Opinion ID: 1421546
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: the court of appeal stay and the timeliness of plaintiffs' opposition to the summary judgment motions

Text: In January 1981, the trial court granted plaintiffs' motion for trial preference on the ground that one of them was over age 70 and set trial for August 31, 1981. On May 1, the case was assigned to Judge Smith for all pretrial proceedings. On June 4, defendants filed a demand for a list of plaintiffs' expert witnesses to be served no later than July 12. On the latter date, plaintiffs furnished the list, and defendants in mid-July noticed the depositions of the experts. On August 11, defendants' motion to continue the trial date was granted, and trial was set for October 26. On August 26, plaintiffs filed an affidavit of bias against Judge Smith. On September 2, Judge Smith filed an answer and transferred the case to another department. Judge Rickles of Orange County ruled on September 18 that Judge Smith was not disqualified. After Judge Smith rejected another attempt to disqualify him, plaintiffs, on September 24, filed a petition for extraordinary relief in the Court of Appeal challenging Judge Rickles' ruling and Judge Smith's order striking the second motion to disqualify him. On the same day the Court of Appeal issued the following temporary stay: In order that this court may have an opportunity to consider [the] within petition, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that all proceedings ... are stayed pending determination of the within petition or until further order of this court. [4] On October 5, defendants served and filed 11 motions for summary judgment or for orders specifying issues as without substantial controversy. The motions were noticed for hearing on October 15. On October 6, plaintiffs filed a petition in the Court of Appeal for writ of prohibition to prevent hearing on the summary judgment motions claiming that the motions were in violation of the stay. On October 8, the Court of Appeal denied the petitions of September 28 and October 6, and terminated the temporary stay forthwith. On the same day plaintiffs were notified by telephone that the stay had been lifted. On October 13, Judge Smith issued a minute order that all pending motions in the case, including summary judgment motions, would be heard as scheduled on October 15. Plaintiffs filed their opposition on October 13, relying upon the October 7 declaration of J. DeWitt Fox, M.D., whose name had not been included in the list of experts furnished to defendants in July. Defense counsel had not received copies of the opposition at the time of hearing on October 15. Although two defense counsel went to court to read its copy on the 14th, a third did not, and the hearing was recessed to permit him to read the opposition papers. After the recess, the hearing continued involving numerous motions, as well as the summary judgment motions. Plaintiffs did not claim that the summary judgment motions filed while the stay was in force were invalid. After defense counsel claimed that the opposition was untimely and Judge Smith had expressed concern that defense counsel had not received the opposition papers, plaintiffs suggested a continuance to permit defense counsel to further review the papers, but the trial court stated it would not continue the proceedings. Aside from the above statement by plaintiffs they did not suggest a continuance. (1), (2) At the outset the parties dispute whether the stay of all proceedings issued by the Court of Appeal precluded the filing of the summary judgment motions and whether further proceedings were defective. Whether all proceedings should be read as referring to all court actions only or as including actions by the parties presents an interesting question, but we need not reach it. Plaintiffs chose to appear and argue the merits of the summary judgment motions and did not challenge the filing of the motions at the hearing of the motions. It is well settled that the appearance of a party at the hearing of a motion and his or her opposition to the motion on its merits is a waiver of any defects or irregularities in the notice of the motion. [Citations.] ( Tate v. Superior Court (1975) 45 Cal. App.3d 925, 930 [119 Cal. Rptr. 835]; Lacey v. Bertone (1949) 33 Cal.2d 649, 651-652 [203 P.2d 755].) (3a) Plaintiffs urge that the trial court erred in refusing to consider the opposition papers on grounds that they were not timely filed. Rule 16, subdivision B of the Law and Motion Rules of the Los Angeles County Superior Court provides: B. All papers, other than those initiating the proceedings, whether in opposition or support, shall be filed directly with the court clerk in the law and discovery department in which the matter is pending at least five calendar days but in no event later than 4:30 p.m. of the third court day preceding the scheduled hearing or they will not be considered, unless time is shortened by order of the court. Monday, October 12, 1981, was a holiday; therefore, the third court day preceding the scheduled hearing was Friday, October 9, 1981. As pointed out above, plaintiffs mailed their papers to defense counsel on October 12 and filed with the court on October 13. [5] Pointing out that Code of Civil Procedure section 437c provides that summary judgment motions may be made on 10 days' notice but is silent as to the time to file counteraffidavits, the court in Albermont Petroleum Ltd. v. Cunningham (1960) 186 Cal. App.2d 84, 93 [9 Cal. Rptr. 405], concluded as an alternate ground of decision that a local rule like rule 16 which restricts the time for opposing affidavits is void and unenforceable. The court also pointed out that the summary judgment remedy is unusual and drastic and for this reason should be used with caution to safeguard the right to trial with any doubt as to the granting of the motion resolved in favor of the opposing party. (186 Cal. App.2d at p. 92.) The holding of Albermont was rejected in Shadle v. City of Corona (1979) 96 Cal. App.3d 173, 178-179 [157 Cal. Rptr. 624], where the court reasoned that, had the Legislature intended to grant parties opposing summary judgment the right to file opposition to the summary judgment motion up to and including the hearing, it would have said so and that in the absence of legislative direction the time for filing opposition is subject to court rule. The court points out that last minute filings will often interrupt and delay hearings while the parties and the court study the documents. (4a) A third view was expressed recently in Kapitanski v. Von's Grocery Co. (1983) 146 Cal. App.3d 29, 32-33 [193 Cal. Rptr. 839]: `Local court rules and policies have the force of procedural statutes, so long as they are not contrary to legislative enactments. [Citations.]' ( Shadle v. City of Corona (1979) 96 Cal. App.3d 173, 177 [157 Cal. Rptr. 624].) ... Judges ... generally prefer to avoid acting as automatons and routinely reject requests by counsel to function solely in a ministerial capacity. Rigid rule following is not always consistent with a court's function to see that justice is done. Cognizant of the strong policy favoring the disposition of cases on their merits ( Weitz v. Yankosky (1966) 63 Cal.2d 849, 854-855 [48 Cal. Rptr. 620, 409 P.2d 600]; Slusher v. Durrer (1977) 69 Cal. App.3d 747, 753-754 [138 Cal. Rptr. 265]), judges usually consider whether to exercise their discretion in applying local court rules and frequently consider documents which have been untimely filed. Judges are well aware of the unnecessary burdens placed on courts and counsel when strict compliance with local procedural rules results in the expenditure of unnecessary time and money for the preparation of later section 473 motions.... In applying the statutory grounds for relief under section 473 trial courts must consider the specific contexts in which such motions arise and should employ a flexible rather than rigid or formalistic approach to decisionmaking. Even without an empirical study it is apparent that appellate courts are more inclined to affirm orders resulting in trials on the merits than orders denying relief from defaults. ( Weitz v. Yankosky, supra, 63 Cal.2d at p. 854; Slusher v. Durrer, supra, 69 Cal. App.3d at p. 753.) An attorney's neglect in untimely filing opposing papers must be evaluated in light of the reasonableness of the attorney's conduct. ( Robinson v. Varela (1977) 67 Cal. App.3d 611, 615-616 [136 Cal. Rptr. 783].) In circumstances such as those present here trial courts must also consider the propriety of strictly enforcing local procedural rules. The salutary purpose of such rules regulating the filing of opposing papers is to `... ensure that the court and the parties will be familiar with the facts and the issues so that meaningful argument can take place and an informed decision rendered at the earliest convenient time.' ( Shadle v. City of Corona, supra, 96 Cal. App.3d at pp. 178-179.) Also pertinent are the effects of strict enforcement on the rights of the parties and the furtherance of justice. ( Slusher v. Durrer, supra, 69 Cal. App.3d at pp. 754-755; see also Albermont Petroleum, Ltd. v. Cunningham (1969) 186 Cal. App.2d 84, 90 [9 Cal. Rptr. 405].) (5a), (4b) We agree with the view expressed in Shadle and Kapitanski that in the absence of legislative direction to the contrary courts may adopt local rules with the force of law and that reasonable local rules limiting the time to file opposition to the summary judgment motion were not precluded by former Code of Civil Procedure section 437c. [6] (5b) Interruption and delay of hearings which such rules are designed to prevent justify court management of its procedures. However, weighing the potential for interruption and delay against the policy in favor of disposition of cases on their merits, the drastic nature of the summary judgment remedy, and the potentially short time available to respond to the summary judgment motion, we are satisfied that courts were required to exercise their discretion and relieve the attorney from tardy opposition filings when his conduct was reasonable, as pointed out in Kapitanski. If the court concluded that the tardy filing of opposition papers would prejudice the moving party or other parties, it could continue the hearing requiring the tardy party to pay reasonable costs. (See Code Civ. Proc., §§ 473, 594a, 1024.) Rule 16, subdivision B of the Law and Motion Rules contemplates that the trial court may exercise its discretion in enforcing it by providing that the court may shorten the three-day period before hearing during which opposition may not be filed. (3b) In the circumstances of the instant case, the trial court abused its discretion in enforcing the three-day limitation by refusing to consider the opposition rather than shortening the time or continuing the hearing. The motions were made on 10 days' notice. The motions and their supporting materials comprise over 800 pages. There were several other motions in the case set for the same day for which counsel was required to prepare. Plaintiffs' points and authorities in opposition to the motion comprise 30 pages, and Dr. Fox's declaration with its attached report is 15 pages in length. As we have seen, the summary judgment motions were made on October 5, and under the rule  because of the weekend and the holiday under the superior court's approach  compliance with the local rule would have required filings on October 9, four days later. A stay was in effect until October 8. Compliance with the local rule obviously would have required Herculean efforts. The clerk filed the untimely opposition. While it is true that plaintiffs did not make a formal motion for continuance at the hearing, it was apparent from the trial court's statement  in response to plaintiffs' suggestion of a continuance  that it would not grant a continuance. It was also apparent that the court was prepared to consider the merits of the motion and the showing made in favor and in opposition and that the tardiness of the filing of the opposition had not interfered with its ability to fully consider the motion. At the hearing the trial court proceeded to permit argument on the merits of the summary judgment motion and the showing in opposition both before and after the violation of rule 16 was called to its attention. The trial court subsequently ruled on the showing in opposition, and its determination that tardy filing precluded consideration contradicts the record. Thus, it is clear that the fact that the showing in opposition was filed two rather than three days prior to the hearing did not preclude full consideration of the opposition. In view of time burdens created by the stay, the lengthy motions and supporting documents, and the fact that the judge was fully prepared to, and did, consider the opposition to the motion, we conclude that the trial court erred in ruling that the opposition to the motion could not be considered.