18-CIV-03763 LAURA BLUE VS. WELLS FARGO BANK, N.A., ET AL.

LAURA BLUE WELLS FARGO BANK, N.A.
NELSON W. GOODELL DALAR ABOLIAN

DEFENDANT WELLS FARGO BANK, N.A.’S DEMURRER TO PLAINTIFF LAURA BLUE’S 7-19-18 COMPLAINT TENTATIVE RULING:

The hearing on Defendant Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.’s Demurrer to Plaintiff Laura Blue’s 7-19-18 Complaint is continued to Dec. 18, 2018 at 9 a.m. in the Law & Motion Department to allow the parties time to properly meet and confer.

Code Civ. Proc. § 430.41 requires more than sending an email. It requires that the parties (through their counsel, if represented) actually speak to each other regarding the substance of the Demurrer, or at a minimum, that the party filing the Demurrer attempt to speak to the party (or their counsel) who filed the pleading subject to the Demurrer. See first sentence of § 430.41 (“… the demurring party shall meet and confer in-person or by telephone …”); 9-10-18 Decl. of Dalar Abolian, ¶9, Ex. D (“this email serves as [Wells Fargo’s] formal efforts to meet and confer …”). This requirement is not intended to be an exercise in futility. Oftentimes an actual conversation can be more effective in facilitating an agreement, or narrowing the number of disputed issues, than an impersonal exchange of correspondence.

The demurring party is 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 thus the hearing should be taken off calendar, or (2) the parties spoke to each other regarding the substance of the Demurrer, but did not reach an agreement resolving the objections raised in the Demurrer, or (3) the demurring party made a good faith effort to speak to the party who filed the pleading subject to Demurrer, who failed to respond to the request or otherwise failed to meet and confer in good faith. If the demurring party fails to file and serve a further declaration demonstrating compliance with § 430.41, the Court may strike the Demurrer as procedurally improper.

If the tentative ruling is uncontested, it shall become the order of the Court, pursuant to Rule 3.1308(a)(1), adopted by Local Rule 3.10, effective immediately, and no formal order pursuant to Rule 3.1312 is required as the tentative ruling affords sufficient notice to the parties.