Not Stated

(Santa Monica Courthouse: Dept. I) August 24, 2026 DEPARTMENT I LAW AND MOTION RULINGS If the parties wish to submit on the tentative ruling and avoid a court appearance on the matter, the moving party must contact the opposing party and all other parties who have appeared in the action and confirm that each will submit on the tentative ruling. Please call the court no later than 4:30 p.m. on the court day before the hearing, leave a message with the court clerk at (310) 260-3629 advising her that all parties will submit on the tentative ruling and waive hearing, and finally, serve notice of the Court's ruling on all parties entitled to receive service. If any party declines to submit on the tentative ruling, then no telephone call is necessary, and all parties should appear at the hearing.

FSC was supposed to take place in December 2024, but the parties sought a continuance and filed no FSC materials. The court sanctioned the parties but was forced to continue the trial.

On August 19, 2026, plaintiff filed unilateral FSC materials. Plaintiff also waived jury. Plaintiff contends that defendants never posted their fees. The court is inclined to accept plaintiff's waiver, and the case will now be a bench trial. Plaintiff's unilateral submissions encompass all of the required documents, although they are unilateral, not joint. Plaintiff's counsel states that plaintiff tried to start the FSC process last June, but defendants, who now have no lawyer, have gone radio silent.

As to SCC General, it cannot appear without counsel. As to the individuals, they can appear and represent themselves, but they still have filed no FSC materials. As the court warned the parties at the Case Management Conference, if one party attempts to comply with the court's order and the other does not, the party not complying could be subject to evidentiary sanctions. That is the case here. Accordingly, defendants are precluded from submitting a witness or exhibit list. Defendants may cross examine any witness called by plaintiff within the scope of the direct, however. Defendants may also call themselves as witnesses. Defendants may not introduce any documents into evidence, but they may rely on any exhibit actually introduced by plaintiff. With that limit, the case is READY FOR TRIAL.

However, because it now looks like a short bench trial, the trial will go forward on Friday, September 4, 2026, at 10:30 am. The court believes it ought to be completed that day, but if not, the court will set a second day of trial. The court notes the settlement with Altece and will sign the proposed order.

Case Number: 24SMCV00754 Hearing Date: August 24, 2026 Dept: I This is an application by Essex to continue the trial and related dates. There is one and only one reason that might be sufficient. That is that counsel states that a recent health issue precludes him from continuing in the case.

At the time the trial date was set, the court expressly warned all parties that there would be no continuances absent truly unforeseen and unforeseeable circumstances. The court gave that warning orally and it is in the minute order. A sudden and serious medical condition would qualify as one of those rare circumstances. The court will inquire further in camera by way of the equivalent of a Vesco hearing as to this issue, or the court might have to schedule such a hearing as there likely is no time for it today. If the issue was indeed sudden and recent, and if it does preclude counsel from continuing, that is an unforeseen and unforeseeable circumstance and the trial will need to be continued. That would not, of itself, continue any trial-related dates, nor would it make an untimely summary judgment motion timely. The court will set a date to inquire on that point only.

The other purported reasons do not meet the requirements of this court for a continuance. The court is not trying to be difficult. But the court has 1300 cases on the docket. Because this is an I/C court, it typically takes 3-4 weeks to try a case. So you do the math. Given reasonable absences, it will take the court 100 years to try the cases now on the docket. Of course, that is a false statistic. We all know that most cases resolve without a trial. But even assuming 95% of the cases resolve without a trial or a continuance, it will take 5 years to try the cases on the docket. In other words, the court simply lacks the capacity to kick cases down the road. In the past, when the court had 800 cases on the docket, the court would grant first continuances for a reasonable amount of time on request. But those days are gone.

So, the motion is CONTINUED due to the health issue only. The court will set a date for a Vesco hearing to discuss the medical issue further. The court will not hear argument today other than to set the hearing date.

Case Number: 24SMCV02429 Hearing Date: August 24, 2026 Dept: I The matter is here for an FSC. The trial date was set at a CMC held on December 13, 2024. The court has received no FSC materials. The court is aware that the parties sought a trial continuance because they were not ready, but that request was denied. The court assumes that the reason it has nonetheless received no FSC materials is because the case settled, which is an excellent reason. If that is not the reason, the court will need to have a discussion as to why the parties ignored the court's orders. In either event, there will be no trial and the trial date is VACATED. Accordingly, the court will either set an OSC re: Dismissal (Settlement), or a TSC.

Case Number: 24SMCV02786 Hearing Date: August 24, 2026 Dept: I The court believes that there has been a showing as to why the fact discovery might be needed. In particular, it appears that plaintiff was dosed with 8 times the amount of energy that is called for (if this is a one zone procedure). That information might well be important here. The court understands the moving party's claim that this is irrelevant, but that is not clear. The court needs specific information tying