Case Number: 16K13337 Hearing Date: May 24, 2018 Dept: 94

Defendant Nubar Demirjian’s Motion to Compel Plaintiff’s Response to Special Interrogatories and to Request for Sanctions is GRANTED. The Court awards Nubar $560 in monetary sanctions against Plaintiff. Sanctions are to be paid within thirty (30) days from the date of serving a notice of this Order by Nubar.

On October 27, 2016, Plaintiff IDS Property Casualty Insurance Company (“Plaintiff”) filed this action against Defendants Nubar Demirjian (“Nubar”) and Lilit Demirjian. On April 2, 2018, Nubar filed a Motion to Compel Plaintiff’s Response to Special Interrogatories and to Request for Sanctions (the “Motion”).

Discussion

On January 23, 2018, Nubar served Special Interrogatories on Plaintiff. (Santos Decl. ¶ 2, Exh. A.) To date, Plaintiff has not responded to Nubar’s discovery request. (Id. ¶ 5.)

Because Plaintiff has failed to serve his discovery response on Nubar, the unopposed Motion is GRANTED. Pursuant to CCP § 2030.290, Plaintiff is ordered to serve a verified response, without objections, to Nubar’s Special Interrogatories within twenty (20) days of the date of serving a notice of this Order by Nubar.

Nubar requests monetary sanctions in the amount of $1,060 for the Motion. (Id. ¶ 7.) Nubar requests an hourly rate of $250 for 2.5 hours to meet and confer, to prepare, serve, and file the Motion, another 2 hours to draft this Motion, and 2 hours to appear at the hearing for this Motion, plus $60 in filing fee. (Id.)

Because the Motion has been granted, monetary sanctions are mandatory under CCP § 2030.290(c). Given the simplicity of the instant Motion, the Court finds that one (1) hour to prepare the Motion and one (1) hour to appear at the hearing for the Motion, at a reasonable rate of $250 per hour, along with $60 in filing fee, to be sufficient to compensate Nubar. Therefore, the Court awards Nubar $560 in monetary sanctions against Plaintiff. Sanctions are to be paid within thirty (30) days from the date of serving a notice of this Order by Nubar.

Moving party to give notice.