MAHA MOHAMED VS MOUNIR A SOLIMAN M D ET AL

Tentative Rulings

Case Number: BC479575    Hearing Date: November 21, 2019    Dept: 61

Defendant Mounir A. Soliman’s Motion to Compel Plaintiff to Sign Power of Attorney is GRANTED IN PART. Plaintiff Maha Mohamed is ordered to execute a power of attorney within 30 days authorizing a representative, mutually agreeable to the parties, to obtain whatever medical records are currently within the custody of the PM Hospital in Cairo, Egypt, and to distribute those records to the parties. If the parties do not agree to a representative, Mohamed shall execute a power of attorney within the same time-frame authorizing her chosen representative to obtain whatever medical records are currently within the custody of the PM Hospital in Cairo, Egypt, and to distribute those records to the parties. Defendants shall be permitted to select a representative to travel jointly with Mohamed’s representative to Egypt and to be present when the records are presented by PM Hospital, and to coordinate with Mohamed’s representative to ensure that the documents received are distributed to all parties.

MOTION TO COMPEL

Soliman asks this court to order Mohamed to sign a power of attorney allowing a representative of Soliman’s to obtain medical records in the custody of PM Hospital in Cairo, Egypt. (Motion at p. 8.) Mohamed objects that Soliman failed to meet and confer before filing this motion and that Mohamed has attempted to formulate a stipulation that would allow both parties to obtain the records. (Opposition at pp. 2–3.)

Mohamed notes that there is no precise statutory framework allowing for the kind of discovery order that Soliman seeks. (Opposition at p. 4.) But Mohamed concedes that courts possess inherent powers to create new remedies, within reason, where no statute or case law exists on point. (Opposition at p. 4.) Nor does Mohamed argue that this court lacks the power to grant the type of relief that Soliman requests here. This is because the court possesses such power:

All courts have inherent powers which enable them to carry out their duties and ensure the orderly administration of justice. The inherent powers of courts are derived from article VI, section 1 of the California Constitution and are not dependent on statute. These powers entitle courts to ‘adopt any suitable method of practice, both in ordinary actions and special proceedings, if the procedure is not specified by statute or by rules adopted by the Judicial Council.’ Thus a trial court has the inherent authority to create a new form of procedure in a particular case, where justice demands it. The power arises from necessity where, in the absence of any previously established procedural rule, rights would be lost or the court would be unable to function.

(In re Amber S. (1993) 15 Cal.App.4^th 1260, 1264, internal quotation marks and citations omitted.)

It is not disputed that the records potentially in the possession of the Egyptian hospital could be of substantial importance to this case, or that a power of attorney is necessary to obtain them. Rather, Mohamed argues that no order is necessary because she has attempted to obtain a stipulation to allow for both her and Soliman’s representatives to obtain records from the hospital. (Opposition at p. 2.) She understandably objects to Soliman’s proposed course whereby his chosen representative would deliver records to the parties, particularly as she alleges in this matter that Soliman used fabricated records to maintain her involuntary residence in the hospital at issue. (Opposition at pp. 3–4.)

While discussions regarding the gathering of the records have at times been frustrating, the court disagrees with Mohamed that Soliman’s meet-and-confer efforts have been deficient. Soliman has attempted to have Mohamed execute a power of attorney for these records since November 2016. (Salmaica Decl. Exh. B, C, E.) Mohamed now proposes a stipulation addressing Soliman’s concerns, which may or may not have been discussed prior. The stipulation itself provides no timeframe in which Mohamed is to execute the power of attorney. (Vakili Decl. Exh. 2.)

Given the necessity of the documents at issue and the late stage of this case, the court finds it appropriate to order Mohamed to execute a power of attorney authorizing the release of her medical records from PM Hospital within 30 days. Contra Soliman’s motion, the court shall not order that the person to be given this power of attorney be Ahmed Elmokadem, but shall be someone mutually agreeable to the parties. Should the parties fail to agree on the person who shall have the power of attorney, Mohamed shall nonetheless execute a power of attorney within the stated period for her chosen representative, who shall collaborate with a representative selected by Defendants in obtaining the medical records and distributing them to all parties, as outlined in Mohemed’s proposed stipulation. (Vakili Decl. Exh. 2.)

The Motion to Compel is therefore GRANTED in part, as described above.