Lawzilla Additional Information:
Per the Los Angeles court records defendant is represented by attorney David Kadin of Kaplan, Kenegos and Kadin. Note: The final ruling may have only sanctioned the defendant and not his attorneys.

Case Number: BC653660 Hearing Date: May 09, 2018 Dept: 74

CASE NUMBER: BC653660

CASE NAME: Main St 2, LLC, et al. v. Main St 1, LLC, et al.

Motion to Compel Further Responses to Form Interrogatories, Special Interrogatories, Request for Production and Request for Admission and for Sanctions

TENTATIVE RULING: The motion is granted. Defendant Nasir Yasmeh is ordered to provide further discovery responses, without objections, to form interrogatories, special interrogatories, request for production and request for admission within 20 days. Defendant Nasir Yasheh and its attorney Kaplan, Kenegos & Kadin, jointly and severally, are order to pay plaintiff sanctions of $2310 within 30 days.

DISCUSSION:

Plaintiff has combined multiple motions into a single motion. Each written discovery request, such as special interrogatories, set one, and request for production, set one, should have its own motion to compel further, unless the discovery requests and responses are identical. Only one motion was calendared. However, because responses to all the discovery requests raise a single issue, the court is inclined to rule on the motion in its entirety.

No information was provided in response to any request. At the time the responses were served, Bruce Yasmeh had been dead for almost a year. This seems ample time to acquire some information. There was no substantive response to form interrogatory number 2.5, which asked defendant’s current and former addresses. This should have been obtainable from defendant Nasir Yasmeh himself. This action was filed over a year ago. It is not credible that in that time defendant was unable to obtain any information regarding himself.

Counsel’s declaration that Yaniv Yasmeh is the only person with knowledge, that he substituted in new counsel for the Kaplan firm, and the firm no longer has contact with him is not persuasive. The substitution of attorney was signed March 2, 2018, and filed March 16, almost six months after the discovery responses were served.

The motion is granted.

Sanctions

Plaintiff is entitled to sanctions. (Code Civ. Proc., §§ 2030.290, subd. (c); 2031.300, subd. (c), 2033.280, subd. (c).) The amount requested is excessive. Plaintiff is entitled to reasonable attorney fees in bringing this motion. That does not include the time to review responses or to meet and confer over response. This was a relatively simple motion with a single issue. The memorandum of points and authorities was only five pages. Sanctions of $2310 are awarded jointly and severally against defendant Nasir Yasmeh and his attorney Kaplan, Kenegos & Kadin