On February 28, 2017 a
Motion,Ex Parte
was filed
involving a dispute between
Greg Opinski Construction, Inc.,
and
Canelo Wallace Padron & Mackie Pc,
for (25): Unlimited Professional Negligence
in the District Court of Merced County.
Preview
Superior Court of California, County of Merced
MINUTE ORDERS
Greg Opinski Construction, Inc. 8:15 AM - 9:00 AM
vs Motion
Canelo Wallace Padron & Mackie PC
17CV-00610
Date of Hearing: 09/23/2020
Heard By: McCabe, Brian Location: Courtroom 10
Courtroom Reporter: M. Matheson Courtroom Clerk: H. Zychowski
Court Interpreter:
Court Investigator:
Parties Present: Future Hearings:
Exhibits:
The case is regularly called for hearing:
- There are no parties present in court and no request for oral argument.
The Court adopts its tentative ruling and makes it the order of the court as follows:
Motion to Dismiss
Defendant s Motion to Dismiss this legal malpractice action filed February 28, 2017 pursuant to CCP
583.410 for failure to bring the action to trial is DENIED.
While this matter was pending, and prior to the filing of the instant motion to dismiss, the COVID-19
pandemic, caused a severe reduction in court services including a temporary cessation of all jury trials.
The court has attempted to resume jury trials for criminal matters, but the court’s physical facilities are
inadequate to permit the selection of more than one jury at a time, and, even, then, under
circumstances that greatly increase the amount of time required to select a jury.
A significant number of post-COVID-19 jury trials have resulted in mistrials, requiring that a new jury be
selected.
The result is that the backlog of criminal trials continues to grow, that criminal trials have priority over all
civil jury trials, that it is unlikely that civil jury trials will resume until either late 2021 or sometime in
2022, and that when civil jury trials do resume, there at least a hundred cases awaiting civil jury trial
settings in which the complaint was filed prior to the complaint filed in this action.
The Five Year Statute has been extended by the Chief Justice and this court has found the current
circumstances to constitute good cause for failure to bring matters to trial in five years.
Accordingly, the motion to dismiss is DENIED and the court recommends that both parties in this action
seriously reassess their settlement options.
Printed: 9/23/2020 09/23/2020 Motion - 17CV-00610 Page 1 of 1
Document Filed Date
September 23, 2020
Case Filing Date
February 28, 2017
Category
(25): Unlimited Professional Negligence
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