and counsel-of-record. The Court finds that the conduct in this case constitutes an abuse of the discovery process, warranting sanctions. Defendant had over four months to respond to the RFAs and failed to do so. Moreover, Defendant’s verification page is dated November 7, 2019. (Declaration of Benjamin A. Sampson, Exh. #2.) Yet, the responses were not served until December 10, 2019. (Ibid.) Even then, the responses were served by mail rather than personally or by overnight delivery, suggesting that Defendant did not move with alacrity in fulfilling his discovery obligations. More important, Defendant’s responses were verified three weeks before the deadline, so the failure to satisfy the stipulated deadline of November 28, 2019, is inexcusable. Therefore, sanctions are warranted, and the amount requested by Plaintiff is fair and reasonable under the circumstances considering the work undertaken in this case.

CONCLUSION AND ORDER

Plaintiff’s motion to deem the RFAs to have been admitted is denied as moot except with respect to sanctions. The Court orders Defendant and Defendant’s counsel, jointly and severally, to pay Plaintiff sanctions in the amount of $1,110 within thirty (30) days of notice of this order. Plaintiff shall provide notice and file proof of such with the Court.

DATED: February 19, 2020 ___________________________

Stephen I. Goorvitch

Judge of the Superior Court