CHAIM DERRY VS 99 CENTS ONLY STORES LLC

Tentative Rulings

Case Number: 17STLC02676    Hearing Date: March 16, 2020    Dept: 26

Derry v. 99 Cents Only Stores, LLC, et al.

MOTION TO COMPEL PRODUCTION OF DOCUMENTS IN DEPOSITION NOTICE; REQUEST FOR SANCTIONS

(CCP § 2025.450)

TENTATIVE RULING:

EFFECTIVE TODAY, BY ORDER OF THE PRESIDNG JUDGE, ALL NON-EMERGENCY MOTIONS ON CALENDAR WILL BE CONTINUED FOR IN-PERSON ARGUMENT FOR AT LEAST 30 DAYS UNLESS PARTIES WISH TO SUBMIT ON THE TENTATIVE RULING VIA PHONE ((213)310-7026) or EMAIL (SSCDept26@lacourt.org) by 10:00 A.M. OR; (B) APPEAR VIA COURT-CALL.

Defendant 99 Cents Only Stores, LLC’s Motion to Compel Production of Documents in Deposition Notice and Request for Sanctions is PLACED OFF CALENDAR.

ANALYSIS:

Plaintiffs Chaim Derry and Mary Leah Klaver (“Plaintiffs”) filed the instant action for premises liability against Defendant 99 Cents Only Stores, LLC (“Defendant”) on September 28, 2017. The action was initially set for trial on March 28, 2019. As Defendant was only served with the Summons and Complaint on March 26, 2019, the Court continued the trial date pursuant to the parties’ oral stipulation to April 9, 2020. Defendant filed its Answer on April 16, 2019.

Defendant filed the instant motion to compel Plaintiff’s production of documents in his deposition notice on January 28, 2020. To date, no opposition has been filed.

Discussion

Pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure section 2024.020, subdivision (a), a party has a “right to complete discovery proceedings on or before the 30th day, and to have motions concerning discovery heard on or before the 15th day, before the date initially set for the trial of the action.” (Code Civ. Proc., § 2024.020, subd. (a) (emphasis added).)

Moreover, the continuances of the trial date to April 9, 2020 and May 8, 2020 did not change the discovery and motion cut-off dates here. Pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure section 2024.020, subdivision (b), “a continuance or postponement of the trial date does not operate to reopen discovery proceedings” unless a motion to reopen discovery is filed and granted pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure section 2024.050. (Code Civ. Proc., § 2024.020, subd. (b); Pelton-Shepherd Industries, Inc. v. Delta Packaging Products, Inc. (2008) 165 Cal.App.4th 1568, 1588 [“By simply hearing the motion to

compel without first deciding whether discovery should be reopened for that purpose under all of the relevant circumstances, the trial court ‘transgresse[d] the confines of the applicable principles of law’ . . . and thereby abused its discretion.”] (citation omitted).)

No motion to reopen discovery has been filed in this action and neither order continuing the trial date reflects that discovery has been reopened based on the new trial dates. Based on the foregoing, the Court finds the last day to complete discovery proceedings was February 26, 2019 and the last date to hear discovery motions was March 13, 2019.

Defendant 99 Cents Only Stores, LLC’s Motion to Compel Production of Documents in Deposition Notice and Request for Sanctions is PLACED OFF CALENDAR.