Tentative Ruling: Plaintiff failed to attend either the Trial Confirmation Conference on 1/23/18 or the Trial on 1/24/18 leading the Court to dismiss this matter without prejudice. Plaintiff now moves to have the dismissal set aside pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure Section 473.
Plaintiff’s counsel’s declaration filed in support of the motion acknowledges actual knowledge of the trial date as of September 1, 2017. The motion and declaration thereafter appear to somewhat place responsibility for the nonappearance on “changes related to staff” and/or failure to have “local appearance counsel conduct the bench trial” and asserts these shortcomings as “excusable neglect”. The Court is unpersuaded these assertions amount to “excusable” neglect pursuant to CCP § 473(a). However, apart from these contentions, plaintiff’s counsel eventually acknowledges the nonappearance is attributable to “a calendaring error on the part of Plaintiff’s counsel”. This admission qualifies under CCP § 473(b)
Hearing Date
March 16, 2018
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Tentative Ruling: Plaintiff failed to attend either the Trial Confirmation Conference on 1/23/18 or the Trial on 1/24/18 leading the Court to dismiss this matter without prejudice. Plaintiff now moves to have the dismissal set aside pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure Section 473.
Plaintiff’s counsel’s declaration filed in support of the motion acknowledges actual knowledge of the trial date as of September 1, 2017. The motion and declaration thereafter appear to somewhat place responsibility for the nonappearance on “changes related to staff” and/or failure to have “local appearance counsel conduct the bench trial” and asserts these shortcomings as “excusable neglect”. The Court is unpersuaded these assertions amount to “excusable” neglect pursuant to CCP § 473(a). However, apart from these contentions, plaintiff’s counsel eventually acknowledges the nonappearance is attributable to “a calendaring error on the part of Plaintiff’s counsel”. This admission qualifies under CCP § 473(b)