Carlomagno v Humphreys Los Angeles County Superior Court Case Number BC720812.


From the Los Angeles court online case records it is Lawzilla's understanding the following occurred:

Attorney Howard Kim is the attorney of record for the plaintiff in a motor vehicle accident lawsuit.




During the lawsuit the defendant requested that Kim's client provide documents, answer written questions, and respond to requests for admissions.

Three months later, after not receiving any responses, defendant's counsel inquired about them missing responses.

No responses were forthcoming from Kim's office.

The court's order does not indicate any excuse being made or whether or not attorney Howard Kim made any reply.

The defendant then moved to compel responses to the discovery and sought sanctions.




The judge said attorney Howard Kim did not file an opposition to the motion to compel.

The judge also said it appeared that, despite the motion to compel, responses to the discovery had still not been made.

The judge said the motions would be granted.




The judge in a tentative ruling then said $1200 in sanctions were appropriate against plaintiff and its attorney of record, who would be Howard Kim.




At the hearing on the motion the court's minute order indicates that attorney Howard Kim did not appear.

The judge then confirmed the tentative order would be the final ruling of the court.

From the judge's order it is unclear to us what attorney Howard Kim is doing.

- No responses to any of the discovery requests.

- No responses after counsel inquired about the missing responses.

- No responses even though a motion to compel was filed.

- No opposition to the motions to compel were filed.

- No opposition to the request for sanctions was made.

- No appearance at the court hearing.


Based on this ruling - what is your conclusion about attorney Howard Kim and whether you would want to hire him to represent you?


We view being sanctioned by a judge as a serious matter.

We also view $1200 as a large amount of sanctions.

If not paid, attorney Howard Kim could face bar discipline for violating a court order to pay sanctions, as happened to this attorney:

Howard Kim was admitted to the California Bar in 1999. Bar Number 197021.

Law Offices of Howard B. Kim
1055 Wilshire Boulevard Suite 1510
Los Angeles, California 90017

Law School: University of San Francisco

Sanctions are Recoverable as a Judgment - Analysis of the little known fact that sanctions awarded in a lawsuit can be enforced as their own separate judgment. Surprise someone by putting a lien on their bank account, home, wages, etc.