Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California

Wrongfully informed about a hearing

I am suing the US government and HUD for the good

faith deposit ($1,000) on a failed transaction.

I received copies of a filed motion to dismiss and the date for hearing set on 9-10-99 at 9 am.

There was nobody that day. The judge was sitting

on a criminal case on another court (and building)

with al his staff. The secretary told me that

case wasn't even assigned to that judge. (She said

she knew because of the initials after the case #)

The clerk of the court said that the filing party

should have known better and that I can ask for

sanctions. I want to know if I can make a motion

for judgement on the pleadings or what can I do to expedite the procedure.


Asked on 9/13/99, 1:52 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Edward Hoffman Law Offices of Edward A. Hoffman

Re: Wrongfully informed about a hearing

Sanctions might be available in theory, but if you are in pro per you shouldn't expect to get much money for this.

The other side was required to give you proper notice of the time and place of the hearing, and they evidently failed to do this. If the hearing went forward, you are entitled to have the resulting order, if any, set aside and to have a new hearing date. I think the court will agree that it can't dismiss your case under these circumstances.

I suspect that this was an innocent mistake rather than a deliberate effort to cheat you, and I think your best bet is to simply call the government lawyer, explain what happened and ask him to stipulate to a new hearing date and to set aside any dismissal order that might have been entered. Most attorneys would agree under these circumstances. In the unlikely event that this lawyer refuses, then you can bring a motion and seek sanctions.

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Answered on 9/14/99, 5:04 pm


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