Dolin Roofing & Insulation Co. v. Superior Court

This petition, by the defendant in a civil action, challenges a trial court order relieving plaintiff from default for failure to make a timely response to requests for admissions. It raises the question of whether, in moving for relief from default, the moving party must submit its proposed response to the requests for admissions. We conclude that the moving party must. However, because the question is one of first impression, we sustain the trial court ruling which permitted real party an extra 10 days to respond.

Petitioner is the defendant in an action brought to recover damages for negligent performance of a roofing job. On July 25, 1983, petitioner served on plaintiff three discovery requests, entitled; (1) request for production of documents, (2) interrogatories, set No. 2, and (3) requests for admissions of facts and interrogatories, set No. 1. The parties agreed to an extension of time to September 8, 1983, to respond.

On September 1, 1983, plaintiff sent answers to interrogatories and a response to the request for documents. The letter of transmittal explained that plaintiff had not responded to the requests for admissions “which are essentially repetitive of…