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  • Sz Huang et al vs Tesla Inc. et al Other PI/PD/WD Unlimited (23)  document preview
  • Sz Huang et al vs Tesla Inc. et al Other PI/PD/WD Unlimited (23)  document preview
  • Sz Huang et al vs Tesla Inc. et al Other PI/PD/WD Unlimited (23)  document preview
  • Sz Huang et al vs Tesla Inc. et al Other PI/PD/WD Unlimited (23)  document preview
  • Sz Huang et al vs Tesla Inc. et al Other PI/PD/WD Unlimited (23)  document preview
  • Sz Huang et al vs Tesla Inc. et al Other PI/PD/WD Unlimited (23)  document preview
  • Sz Huang et al vs Tesla Inc. et al Other PI/PD/WD Unlimited (23)  document preview
  • Sz Huang et al vs Tesla Inc. et al Other PI/PD/WD Unlimited (23)  document preview
						
                                

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Lauren O. Miller #279448 BOWMAN AND BROOKE LLP tLe 1741 Technology Drive, Suite 200 San Jose, California 95110-1364 JUN -8 2023 Telephone: (408) 279-5393 Clerk of thi ourt of Santa Clara Facsimile: (408) 279-5845 Superior Court of CA DEPUTY Lauren.Miller@bowmanandbrooke.com BY. Thomas Branigan (Pro Hac Vice) “Ton BOWMAN AND BROOKE LLP 41000 Woodward Avenue, Suite 200 East Mit. Bloomfield Hills, MI 48303 Telephone: (248) 205.3300 Facsimile: (248) 205.3399 Thomas.branigan@bowmanandbrooke.com Joel Smith (Pro Hac Vice) Kevin Malloy (Pro Hac Vice) 10 BOWMAN AND BROOKE LLP 1441 Main Street, Suite 1200 1 Columbia, SC 29201 Telephone: (803) 726-7420 12 Facsimile: (803) 726-7421 Joel.Smith@bowmanandbrooke.com 13. Kevin.malloy@bowmanandbrooke.com 14 Attorneys for Defendant Tesla, Inc. 15 16 IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA 17 COUNTY OF SANTA CLARA 18 SZ HUA HUANG, Individually and as successor ) Case No. 19CV346663 in interest to WEI LUN HUANG, deceased; ) 19 TRINITY HUANG, a minor; TRISTAN HUANG, ) TESLA, INC.’S EX PARTE APPLICATION FOR a minor; HSI KENG HUANG; and CHING FEN ) AN ORDER SPECIALLY SETTING HEARING 20 HUANG, ON MOTION TO RECONSIDER ORDER GRANTING, IN PART, MOTION TO COMPEL 21 Plaintiff, WRITTEN DISCOVERY RESPONSES AND DEPOSITION OF ELON MUSK AND 22 vs. RENEWED MOTION FOR PROTECTIVE ORDER RE THE DEPOSITION OF ELON 23 TESLA, INC. dba TESLA MOTORS INC. THE MUSK; MEMORANDUM OF POINTS AND STATE OF CALIFORNIA, and DOES 1 through AUTHORITIES IN SUPPORT; DECLARATION 24 100, OF LAUREN O. MILLER 25 Defendants. [Proposed Order Filed Concurrently] 26 Assigned for all purposes to: Hon. Evette Pennypacker; Dept. 6 27 ‘1 28 28124384 1 TESLA, INC.’S EX PARTE APPLICATION FOR AN ORDER SPECIALLY SETTING HEARING; MEMORANDUM OF POINTS AND AUTHORITIES IN SUPPORT; DECLARATION OF LAUREN O. MILLER TO ALL PARTIES AND THEIR ATTORNEYS OF RECORD PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that Tesla, Inc. ("Tesla") will apply ex parte for an order shortening time and specially setting hearing on Tesla, Inc.’s Motion To Reconsider Order Granting, In Part, Plaintiffs’ Motion To Compel Written Discovery Responses And The Deposition Of Elon Musk filed on May 22, 2023 (‘Motion to Reconsider”) and Renewed Motion for Protective Order re the Deposition of Elon Musk filed on June 5, 2023 (“Renewed Motion for a Protective Order’) This ex parte application is made upon the following grounds: the Court specifically directed Tesla to seek relief to set an expedited date on its motions related to the deposition of Mr. Musk via ex parte application. Tesla timely filed the Motion to Reconsider, but the clerk's office has not 10 assigned a hearing date. Despite the pendency of that motion, Plaintiffs’ unilaterally set the deposition 1 of Mr. Musk for June 9, 2023, requiring Tesla to additionally file a Renewed Motion for a Protective 12 Order. The Renewed Motion for Protective Order has also not been assigned a hearing date. Tesla is 13 entitled to have the Court rule on its properly filed motions and may sustain irreparable harm if forced 14 to proceed towards a July 31, 2023 trial date without ruling on its motions. 15 Pursuant to California Rules of Court Rule 3.1204(a), all interested parties to whom notice is 16 due have received notice regarding this matter. (Miller Decl. | 10.) 17 This ex parte application is brought under Cal. Rules of Court, Rule 3.1200, et seq. and is 18 based upon this Application, the accompanying Memorandum of Points and Authorities, the 19 Declaration of Lauren O. Miller filed in support, the pleadings and papers filed in this and related 20 actions, and such further evidence and arguments that may be considered by this Court in connection 21 with this Application 22 Dated: June 8, 2023 BOWMAN- AND BROOKE LLP 23 24 fib — / Lauren O. Miller Avlomeys for Defendant 25 Tesla, Inc. 26 27 28 28124384 2 TESLA, INC.’S EX PARTE APPLICATION FOR AN ORDER SPECIALLY SETTING HEARING; MEMORANDUM OF POINTS AND AUTHORITIES IN SUPPORT; DECLARATION OF LAUREN O. MILLER MEMORANDUM OF POINTS AND AUTHORITIES | INTRODUCTION Pursuant to the Court's June 7, 2023 email correspondence, Tesla is requesting the Court specially set hearing and briefing schedules to address its Motion To Reconsider Order Granting, in part, Plaintiffs’ Motion to Compel Written Discovery Responses and The Deposition of Elon Musk filed on May 22, 2023 (“Motion to Reconsider’) and Renewed Motion for Protective Order re the Deposition of Elon Musk filed on June 5, 2023 (“Renewed Motion for a Protective Order’. To date, the clerk’s office has not assigned these motions a hearing date. (Declaration of Lauren O. Miller (‘Miller Decl.”) {| 5.) 10 As stated in Tesla's Motion to Reconsider filed on May 22, 2023, Tesla previously 1 objected to Plaintiffs’ Requests for Admission demanding Tesla authenticate and respond to 12 requests relating to non-Tesla-generated media, in part, based on Plaintiffs’ refusal to identify 13 where they obtained the media. As part of its April 28 Order, the Court ordered Plaintiffs to 14 provide that information by May 12. Plaintiffs provided the information on May 12, save one 15 recording for which they evidently needed to keep their source secret and would only reveal it 16 (or them) in camera. In any event, now that Plaintiffs have provided Tesla with source 17 information for the various recordings that were the basis of their Requests for Admission, Tesla 18 was in a position to further supplement its responses to those Requests and directly admit or 19 deny them. The Supplemental Responses, served on May 26, 2023, provided Plaintiffs the 20 information they argued they needed via Mr. Musk’s deposition, and satisfy fully the limited 21 scope deposition the Court ordered. The purported need for Mr. Musk’s deposition has been 22 mooted. (Miller Decl. {| 3.) 23 Notwithstanding the pendency of the Motion to Reconsider, on May 24, 2023, Plaintiffs’ 24 unilaterally noticed Mr. Musk’s deposition for June 9, 2023. Tesla timely served written objections to 25 the deposition notice and, in the abundance of caution, additionally filed a Renewed Motion for 26 Protective Order to address the new deposition notice. The clerk's office has not yet set a hearing 27 date for the Renewed Motion for Protective Order. (Miller Decl. {J 4-6.) 28 27972889 4 MEMO OF P & As IN SUPPORT OF EX PARTE APPLICATION FOR AN ORDER SPECIALLY SETTING HEARING Tesla, therefore, respectfully requests the Court specially set a hearing date for its Motion to Reconsider and Renewed Motion for Protective Order to resolve the issue of whether Mr. Musk’s deposition is prohibited in its entirety. i. ARGUMENT A. GOOD CAUSE EXISTS FOR EX PARTE RELIEF (Rule 3.1202(c)) To date, Plaintiffs have refused to withdraw their request for Mr. Musk’s deposition. (Miller Decl. | 7.) As such, because the parties were unable to informally resolve the issue, Tesla timely filed motions seeking relief from the order compelling the limited deposition of Mr. Musk and is entitled to have the Court's ruling on those motions prior to having to produce Mr. Musk for a 10 deposition which is no longer necessary. There is good cause to specially set the hearing on Tesla’s 11 Motion to Reconsider and Renewed Motion for Protective Order because the clerk’s office has not yet 12 assigned a hearing date and the case has a July 31, 2023 trial date. Counsel for Tesla sought 13 guidance from the Court on how to obtain a hearing date and was directed by the Department clerk to 14 file an ex parte application. (Miller Decl. ] 8.) 15 B. NO PARTIES OPPOSE THE SPECIALLY SET HEARING; NO PARTIES WILL BE PREJUDICED IF THE MOTION ARE HEARD ON SHORTENED TIME AT AN 16 ADVANCED HEARING DATE 17 No parties have indicated that they oppose the specially set hearing date on the Motion 18 to Reconsider and Renewed Motion for Protective Order. Indeed, upon receipt of Tesla’s 19 Renewed Motion for Protective Order, Plaintiffs’ counsel actually requested Tesla get a hearing 20 date ASAP. (Miller Decl. {] 9.) 21 it 22 Mt 23 Mf 24 Ml 25 M1 26 Ml 27 M1 28 27972889 2 MEMO OF P & As IN SUPPORT OF EX PARTE APPLICATION FOR AN ORDER SPECIALLY SETTING HEARING I. CONCLUSION Tesla, Inc. respectfully requests that the Court grant its ex parte application for an order shortening time and specially setting hearing on Tesla, Inc.'s Motion To Reconsider Order Granting, In Part, Plaintiffs’ Motion To Compel Written Discovery Responses And The Deposition Of Elon Musk and Renewed Motion for Protective Order re the Deposition of Elon Musk. Dated: June 8, 2023 BOWMAN-AND BROOKE LLP GS te ot UV J 1 ¥ y Laurdén O. Miller ht orneys for Defendant Tesla, Inc. 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 27972889 3 MEMO OF P & As IN SUPPORT OF EX PARTE APPLICATION FOR AN ORDER SPECIALLY SETTING HEARING DECLARATION OF LAUREN O. MILLER |, Lauren O. Miller, declare: 1 | am an attorney at law duly licensed to practice before the Courts in the State of California and am an attorney at the law firm of Bowman and Brooke LLP, attorneys for Tesla, Inc. (‘Tesla’) in this matter. 2 | have personal knowledge of each of the matters stated herein and if called upon to testify to any of these matters, | can do so in a truthful and competent manner. 3. On May 22, 2023, Tesla filed a Motion To Reconsider Order Granting, in part, Plaintiffs’ Motion to Compel Written Discovery Responses and the Deposition of Elon Musk (“Motion 10 to Reconsider’). A true and correct copy of the Motion to Reconsider is attached as Exhibit A. Tesla 11 also filed a Supplemental Declaration in support of the Motion to Reconsider on June 5, 2023. A true 12 and correct copy of the Supplemental Declaration is attached as Exhibit B. 13 4 On June 5, 2023, Tesla filed a Renewed Motion for Protective Order re the Deposition 14 of Elon Musk filed (“Renewed Motion for a Protective Order’). A true and correct copy of the 15 Renewed Motion for a Protective Order is attached as Exhibit C. 16 5. To date, the clerk's office has not assigned these motions a hearing date. 17 6 Notwithstanding the pendency of the Motion to Reconsider, on May 24, 2023, 18 Plaintiffs’ unilaterally noticed Mr. Musk’s deposition for June 9, 2023. Tesla timely served written 19 objections to the deposition notice. 20 7. To date, Plaintiffs have refused to withdraw their request for Mr. Musk’s deposition. 21 8 On June 5, 2023, | sought guidance from the Court on how to obtain a hearing date 22 and was directed by the Department clerk to file an ex parte application. A true and correct copy of 23 the Court's June 7, 2023 email is attached as Exhibit D. 24 9 No parties have indicated that they oppose the specially set hearing date on the 25 Motion to Reconsider and Renewed Motion for Protective Order. Indeed, upon receipt of Tesla’s 26 Supplemental Declaration in support of Motion to Reconsider, Plaintiffs’ counsel actually requested 27 Tesla get a hearing date ASAP. A true and correct copy of Plaintiffs’ June 5, 2023 email 28 correspondence is attached as Exhibit E. 27972889 4 DEC OF LAUREN O. MILLER IN SUPPORT OF EX PARTE APPLICATION FOR AN ORDER SPECIALLY SETTING HEARING 1 10. On June 7, 2023, before 10:00 a.m., my office provided all counsel notice of Tesla’s 2} intent to file this ex parte application. A true and correct copy of my office’s email to all counsel is 3] attached as Exhibit F. 4 | declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California that the foregoing is 5] true and correct. Executed on June 8, 2023 at San Jose, California. 6 7 Laurer: 9) Milley 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 27972889 2 DEC OF LAUREN O. MILLER IN SUPPORT OF EX PARTE APPLICATION FOR AN ORDER SPECIALLY SETTING HEARING Vincent Galvin #104448 Lauren O; Miller #279448 Joel H. Smith (Pro Hac Vice) BOWMAN AND BROOKE LLP 1741 Technology Drive, Suite 200 San Jose, California 95110-1364 Telephone: (408) 279-5393 Facsimile: (408) 279-5845 vincent.galvin@bowmanandbrooke.com lauren.miller@bowmanandbrooke.com Thomas Branigan (Pro Hac Vice) BOWMAN AND BROOKE LLP 41000 Woodward Avenue, Suite 200 East Bloomfield Hills, MI 48303 Telephone: (248) 205.3300 Facsimile: (248) 205.3399 Thomas.branigan@bowmanandbrooke.com 10 Attorneys for Defendant 11 Tesla, Inc. 12 IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA 13 COUNTY OF SANTA CLARA 14 SZ HUA HUANG, Individually and as successor ) Case No. 19CV346663 15 in interest to WEI LUN HUANG, deceased; TRINITY HUANG, a minor; TRISTAN HUANG, Assigned for all purposes to Hon. Evette 16 a minor; HSI KENG HUANG; and CHING FEN Pennypacker; Dept. 6 HUANG, 17 TESLA, INC.’S NOTICE OF MOTION AND Plaintiff, MOTION TO RECONSIDER ORDER 18 GRANTING, IN PART, PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION vs. TO COMPEL WRITTEN DISCOVERY 19 RESPONSES AND THE DEPOSITION OF TESLA, INC. dba TESLA MOTORS INC. THE ELON MUSK; DECLARATION OF LAUREN O. 20 STATE OF CALIFORNIA, and DOES 1 through MILLER IN SUPPORT THEREOF 100, 21 Date: Defendants. Time: 22 Dept: 6 23 PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that on , 2023 in Department 6 before the 24 Honorable Evette Pennypacker, located at 191 N. First Street in San Jose, California 95113, 25 Defendant Tesla, Inc. (‘Tesla’) will and hereby moves the Court for a Motion to Reconsider Order 26 Granting, in Part, Plaintiffs’ Motion to Compel Written Discovery Responses and the Deposition of Elon 27 Musk. 28 28048036 4 EXHIBIT A TESLA, INC.'S NOTICE OF MOTION AND MOTION TO RECONSIDER ORDER GRANTING, IN PART, PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION TO COMPEL WRITTEN DISCOVERY RESPONSES AND THE DEPOSITION OF ELON MUSK; DECLARATION OF LAUREN O. MILLER IN SUPPORT THEREOF This Motion is based on this Notice, and the Memorandum of Points and Authorities, the Declaration of Lauren O. Miller and Exhibits and pleadings, records, and papers on file, and upon such other evidence and oral arguments as may be received by this Court at the time of hearing Dated: May 22, 2023 zowwan’ AND BROOKE LLP pe2Mib aiotauren O. Miller rneys for Defendant Tesla, Inc. 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 28048036. 2 TESLA, INC.’S NOTICE OF MOTION AND MOTION TO RECONSIDER ORDER GRANTING, IN PART, PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION TO COMPEL WRITTEN DISCOVERY RESPONSES AND THE DEPOSITION OF ELON MUSK; DECLARATION OF LAUREN O. MILLER IN SUPPORT THEREOF MEMORANDUM OF POINTS AND AUTHORITIES Tesla brings this motion under Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 1008(a) and hereby respectfully moves the Court reconsider the portion of its April 28, 2023, Order (hereinafter, “the Order’) that compelled the limited deposition of Tesla’s CEO, Elon Musk. Tesla seeks: reconsideration because the facts and circumstances that formed the basis of the Order have changed. Specifically, now that Plaintiffs have provided Tesla with information about the sources of the various recordings that were the basis of Requests for Admission that “[sought] to confirm whether Mr. Musk was at the specific interviews/public engagements and made the specific statements already identified in those Requests for Admission{,]” Tesla will now be able to further supplement its responses to those Requests and it will do so by 10 directly admitting or denying those requests. See Exhibit A, 4/28/23 Order, at p. 12. These 1 Supplemental Responses will provide Plaintiffs with the information they had argued they needed to 12 obtain through Mr. Musk’s deposition and that this Court ordered would be the scope of that deposition 13 pursuant to its Order of April 28, 2023. 14 I The Timing of this Motion 15 At the outset, it should be noted that this Motion is timely. CCP 1008(a) provides that motions 16 to reconsider must be filed “within 10 days after service upon the party of written notice of entry of the 17 order[.J” Here, the Order was entered on April 28, 2023, but it was not served on counsel for Tesla that 18 day. (Lauren Miller's Decl. {| 11.). Indeed, the Order was never served on Tesla by the Court. (/d.). 19 Instead, in the course of meet and confer discussions on May 8, 2023, Tesla’s counsel learned from 20 Plaintiffs’ counsel (whom had been served with the Order) that the Order had been entered. (Id). 21 Later that day, Plaintiffs’ counsel emailed Tesla’s counsel a copy of that Order, which was the first time 22 Tesla’s counsel received the Order. (Id.). 23 May 18, 2023 was the tenth day after Tesla’s counsel was emailed a copy of the Order. (Id.). 24 CCP 1013(g) provides that “[e]lectronic service shall be permitted pursuant to Section 1010.6 and the 25 tules of electronic service in the California Rules. of Court.”. When a document is served electronically, 26 CCP 1010.6(3)(B) provides a two-day extension for acting in response to that document, which was 27 Saturday May 20, 2023 in the case of the Order. Pursuant to California Rules of Court Rule 1.10, an 28 28048036. 4 MEMO OF P&AS IN SUPPORT OF TESLA, INC.'S MOTION TO RECONSIDER ORDER GRANTING, IN PART, PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION TO COMPEL WRITTEN DISCOVERY RESPONSES AND THE DEPOSITION OF ELON MUSK action that would otherwise be due on a Saturday is due the following Monday. In this instance, that is today, Monday May 22, 2023. Thus, this Motion is timely. I. Legal Standard CCP 1008(a) permits parties to move for reconsideration of an order when there are “new or different facts, circumstances, or law|.]" Parties that make such motions must “show diligence with a satisfactory explanation for not having presented the new or different information earlier.” Even Zohar Construction & Remodeling, Inc. v. Bellaire Townhouses, LLC (2015) 61 Cal.4th 830, 831. However, changes in law are not a prerequisite for the granting of motions to reconsider because courts have “inherent jurisdiction to reconsider [] interim ruling[s].” Pinela v. Neiman Marcus Group, Inc. (2015) 238 10 Cal.App.4th 227, 237. Thus, courts have “broad discretion” in ruling on motions to reconsider so long 11 as that discretion is “exercised reasonably.” Monroy v. City of Los Angeles (2008) 164 Cal.App.4th 12 248, 265. 13 tl. The Court Should Reconsider Its Order Compelling a Limited Deposition of Mr. Musk 14 This dispute began when Plaintiffs served Requests for Admission on Tesla requesting that 15 Tesla verify the authenticity of certain recordings (audio and video) that appeared to show Mr. Musk 16 making a variety of statements generally related to the subjects of Tesla’s Autopilot and advanced 7 driver assistance systems more generally. (Exhibits A and B, Plaintiffs’ Original MTC and Tesla’s MPO 18 re Musk depo.). Initially, Tesla indicated that it could not admit or deny these because it could not verify 19 whether the apparent recordings were legitimate. (Exhibit C, Tesla’s initial RFA Responses). The 20 Court ordered Tesla to provide further responses, which it did after consulting with Mr. Musk. (Exhibit 21 D, Tesla’s Response to Motion for Sanctions/Musk Depo/Compel further responses). However, Tesla 22 was still unable to admit or deny most of these Requests. (/d.). The Court then ordered that Mr. Musk 23 make himself available for a deposition for the limited purpose of “address[ing] Plaintiffs’ already served 24 Requests for Admission that seek to confirm whether Mr. Musk was at the specific interviews/public 25 engagements and made the specific statements already identified in those Requests for Admission.” 26 Exhibit E, 4/28/23 Order, at p. 12. 27 28 28048036, 2 MEMO OF P&AS IN SUPPORT OF TESLA, INC.’S MOTION TO RECONSIDER ORDER GRANTING, IN PART, PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION TO COMPEL WRITTEN DISCOVERY RESPONSES AND THE DEPOSITION OF ELON MUSK In the same Order, the Court required Plaintiffs to “identify to Tesla on or before May 12, 2023 information sufficient to identify precisely where Plaintiffs retrieved the recordings identified in their Requests for Admission[,]’ which they had been unwilling to do, despite Tesla’s requests, prior to the Order. /d. at pp. 12-13. This newly provided information has enabled Tesla to be able to supplement its Response to the Requests for Admission that will include direct admissions or denials of the requests.’ Last week, in meet and confer discussions, Tesla’s counsel informed Plaintiffs’ counsel that these admissions would.be forthcoming. (Miller Decl. J 13.). Thus far, Plaintiffs have been unwilling to accept Tesla’s agreement to serve Supplemental Response in lieu of Mr. Musk’s deposition. (/d.). Tesla’s Supplemental Responses will obviate the need for Mr. Musk’s limited scope deposition, 10 which the Court had ordered take place only for the purpose of discovering whether he had made the 1 statements in the recordings. Thus, the objective of the Order will have been achieved. Likewise, 12 Plaintiffs’ objective in requesting Mr. Musk’s deposition will have been achieved. Any further pursuit of 13 this deposition is unnecessary and would suggest Plaintiffs’ stated purpose for seeking it has been a 14 pretext. 15 Wl 16 Wt 17 WL 18 Wt 19 Hl 20 WL 21 Mf 22 Ml 23 24 25 1 To elaborate: Plaintiffs had originally provided Tesla with .mp3 and .mp4 files for each recording that did not 26 disclose any information about each files origin. (Miller Decl. J 12.). Tesla asked for the origin of these files a number of times, but Plaintiffs refused. (/d.) After the Order was entered, Plaintiffs provided Tesla with the web address where they had located each recording. (Miller Decl, J 12.). Tesla was then able to compare the 27 recordings at each web address to the files Plaintiffs provided. (Miller Decl. ] 12.) This information will enable Tesla to be able to admit the authenticity of the recordings. (Miller Decl. | 12.). 28 28048036 MEMO OF P&AS IN SUPPORT OF TESLA, INC.'S MOTION TO RECONSIDER ORDER GRANTING, IN PART, PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION TO COMPEL WRITTEN DISCOVERY RESPONSES AND THE DEPOSITION OF ELON MUSK For these reasons, the facts and circumstances that led to the Court’s Order have changed. The statements will now be authenticated, whereas before they could not be. Therefore, Tesla respectfully requests the Court reconsider its ruling and issue a new order that prohibits Mr. Musk’s deposition in this case. Dated: May 22, 2023 BOWMAN AND BROOKE LLP Ce py Len je \ Yauren (0. Miller Attoteys for Defendant Tesla, Inc. 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 28048036 4 MEMO OF P&AS IN SUPPORT OF TESLA, INC.’S MOTION TO RECONSIDER ORDER GRANTING, IN PART, PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION TO COMPEL WRITTEN DISCOVERY RESPONSES AND THE DEPOSITION OF ELON MUSK Sz Hua Huang, et al. v. Tesla, Inc., et al. Case No. 19CV346663 PROOF OF SERVICE | am over 18 years of age, not a party to this action and employed in San Jose, California at 1741 Technology Drive, Suite 200, San Jose, California 95110-1355. On the date indicated below, | served the foregoing documents TESLA, INC.’S NOTICE OF MOTION AND MOTION TO RECONSIDER ORDER GRANTING, IN PART, PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION TO COMPEL WRITTEN DISCOVERY RESPONSES AND THE DEPOSITION OF ELON MUSK on all interested parties, or through their attorneys of record, in the manner noted, addressed as follows: Attorneys for Plaintiffs B. Mark Fong 10 Seema Bhatt Minami Tamaki LLP 11 101 Montgomery Street, 8" Floor San Francisco, CA 94104 12 mfong@minamitamaki.com sbhatt@minamitamaki.com 13 eoparowski@minamitamaki.com Erica Sullivan: ESullivan@MinamiTamaki.com 14 Elise Everett: EEverett@MinamiTamaki.com 15 Michael A. Kelly Doris Cheng 16 Andrew P. McDevitt Walkup, Melodia, Kelly & Schoenberger 17 650 California Street, 26" Floor San Francisco, CA 94108 18 mkelly@walkuplawoffice.com dchen walkuplawoffice.com 19 mecdevitt@walkuplawoffice.com Ashley Freeman afreeman@walkuplawoffice.com 20 Marlena White mwhite@walkuplawoffice.com Mahul Patel: mpatel@walkuplawoffice.com 21 serve@WalkupLawOffice.com 22 Attorneys for State of California Landa Low 23 California Dept of Transportation-Legal Div. P.O. Box 24325 24 Oakland, CA 94623-1325 Landa.low@dot.ca.go 25 Rosemary Love: rosemary.love@dot.ca.qo' Maria Cordonero: maria.cordonero@dot.ca.go 26 Skitch Crosby: skitch.crosby@dot.ca.gov 27 VIA FIRST CLASS MAIL. | caused such envelope to be deposited in the mail at San Jose, California, in a sealed envelope with postage fully prepaid thereof. 1 am readily familiar with the firms 28 4 21025562v1 business practice for collection and processing of correspondence for mailing with the United States Postal Service. The mail is deposited with the U.S. Postal Service on that same day in the ordinary course of business. | am aware that on motion of the party served, service is presumed invalid if the postal cancellation date or postage meter date is more than one day after the date of deposit for mailing in affidavit. VIA OVERNIGHT DELIVERY SERVICE. The documents were enveloped, properly labeled, and caused to be deposited into an overnight delivery (Federal Express, United Parcel Service, etc.) receptacle or delivered to an authorized courier or driver authorized by the express service carrier to receive documents, in an envelope or a package designated by the express service carrier with delivery fees paid or provided for, addressed to the person on whom it is to be served, at the office address as last given by that person on any document filed in the case and served on that person; otherwise, at that person's place of residence. X BY ELECTRONIC SERVICE. The.document was served electronically and the transmission was reported as complete and without error. The document was served on the above parties in this action by causing a true copy of said document to be transmitted by email pursuant to Emergency Rule 12 of Appendix | of the California Rules of Court. 10 _. VIA FACSIMILE TRANSMISSION. The document was served on the above party in this 11 action by causing a true copy of said document to be transmitted by facsimile to the number listed adjacent to the name on this Proof of Service. The transmission was reported as complete and 12 without error. 13 VIA PERSONAL SERVICE. | caused such envelope(s) to be delivered by hand this date to the offices of the addressee(s). 14 | declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California that the foregoing is 15 true and correct, and that this declaration was executed on May 22, 2023, at San Jose, California. 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 21025562v1 Lauren O. Miller #279448 Joel H. Smith (Pro Hac Vice) BOWMAN AND BROOKE LLP 1741 Technology Drive, Suite 200 San Jose, California 95110-1364 Telephone: (408) 279-5393 Facsimile: (408) 279-5845 Joel.Smith@bowmanandbrooke.com Lauren.Miller@bowmanandbrooke.com Thomas Branigan (Pro Hac Vice) BOWMAN AND BROOKE LLP 41000 Woodward Avenue, Suite 200 East Bloomfield Hills, MI 48303 Telephone: (248) 205.3300 Facsimile: (248) 205.3399 Thomas.Branigan@bowmanandbrooke.com 10 Attorneys for Defendant Tesla, Inc. 1 12 IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA 13 COUNTY OF SANTA CLARA 14 SZ HUA HUANG, Individually and as successor ) Case No. 19CV346663 in interest to WEI LUN HUANG, deceased; 15 TRINITY HUANG, a minor, TRISTAN HUANG, Assigned for all purposes to Hon. Evette a minor; HSI KENG HUANG; and CHING FEN Pennypacker; Dept. 6 16 HUANG, SUPPLEMENTAL DECLARATION OF LAUREN 17 Plaintiff, O. MILLER IN SUPPORT OF TESLA, INC.’S MOTION TO RECONSIDER ORDER 18 vs. GRANTING, IN PART, PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION TO COMPEL WRITTEN DISCOVERY 19 TESLA, INC. dba TESLA MOTORS INC. THE RESPONSES AND THE DEPOSITION OF STATE OF CALIFORNIA, and DOES 1 through ELON MUSK 20 100, Date: 21 Defendants. Time: Dept: 6 22 23 |, Lauren O. Miller, declare: 24 1 lam an attorney at law duly licensed to practice before the Courts in the State of 25 California and am an attorney at the law firm of Bowman and Brooke LLP, attorneys for defendant in 26 this matter. 27 Hd 28 28094202 4 EXHIBIT B SUPPLMENTAL DECLARATION OF LAUREN O. MILLER IN SUPPORT OF TESLA, INC.'S MOTION TO RECONSIDER ORDER GRANTING, IN PART, PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION TO COMPEL WRITTEN DISCOVERY RESPONSES AND THE DEPOSITION OF ELON MUSK 2. | have personal knowledge of each of the matters stated herein and if called upon to testify to any of these matters, | can do so in a truthful and competent manner. 3 Subsequent to Tesla filing its Motion for Reconsideration on May 22, 2023, on May 24, . 2023, Plaintiffs served a unilaterally set Notice of Taking Deposition of Elon Musk. A true and correct copy is attached as Exhibit A. 4. On May 26, 2023, Tesla served its supplemental responses to the Request for Admission. 5 A true and correct copy of Tesla’s Verified Second Supplemental Responses to Request for Admission, Set Two, are attached as Exhibit B. 10 6. A true and correct copy of Tesla’s Verified Supplemental Responses to Request for 11 Admission, Set Three, are attached as Exhibit C. 12 7. A true and correct copy of Tesla’s Verified Supplemental Responses to Request for 13 Admission re Genuineness, Set Three, are attached as Exhibit D. 14 8. On May 30, 2023, | met and conferred with Plaintiffs’ counsel Andrew McDevitt 15 regarding whether Plaintiffs would withdraw the deposition notice following receipt of the verified 16 supplemental responses. He was still reviewing the Supplemental Responses and agreed to respond 17 on May 31, 2023. 18 9 On May 31, 2023, | again requested Plaintiffs’ counsel agree to withdraw the deposition 19 notice while on a video conference with all counsel. Plaintiffs’ counsel refused. 20 | declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct. Executed on June 5, 21 2023, at San Jose, California. fi 22 23 SK ‘be—~ Lauiea O. Miller 24 25 26 27 28094202 2 SUPPLMENTAL DECLARATION OF LAUREN O. MILLER IN SUPPORT OF TESLA, INC.’S MOTION TO RECONSIDER ORDER GRANTING, IN PART, PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION TO COMPEL WRITTEN DISCOVERY RESPONSES AND THE DEPOSITION OF ELON MUSK B. MARK FONG, ESQ. (SBN 99672) mfong@minamitam 1.com SEEMA BHATT, ESQ. (SBN 275278) sbhatt@minamitamaki.com MINAMI TAMAKI LLP 360 Post Street, 8th Floor San Francisco, Ca 94108-4903 Tel: (415) 788-9000 Fax: (415) 398-3887 MICHAEL A. KELLY (State Bar #71460) mkelly@walkuplawoffice.com DORIS CHENG (State Bar #197731) dcheng@walkuplawoffice.com ANDREW P. McDEVITT (State Bar #271371) amcdevitt@walkuplawoffice.com 9 WALKUP, MELODIA, KELLY & SCHOENBERGER 650 California Street, 26 Floor 10 San Francisco, Ca 94108 Tel: (415) 981-7210 11 Fax: (415) 391-6965 12 ATTORNEYS FOR PLAINTIFFS SZ HUA HUANG, INDIVIDUALLY AND AS 13 SUCCESSOR IN INTEREST TO WEI LUN HUANG, DECEASED; TRINITY HUANG, A 14 MINOR; TRISTAN HUANG, A MINOR 15 SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA 16 COUNTY OF SANTA CLARA 17 SZ HUA HUANG, Individually and as Case No. 19CV346663 successor in interest to WEI LUN 18 HUANG, deceased; TRINITY HUANG, ASSIGNED FOR ALL PURPOSES a minor; TRISTAN HUANG, a minor; TO HON. EVETTE PENNYPACKER 19 HSI KENG HUANG; and CHING FEN DEPARTMENT 6 HUANG, 20 AMENDED NOTICE OF TAKING Plaintiffs, VIDEOTAPED DEPOSITION OF 21 ELON MUSK Vv. 22 TESLA INC. dba TESLA MOTORS, 23 INC., THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA, and DOES 1 through 100, 24 Action Filed: April 26, 2019 Defendants. Trial Date: July 31, 2023 25 26 HI 27 HI 28 //1 Wane Mepis KELLY SSeeoreaa eonrennTON 1 EXHIBIT A 650 CAUFORNIA STREET AMENDED NOTICE OF TAKING VIDEOTAPED DEPOSITION OF ELON MUSK [CCP § 2025.010 SAN FRANCISCO, CA 84108 (415) 981-7210 & CCP § 2025.220(a)(5)] - CASE NO. 19CV346663 TO: ALL PARTIES AND THEIR RESPECTIVE ATTORNEYS OF RECORD: PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that pursuant C.C.P. § 2025.010, the following deposition will be taken before a duly qualified Notary Pubkc, at the time and place specified, and continued from day to day thereafter, Sundays and holidays excepted until completed, on behalf of the plaintiff. Pursuant to C.C.P. § 2025.220(a)(5) notice is given that the deposing party intends to record the testimony by audio and video technology in addition to the stenographic method. Notice is hereby given that the video is intended for use at trial. If an interpreter is required for this deposition, it is necessary that you notify 10 this office within five (5) days of the date of this notice to advise of same. 11 WITNESS: Elon Musk 12 DATE: June 9, 2023 13 TIME: 10:00 a.m. 14 LOCATION: Video Conference (link to be provided) 15 Dated: May 24, 2023 WALKUP, MELODIA, KELLY & SCHOENBERGER 16 17 18 By: MICHAEL A. KELLY 19 DORIS CHENG 20 ANDREW P. McDEVITT Attorneys for PLAINTIFFS, Sz Hua Huang, 21 Individually and as Successor in Interest to Wei Lun Huang, deceased; Trinity Huang, a 22 minor; Tristan Huang, a minor 23 24 25 26 27 28 aw oF WALKUP, MELODIA, KELLY 2 Sevan so cauFontuastREET AMENDED NOTICE OF TAKING VIDEOTAPED DEPOSITION OF ELON MUSK [CCP § 2025.010 SAN FRANCISCO, CA 98108, (ans) sen710 & CCP § 2025.220(a)(5)] - CASE NO. 19CV346663 PROOF OF SERVICE Huang v. Tesla, Inc., et. al. Case No. 19CV346663 At the time of service, I was over 18 years of age and not a party to this action. I am employed in the county where the mailing took place, My business address is 650 California Street, 26th Floor, City and County of San Francisco, CA 94108-2615. On the date set forth below, I caused to be served true copies of the following document(s) described as AMENDED NOTICE OF TAKING VIDEOTAPED DEPOSITION OF ELON to: 9 Vincent Galvin, Esq. Attorneys for Defendant 10 Lauren O. Miller, Esq. TESLA, INC. Tom Branigan, Esq. Phone: (408) 279-5393 11 BOWMAN AND BROOKE LLP Fax: (408) 279-5845 1741 Technology Drive, Suite 200 Email: 12 San Jose, CA 95110-1364 vincent.galvin@bowmanandbrooke.com lauren.miller@bowmanandbrooke.com 13 Thomas. branigan@bowmanandbrooke.com Rebecca.Fuller@bowmanandbrooke.com 14 Debra.Wells@bowmanandbrooke.com lettv.robles@bowmanandbrooke.com 15 Landa Low, Deputy Attorney Attorneys For Defendant 16 Rosemary Love, Deputy Attorney STATE OF CALIFORNIA Skitch Crosby, Esq. Phone: 510-433-9100 17 Caltrans Legal Division Fax: 510-433-9167 Physical Address: Email: landa.low@dot.ca.gov 18 111 Grand Ave., Suite 11-100 rosemary.love@dot.ca.gov Oakland, CA 94612 maria.cordonero@dot.ca.gov 19 Mailing: Skitch.Crosby@dot.ca.gov PO Box 24325 20 Oakland. CA 94623-1325 21 B. Mark Fong Co-Counsel for Plaintiffs Seema Bhatt Phone: (415) 788-9000 22 Minami Tamaki LLP Fax: (415) 398-3887 101 Montgomery Street, Suite 825 MFong@MinamiTamaki.com 23 San Francisco, CA 94104 SBhatt@MinamiTamaki.com eoparowski@minamitamaki.com 24 ESullivan@minamitamaki.com EEverett@MinamiTamaki.com 25 26 27 28 Law oFFicesOF ‘WALKUP, MELODIA, KELLY 3 Seki coon GER ‘650 CALIFORNIA STREET AMENDED NOTICE OF TAKING VIDEOTAPED DEPOSITION OF ELON MUSK [CCP § 2025.010 san aaniaico, ch 908 {ats} a81 7210 & CCP § 2025.220(a)(5)] - CASE NO. 19CV346663 1 ONLY BY ELECTRONIC