Legal Question in Construction Law in California

Re: Litigation delays to avoid trial due to illness

Illness is a valid reason to continue a trial. Does he have an attorney? Does he have liability insurance to cover a judgment or settlement? You can also place a complaint with the Contractor's License Board.

Re: Litigation delays to avoid trial due to illness

First, look at your contract with the contractor. Does it contain an attorney fee provision? If so, and he eventually loses, your judgment should include fees and costs you have paid to obtain the judgment.

The pace of a case in superior court is ultimately up to the judge. There are case management conferences every couple of months, at which the judge can and should review progress and set deadlines. Under the Trial Court Delay Reduction Act, the courts have targets for getting cases off their calendars within certain time periods, so there is a judicial bias toward moving matters right along.

However, if an essential party is too ill to submit to depositions and trial, and the judge is convinced of this, delaying proceedings would be appropriate as being "in the interest of justice."

Re: Litigation delays to avoid trial due to illness

Your question is "Is there any way out without spending tens of thousands more".

If you brought the suit, and there is no cross-complaint, then yes, the way out is to dismiss the complaint.

If you brought, and the contractctor cross-complained (or if he brought the suit), then you cannot dismiss without his consent.

If he is truly ill and a continuance of his deposition is necessary to permit him to take a legitimate part in the litigation, then the court will likely grant the continuance.

Have you filed a complaint against the contractor with the CSLB? We always do that as part of our lawsuit against the contractor.

If you would like us to review your situation, let us know. We are litigators with extensive experience suing contractors.

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Re: Litigation delays to avoid trial due to illness

If you're a homeowner that has been damaged, try making a claim against his license bond. Although only $10,000, it will help to fund the litigation if you can convince the bond company that he caused you damages. It also brings some pressure to bear on the contractor.