Nancy Cooper, et al.,

Plaintiffs,

v.

Denise Cashiola, et al.,

Defendants.

Case No.: BC613138

(Consolidated with BC629389)

Hearing Date: March 7, 2018

[TENTATIVE] order RE:

Defendant’s MOTION TO CONTINUE TRIAL

Denise Cashiola (“Defendant”)[1] seeks to continue the final status conference, and trial in this action. Currently, the FSC is set for March 23, 2018, and trial is set for April 6, 2018. Defendant seeks to continue these matters to allow for the conclusion of discovery. Defendant states that three depositions remain outstanding but have been noticed and are expected to move forward. Defendant also states that expert discovery has not taken place.

Plaintiffs have filed no opposition to this motion. Defendant has submitted a stipulation to continue trial as Exhibit 1 to counsel’s declaration. Defendant states in the motion that the stipulation was signed by all attorneys in the matter. However, Exhibit 1 shows that the signature of one of the attorneys, Mark E. Madison, is missing in the stipulation. Nonetheless, counsel Madison’s missing signature will not defeat this motion because the proof of service shows that Madison was served with this motion, and he has not submitted any opposition on behalf of his clients.

Defendant states that there is good cause to allow this continuance, including the need for ongoing discovery as stated above. There are four law firms involved in this case, and Defense counsel states that it has been difficult to coordinate between four attorneys and three parties. Further Defendant lives in New York, which has added further complications and challenges. There have been two stipulated continuances in this case. As defense counsel points out, the first continuance occurred before this case was consolidated with the other action.

Defendant’s request to continue these matters is granted based upon good cause shown. However, the Court cannot accommodate the request of October 22, 2018. The trial will be continued to October 24, 2018 at 8:30 am, and the FSC will be continued to October 10, 2018 at 10:00 am. All discovery and motion cut off dates will follow the new trial date.

Defendant is ordered to provide notice of this order.

DATED: March 7, 2018 ___________________________

Elaine Lu

Judge of the Superior Court

[1] This case involves two consolidated actions. Nancy Cooper filed the initial case for damages arising from a motor vehicle collision with Denise Cashiola (BC613138). Subsequently, Denise Cashiola filed a separate suit for damages against Nancy Cooper for the same incident (BC629389). For the sake of clarity, the Court will use the terms Plaintiff and Defendant as they were designated in the first-filed, lower-numbered action (BC613138).