Mossy European Imports, Inc. v. Superior Court CA4
Parties have a duty to diligently monitor their case in the superior court, to keep track of relevant dates and—if the clerk has made a docketing error, to notify the court at the first indication of a problem. (Gaines v. Fidelity National Title Ins. Co. (2016) 62 Cal.4th 1081, 1104 (Gaines); Hoffman v. State of California (1985) 171 Cal.App.3d 1100, 1107 (Hoffman).)
In this case, at the parties' request for more time to try to negotiate settlement, the trial court continued the hearing on dispositive motions four times over the course of seven months. When the parties asked for a fifth continuance, the exasperated trial judge instead "stay[ed] all current hearings" and instructed the parties to appear ex parte to schedule a hearing date "if [the] matter does not settle."
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