Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California

I would think defendant could either withdraw the motion or request that the court continue the hearing to allow him/her/it to provide a signed copy that complies with all of the requirements. If it were taken off-calendar, it would not be for substantive reasons and it would seem that defendant could file another one if there's still time.

The defects you describe aren't serious, unless the missing signature was for a declaration rather than the motion itself. If the court thinks they're significant at all, it will very likely let the moving party correct them as Mr. Cohen describes.

"Res judicata" essentially means "this has already been decided." It's a complex rule which I can't adequately explain here. In general, though, it applies when an issue that was decided on the merits in one case later comes up again in a *different* case involving the same parties. The subsequent MSJ you mention would be in the same case. And if the original MSJ is taken off calendar for procedural reasons, then there will not be a decision at all. Because the court would not have adjudicated the first MSJ, it could have no res judicata effect on the second one.