Preview
G. Andrew Slater #238126
DOWLING AARON INCORPORATED
8080 North Palm Avenue, Third Floor
P.O. Box 28902 E-FILED
Fresno, California 93729-8902 4/10/2018 11:52 AM
Tel: (559) 432-4500 FRESNO COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT
Fax: (559) 432-4590 By: R. Faccinto, Deputy
aslater@dowlingaaron.com
Attorneys for Defendant
CITY NATIONAL BANK
SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA.
COUNTY OF FRESNO
10
11 SURJIT BAGGA, Case No. 16CECG03336
12 Plaintiff, REPLY TO SURJIT BAGGA’S
OPPOSITION TO MOTION FOR AN
13 Vv. ORDER COMPELLING RESPONSE TO
REQUEST FOR PRODUCTION OF
14 CITY NATIONAL BANK, FRESNO DOCUMENTS, AND FOR MONETARY
MANAGEMENT COMPANY, a California SANCTIONS; AND SUPPLEMENTAL
15 Corporation; Ray Hutchins, an individual,; SUPPORTING DECLARATION OF
James Krause, an individual; and DOES 1- G. ANDREW SLATER
16 100, inclusive,
Date: April 17, 2018
17 Defendants. Time: 3:30 p.m.
Dept: 402
18 Judge: Hon. Jeffrey Hamilton
19
20 I Reply
21 Plaintiff Surjit Bagga and her attorney do not refute the allegations of defendant
22 City Nation Bank’s Motion to Compel. Instead, they claim the discovery could not be timely
that she is elderly,
23 responded to due to Mrs. Bagga residing out of the country, that she is ill,
24 and that she has trouble reading or understanding the English language. As the court knows,
25 this case has been pending for some time and has been plagued by the Plaintiffs seeming
26 disinterest in moving the case forward or inability to do so.
27 As stated in the moving papers, in an effort to move the case forward, City
28 National Bank propounded basic written discovery. Initial requests for extensions of time to
DOWLING| a
n Of
Reply To Opposition To Motion For An Order Cor mpelling Response To Request For Productio Slater
Documents, nd For Monetary Sanctions; Supplem ental Supporting Declaration Of G. Andrew
respond to said discovery were granted, however, eventually, the Plaintiff's attorney ceased
requesting extensions of time to respond. With no other options, City National Bank filed its
Motion seeking the Court’s assistance in obtaining responses to its written discovery and
moving the case forward. Again, Plaintiff's Opposition does not controvert any allegations of
the Motion and simply seeks more time to respond.
City National Bank is sympathetic to the obstacles faced by Mrs. Bagga and her
counsel and has extended professional courtesy where warranted. However, Mrs. Bagga is
suing City National Bank for millions of dollars and City National Bank has the right to defend
9 itself. The inability of Plaintiff to respond to basic written discovery is concerning, but perhaps
10 more concerning is the outlook for completing other phases of discovery and trial. City
11 National Bank intends to notice the deposition of Mrs. Bagga in the near future. However, her
12 infirmary and residence outside of the country may present an even greater obstacle, and
13 further delay.
14 In order that there be an incentive to Mrs. Bagga to actively participate in her
15 own lawsuit, City National Bank request the Court grant its Motion and issue sanctions against
16 Mrs. Bagga and her attorney to provide the proverbial carrot-on-a-stick to Plaintiff to either
17 prosecute the case or dismiss it if Mrs. Bagga is unhealthy or unavailable enough to participate.
18 With regard to the sanction amount, City National Bank’s attorney provided a
19 declaration with an estimate of costs to be incurred in filing the Motion and seeing it through to
20 hearing. The estimate is based on its counsel’s hourly rate of $350 per hour. Per the
21 supplemental declaration below, Mr. Slater can now more accurately state the attorneys’ fees
22 incurred. Mr. Slater spent 4.3 hours preparing the motions (broken up into three separate
23 motions at the request of the court), 1 hour preparing this Reply and anticipates spending an
24 additional 1.5 hours attending and arguing the Motion at the hearing for a total attorney fees
25 incurred of $2,380.00.
26 M11
27 Mid
28 M11
DOWLING] occ
iat Reply To Opposition To Motion For An Order Compelling Response To Request For Production Of
Documents, And For Monetary Sanctions; Supplemental Supporting Declaration Of G. Andrew Slater
IL Conclusion
Based on the above, and any further argument or evidence presented at hearing,
to respond and imposes
City National Bank respectfully requests the court compel Mrs. Bagga
sanctions for the misuse of discovery in the amount of $2,380.00.
Dated: April [0 , 2018 DOWLING AARON INCORPORATED
Bi
ee
G. . Andr iter
Att éy for Defendant
A C ATIONAL BANK
10
EW SLATER
11 SUPPLEMENTAL SUPPORTING DECLARATION OF G. ANDR
12 I, G. Andrew Slater, declare:
of
13 1 I am an attorney at law duly admitted to practice before all the court
ant City National Bank
14 the State of California and the attorney of record herein for Defend
15 (“CNB”).
16 2. I am familiar with the manner in which billing records have been
17 prepared for this case. I have personally reviewed this firm’s billing records related to this
d
18 Motion to Compel. Attached hereto as Exhibit A is a true and correct copy of said redacte
billing records, which reflect the specific services performed for this matter, the amount
19
performed each service.
20 charged for each specific service, and the individual timekeeper who
as well as the billing
21 The billing records identify the name of each timekeeper by their initials
been redacted to protect
22 rates charged for each timekeeper. Portions of the billing records have
23 attorney-client privileged or work product information.
me
24 3 The billing records provide an accurate record of the time spent by
At or near the time of
25 relating to the specific services provided in enforcing my client’ s rights,
26 the service, the timekeeper makes a record of each service, the time spent performing the
into a central billing
27 service, and the amount charged for the service, which is then entered
in the firm’s accounting
28 program maintained by the law firm and administered by employees
DOWLING|AARON
AE For Production of
Reply To O position To Motion For An Order Compe! lin; ig Response To Request
tion Of G. Andrew Slater
Documents, nd For Monetary Sanctions; Supplemental! | Support ing Declara
department. By my own and firm policy, these entries are and have been typically made within
twenty-four (24) to forty-eight (48) hours after the service is provided, and are routinely
basis for
checked for accuracy. The entries are further reviewed in pre-bills on a monthly
client. The
accuracy and reasonableness before they are presented as the monthly bill to the
law firm relies on the accuracy of these records in maintaining its own files and records.
4 With regard to the sanction amount, my hourly rate for this matter is
separate motions
$350 per hour. I spent 4.3 hours preparing the motions (broken up into three
g an additional
at the request of the court), 1 hour preparing this Reply; and I anticipate spendin
fees incurred of
1.5 hours attending and arguing the Motion at the hearing for a total attorney
10 $2,380.00.
ll 5 I have been licensed to practice law in the State of California since 2005.
and am familiar
12 I have experience handling civil litigation matters in the San Joaquin Valley,
the lead counsel
13 with the billable rates charged by other attorneys practicing in this area. I am
Exhibit A by my
14 on the above-captioned case. The time I spent on this matter is identified in
$350 per hour. I
15 initials “GAS.” As stated above, my hourly billing rate for this matter is
of my experience and
16 believe that my hourly rate of $350 per hour is reasonable for an attorney
17 expertise practicing in this jurisdiction.
18 6. The rates described above are reasonable and consistent with the billing
on in the San Joaquin
19 rates charged by comparable firms and attorneys who practice civil litigati
20 Valley.
nia-that—
21 I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of Califor
22 the foregoing is true and correct.
23 Dated: April //), 2018
By
24 GAndrew Slater
25
26
27
014939-000004-02394929.docx-1
28
DOWLINGIAARON
uest For Production Of
Reply To Opposition To Motion For An Order Compelling Response To Re ‘ion Of G. Andrew Slater
Documents, nd For Monetary Sanctions; Supplem ental Supporti ng Declara'
Exhibit A
DOWLING|AARON
INCORPORATED
ATTORNEYS AND COUNSELORS AT LAW
P.O. Box 28902
Fresno, CA 93729-8902
Telephone: (659) 432-4500 Fax: (650) 432-4500
Federal Tax |.D. No.; 94-2502118
http :/Awww.dowlingaaron.com
=a National Bank March 16, 2018
Client:
Da
Matter:
Invoice #:
Resp. Atty:
Page:
RE: Surjit Baga
For Professional Services Rendered Through February 22, 2018
SERVICES)
Date Person Description of Services Hours Rate Amount
01/26/2018 DPS
(an
ene!
02/05/2018 GAS ee
ie
02/12/2018 GAS a
aeee
02/14/2018 GAS ers,
02/15/2018 GAS Draft motion to compel responses to written 40 $350.00 $1,400.00
discovery, set one. [L240 - A103]
02/20/2018 GAS Finalize and sign motions to compel responses 0.3 $350.00 $105.00
to written discovery. [L350 - A103]
Total Professional Services a)
TIMEKEEPER'RECAP
Person Hours Rate Amount
GAS G. Andrew Slater
PROOF OF SERVICE
STATE OF CALIFORNIA )
SS
COUNTY OF FRESNO )
I am a citizen of the United States and a resident of the County aforesaid; I am over the
age of eighteen (18) years and not a party to the within-entitled action. My business address is
Dowling Aaron Incorporated, 8080 N. Palm Avenue, Third Floor, Fresno, California, 93711. On
April 10, 2018, I served the within document(s):
REPLY TO SURJIT BAGGA’S OPPOSITION TO MOTION FOR AN ORDER
COMPELLING RESPONSE TO REQUEST FOR PRODUCTION OF
DOCUMENTS, AND FOR MONETARY SANCTIONS; AND SUPPLEMENTAL
SUPPORTING DECLARATION OF G. ANDREW SLATER
BY FAX: By transmitting via facsimile transmission the document(s) listed above to the
fax number(s) set forth below on this date before 5:00 p.m.
10
BY HAND: By personally delivering the document(s) listed above to the person(s) at the
11 address(es) set forth below.
12 BY MAIL: By placing the document(s) listed above in a sealed envelope with postage
thereon fully prepaid, in the United States mail at Fresno, California, addressed as set
13 forth below.
14 DSZUNx] BY OVERNIGHT COURIER: By causing the document(s) listed above to be picked
up by an overnight courier service company for delivery to the address(es) listed below
15 on the next business day.
16 Margarita Salazar, Esq.
Law Offices Of Margarita Salazar, APLC
17 333 H Street, Suite 5000
Chula Vista, California 91910
18 Telephone: (619) 551-7023-9578
Facsimile: (877) 264-4695
19 Email: margarita@msalazarlaw.com
20 Attorney for Plaintiff
SURJIT BAGGA
21
I am readily familiar with the firm’s practices of collection and processing of
22 correspondence for mailing. Under that practice, it would be deposited with the United States
Postal Service on that same day with postage thereon fully prepaid in the ordinary course of
23 business. I am aware that on motion of the party served, service is presumed invalid if postal
cancellation date or postage meter date is more than one day after date of deposit for mailing in
24 affidavit.
25 I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California that the
foregoing is true and correct.
26
Executed on April 10, 2018, at Fyesno, Californi
27
28
acques
Preview
G. Andrew Slater #238126 DOWLING AARON INCORPORATED 8080 North Palm Avenue, Third Floor P.O. Box 28902 E-FILED Fresno, California 93729-8902 4/10/2018 11:52 AM Tel: (559) 432-4500 FRESNO COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT Fax: (559) 432-4590 By: R. Faccinto, Deputy aslater@dowlingaaron.com Attorneys for Defendant CITY NATIONAL BANK SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA. COUNTY OF FRESNO 10 11 SURJIT BAGGA, Case No. 16CECG03336 12 Plaintiff, REPLY TO SURJIT BAGGA’S OPPOSITION TO MOTION FOR AN 13 Vv. ORDER COMPELLING RESPONSE TO REQUEST FOR PRODUCTION OF 14 CITY NATIONAL BANK, FRESNO DOCUMENTS, AND FOR MONETARY MANAGEMENT COMPANY, a California SANCTIONS; AND SUPPLEMENTAL 15 Corporation; Ray Hutchins, an individual,; SUPPORTING DECLARATION OF James Krause, an individual; and DOES 1- G. ANDREW SLATER 16 100, inclusive, Date: April 17, 2018 17 Defendants. Time: 3:30 p.m. Dept: 402 18 Judge: Hon. Jeffrey Hamilton 19 20 I Reply 21 Plaintiff Surjit Bagga and her attorney do not refute the allegations of defendant 22 City Nation Bank’s Motion to Compel. Instead, they claim the discovery could not be timely that she is elderly, 23 responded to due to Mrs. Bagga residing out of the country, that she is ill, 24 and that she has trouble reading or understanding the English language. As the court knows, 25 this case has been pending for some time and has been plagued by the Plaintiffs seeming 26 disinterest in moving the case forward or inability to do so. 27 As stated in the moving papers, in an effort to move the case forward, City 28 National Bank propounded basic written discovery. Initial requests for extensions of time to DOWLING| a n Of Reply To Opposition To Motion For An Order Cor mpelling Response To Request For Productio Slater Documents, nd For Monetary Sanctions; Supplem ental Supporting Declaration Of G. Andrew respond to said discovery were granted, however, eventually, the Plaintiff's attorney ceased requesting extensions of time to respond. With no other options, City National Bank filed its Motion seeking the Court’s assistance in obtaining responses to its written discovery and moving the case forward. Again, Plaintiff's Opposition does not controvert any allegations of the Motion and simply seeks more time to respond. City National Bank is sympathetic to the obstacles faced by Mrs. Bagga and her counsel and has extended professional courtesy where warranted. However, Mrs. Bagga is suing City National Bank for millions of dollars and City National Bank has the right to defend 9 itself. The inability of Plaintiff to respond to basic written discovery is concerning, but perhaps 10 more concerning is the outlook for completing other phases of discovery and trial. City 11 National Bank intends to notice the deposition of Mrs. Bagga in the near future. However, her 12 infirmary and residence outside of the country may present an even greater obstacle, and 13 further delay. 14 In order that there be an incentive to Mrs. Bagga to actively participate in her 15 own lawsuit, City National Bank request the Court grant its Motion and issue sanctions against 16 Mrs. Bagga and her attorney to provide the proverbial carrot-on-a-stick to Plaintiff to either 17 prosecute the case or dismiss it if Mrs. Bagga is unhealthy or unavailable enough to participate. 18 With regard to the sanction amount, City National Bank’s attorney provided a 19 declaration with an estimate of costs to be incurred in filing the Motion and seeing it through to 20 hearing. The estimate is based on its counsel’s hourly rate of $350 per hour. Per the 21 supplemental declaration below, Mr. Slater can now more accurately state the attorneys’ fees 22 incurred. Mr. Slater spent 4.3 hours preparing the motions (broken up into three separate 23 motions at the request of the court), 1 hour preparing this Reply and anticipates spending an 24 additional 1.5 hours attending and arguing the Motion at the hearing for a total attorney fees 25 incurred of $2,380.00. 26 M11 27 Mid 28 M11 DOWLING] occ iat Reply To Opposition To Motion For An Order Compelling Response To Request For Production Of Documents, And For Monetary Sanctions; Supplemental Supporting Declaration Of G. Andrew Slater IL Conclusion Based on the above, and any further argument or evidence presented at hearing, to respond and imposes City National Bank respectfully requests the court compel Mrs. Bagga sanctions for the misuse of discovery in the amount of $2,380.00. Dated: April [0 , 2018 DOWLING AARON INCORPORATED Bi ee G. . Andr iter Att éy for Defendant A C ATIONAL BANK 10 EW SLATER 11 SUPPLEMENTAL SUPPORTING DECLARATION OF G. ANDR 12 I, G. Andrew Slater, declare: of 13 1 I am an attorney at law duly admitted to practice before all the court ant City National Bank 14 the State of California and the attorney of record herein for Defend 15 (“CNB”). 16 2. I am familiar with the manner in which billing records have been 17 prepared for this case. I have personally reviewed this firm’s billing records related to this d 18 Motion to Compel. Attached hereto as Exhibit A is a true and correct copy of said redacte billing records, which reflect the specific services performed for this matter, the amount 19 performed each service. 20 charged for each specific service, and the individual timekeeper who as well as the billing 21 The billing records identify the name of each timekeeper by their initials been redacted to protect 22 rates charged for each timekeeper. Portions of the billing records have 23 attorney-client privileged or work product information. me 24 3 The billing records provide an accurate record of the time spent by At or near the time of 25 relating to the specific services provided in enforcing my client’ s rights, 26 the service, the timekeeper makes a record of each service, the time spent performing the into a central billing 27 service, and the amount charged for the service, which is then entered in the firm’s accounting 28 program maintained by the law firm and administered by employees DOWLING|AARON AE For Production of Reply To O position To Motion For An Order Compe! lin; ig Response To Request tion Of G. Andrew Slater Documents, nd For Monetary Sanctions; Supplemental! | Support ing Declara department. By my own and firm policy, these entries are and have been typically made within twenty-four (24) to forty-eight (48) hours after the service is provided, and are routinely basis for checked for accuracy. The entries are further reviewed in pre-bills on a monthly client. The accuracy and reasonableness before they are presented as the monthly bill to the law firm relies on the accuracy of these records in maintaining its own files and records. 4 With regard to the sanction amount, my hourly rate for this matter is separate motions $350 per hour. I spent 4.3 hours preparing the motions (broken up into three g an additional at the request of the court), 1 hour preparing this Reply; and I anticipate spendin fees incurred of 1.5 hours attending and arguing the Motion at the hearing for a total attorney 10 $2,380.00. ll 5 I have been licensed to practice law in the State of California since 2005. and am familiar 12 I have experience handling civil litigation matters in the San Joaquin Valley, the lead counsel 13 with the billable rates charged by other attorneys practicing in this area. I am Exhibit A by my 14 on the above-captioned case. The time I spent on this matter is identified in $350 per hour. I 15 initials “GAS.” As stated above, my hourly billing rate for this matter is of my experience and 16 believe that my hourly rate of $350 per hour is reasonable for an attorney 17 expertise practicing in this jurisdiction. 18 6. The rates described above are reasonable and consistent with the billing on in the San Joaquin 19 rates charged by comparable firms and attorneys who practice civil litigati 20 Valley. nia-that— 21 I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of Califor 22 the foregoing is true and correct. 23 Dated: April //), 2018 By 24 GAndrew Slater 25 26 27 014939-000004-02394929.docx-1 28 DOWLINGIAARON uest For Production Of Reply To Opposition To Motion For An Order Compelling Response To Re ‘ion Of G. Andrew Slater Documents, nd For Monetary Sanctions; Supplem ental Supporti ng Declara' Exhibit A DOWLING|AARON INCORPORATED ATTORNEYS AND COUNSELORS AT LAW P.O. Box 28902 Fresno, CA 93729-8902 Telephone: (659) 432-4500 Fax: (650) 432-4500 Federal Tax |.D. No.; 94-2502118 http :/Awww.dowlingaaron.com =a National Bank March 16, 2018 Client: Da Matter: Invoice #: Resp. Atty: Page: RE: Surjit Baga For Professional Services Rendered Through February 22, 2018 SERVICES) Date Person Description of Services Hours Rate Amount 01/26/2018 DPS (an ene! 02/05/2018 GAS ee ie 02/12/2018 GAS a aeee 02/14/2018 GAS ers, 02/15/2018 GAS Draft motion to compel responses to written 40 $350.00 $1,400.00 discovery, set one. [L240 - A103] 02/20/2018 GAS Finalize and sign motions to compel responses 0.3 $350.00 $105.00 to written discovery. [L350 - A103] Total Professional Services a) TIMEKEEPER'RECAP Person Hours Rate Amount GAS G. Andrew Slater PROOF OF SERVICE STATE OF CALIFORNIA ) SS COUNTY OF FRESNO ) I am a citizen of the United States and a resident of the County aforesaid; I am over the age of eighteen (18) years and not a party to the within-entitled action. My business address is Dowling Aaron Incorporated, 8080 N. Palm Avenue, Third Floor, Fresno, California, 93711. On April 10, 2018, I served the within document(s): REPLY TO SURJIT BAGGA’S OPPOSITION TO MOTION FOR AN ORDER COMPELLING RESPONSE TO REQUEST FOR PRODUCTION OF DOCUMENTS, AND FOR MONETARY SANCTIONS; AND SUPPLEMENTAL SUPPORTING DECLARATION OF G. ANDREW SLATER BY FAX: By transmitting via facsimile transmission the document(s) listed above to the fax number(s) set forth below on this date before 5:00 p.m. 10 BY HAND: By personally delivering the document(s) listed above to the person(s) at the 11 address(es) set forth below. 12 BY MAIL: By placing the document(s) listed above in a sealed envelope with postage thereon fully prepaid, in the United States mail at Fresno, California, addressed as set 13 forth below. 14 DSZUNx] BY OVERNIGHT COURIER: By causing the document(s) listed above to be picked up by an overnight courier service company for delivery to the address(es) listed below 15 on the next business day. 16 Margarita Salazar, Esq. Law Offices Of Margarita Salazar, APLC 17 333 H Street, Suite 5000 Chula Vista, California 91910 18 Telephone: (619) 551-7023-9578 Facsimile: (877) 264-4695 19 Email: margarita@msalazarlaw.com 20 Attorney for Plaintiff SURJIT BAGGA 21 I am readily familiar with the firm’s practices of collection and processing of 22 correspondence for mailing. Under that practice, it would be deposited with the United States Postal Service on that same day with postage thereon fully prepaid in the ordinary course of 23 business. I am aware that on motion of the party served, service is presumed invalid if postal cancellation date or postage meter date is more than one day after date of deposit for mailing in 24 affidavit. 25 I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California that the foregoing is true and correct. 26 Executed on April 10, 2018, at Fyesno, Californi 27 28 acques