Divina Rosal vs. Jp Senior Homes, LLC.

Reply Other

Cal. Super. - 4th Dist.May 24, 2017

O 0 0 N N O N W N 10 1 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 Edward W. Choi, State Bar No. 211334 Paul M. Yi, Esq. SBN 207867 LAW OFFICES OF CHOI & ASSOCIATES, APLC 515 S. Figueroa St., Suite 1250 Los Angeles, CA 90071 ELECTRONICALLY FILED Telephone: (213) 381-1515 SE ee af Fae a ourty of Orange Facsimile: (213) 465-4885 06/21/2018 at 11:25:00 Au Clerk of the Superior Court Lo. By & Clerk, Deputy Clerk Attorneys for Plaintiff DIVINA ROSAL SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA FOR THE COUNTY OF ORANGE CENTRAL JUSTICE CENTER - UNLIMITED CIVIL DIVINA ROSAL, an individual, Case No.: 30-2017-00922290-CU-OE-CJC Assigned for All Purposes to Honorable Richard Lee in Department C32 Plaintiff, PLAINTIFF'S REPLY IN SUPPORT OF HER MOTION TO SET ASIDE ORDER BINDING ACTION TO ARBITRATION, AND REQUEST FOR MONETARY SANCTIONS IN THE JP SENIOR HOMES, LLC., a Limited Liability | AMOUNT OF $5,310.00 Company, KUNIKO SIGRIST, an individual, VS. CHRISTOPHER SIGRIST, an individual, and ~~ | DATE: June 28, 2018 DOES 1 through 30, inclusive, TIME: 1:30 p.m. DEPT: C32 Defendants. Reservation Number: 72823599 PLAINTIFF'S REPLY IN SUPPORT OF HER MOTION TO SET ASIDE ORDER BINDING ACTION TO ARBITRATION- | NO 0 NN SY N n t R W N D - C 0 NN O N Un A W O N = O N O N I S N R E L Oo Defendants’ Limited Opposition mischaracterizes the proceedings and fails to provide justification for its failure to comply with this Court’s Order Binding this Action to Arbitration. Defendants have no reasonable justification for the unnecessary delay and must be ordered to pay sanctions for the unnecessary delay. I. DEFENDANTS FAILED TO PAY THE JAMS FEES Defendants concede that they failed to pay the JAMS fees. Defendants do not offer any argument or evidence “why” it decided not to pay the fees. JAMS issued an invoice on January 16, 2018 that was “due upon receipt”. (Declaration of Edward W. Choi (“Choi Decl.”) Exhibit A). The matter was placed on administrative suspension on May 18, 2018. (Choi Decl. Exhibit B). The JAMS administrative suspension letter specifically states that “[u]pon receipt of full payment of the preliminary retainer, JAMS will move forward with the arbitration process”. (/d.) As of this date, Defendants have not paid the preliminary retainer and have not explained why they haven’t made the payment. I. DEFENDANTS CAUSED UNNECESSARY DELAY NOT ONLY BY FAILING TO PAY THE JAMS FEE ON TIME Defendants’ first delay was failing to pay for the initial arbitration fees for almost 3 months. Defendants’ failure to pay the initial fees caused the delay in selecting an arbitrator. Thereafter, once the arbitrator was selected, Defendants did not pay the JAMS fees for another 4 months. Thus, Defendants’ allegation that the failure to pay was a “Inopportune Travel Schedule” is unfounded. Second, Defendants alleged that their “travel” schedule prohibited them from making the JAMS payment. However, during their “travels” Defendants engaged in discovery. (Choi Decl. 44). The parties met and conferred and exchanged initial disclosures. Thus, Defendants’ excuse is unfounded. Further, as stated above, Defendants could have cured their failure to timely pay the JAMS fees, but simply decided not to pay the fees. " 1 1 PLAINTIFF'S REPLY IN SUPPORT OF HER MOTION TO SET ASIDE ORDER BINDING ACTION TO ARBITRATION- 2 III. DEFENDANTS VIOLATED THE COURT’S ORDER TO COMPLETE ARBITRATION WITHIN 9 MONTHS The Court’s August 7, 2017 Order specifically states that the arbitration be completed within 9 months. Defendants’ 7 month delay in making the JAMS payments made it impossible to complete arbitration within 9 months. Defendants fail to submit any evidence of why it simply failed to make the payments on time. Thus, there is no excuse for the unnecessary delay that Defendants have caused by their actions. IV. DEFENDANTS’ FAILURE TO MAKE PAYMENT WAS IN BAD FAITH The court may impose mandatory monetary sanctions under section 128.5- " A trial court may order a party, the party's attorney, or both to pay the reasonable expenses, including attorney's fees, incurred by another party as a result of bad-faith actions or tactics that are frivolous or solely intended to cause unnecessary delay. This section also applies to judicial arbitration proceedings under Chapter 2.5 (commencing with Section 1141.10) of Title 3 of Part 3." Code of Civil Procedure §128.5 [emphasis added] As stated above, through their delay tactics, almost 10 months have been wasted. Defendants fail to present any evidence why it failed to make initial payment on time, which caused a 3 month delay. Defendants fail to present any evidence why they did not “cure” the administrative suspension. Defendants have made it impossible to complete arbitration within 9 months and caused a violation of this Court’s order. Thus, Defendants must pay sanctions for their delay. V. CONCLUSION Based on the foregoing, Plaintiff requests that the order to arbitration be set aside or in the alternative, Defendants cure the administrative suspension by paying the JAMS fees. Plaintiff further requests sanctions for Defendants’ unnecessary delay in the amount of $5,310.00. Dated: June 21,2018 LAW OFFICES OF CHOI & ASSOCIATES By: 2% Ho) --- Edward W. Choi, Esq. Attorney for Plaintiff DIVINA ROSAL PLAINTIFF'S REPLY IN SUPPORT OF HER MOTION TO SET ASIDE ORDER BINDING ACTION TO ARBITRATION- 3 PROOF OF SERVICE I am employed in the County of Los Angeles; I am over the age of 18 years and not a party to the within action; my business address is 515 S. Figueroa St. Suite 1250, Los Angeles, California 90071. On June 21, 2018, 1 served the foregoing document(s) described as: PLAINTIFF'S REPLY IN SUPPORT OF HER MOTION TO SET ASIDE ORDER BINDING ACTION TO ARBITRATION, AND REQUEST FOR MONETARY SANCTIONS IN THE AMOUNT OF $5,310.00, on the interested parties in this action by placing a true copy thereof, in a sealed envelope(s) addressed as follows: Glendy Lau, Esq. Ford Harrison LLP 350 S. Grand Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90071 BY MAIL As follows: Iam “readily familiar” with the practice of Choi & Associates, Attorneys at Law for collection and processing of correspondence for mailing with the United States Postal Service and that correspondence placed in the outgoing mail tray in my office for collection would be deposited in the United States Mail that same day in the ordinary course of business. X_ BY FEDERAL EXPRESS _X_ by placing a true and correct copy thereof enclosed, in (a) sealed envelope(s) addressed to the party(ies) listed above or on the attached mailing list. | am readily familiar with the firm's practice for collection and processing of correspondence and other materials for mailing with Federal Express. ___X___ (State) I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct. (Federal) I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct, and that I am employed in the office of a member of the bar of this Court at whose direction the service was made. Executed on June 21, 2018, at Los Angeles, California. = Cina Kim PROOF OF SERVICE