Cannon

I respectfully dissent. Ward v. Levin (1984) 161 Cal.App.3d 1026, 1032 [ 208 Cal.Rptr. 312 ] is, in my view, persuasive authority that Moran v. Superior Court (1983) 35 Cal.3d 229 [ 197 Cal.Rptr. 546 , 673 P.2d 216 ], cited in the majority opinion at page 221 and in footnote number 4 on page 221, should be applied retroactively to the case at bench.

Moran reaffirmed the “reasonable diligence in prosecuting [the] case” standard relative to Code of Civil Procedure section 583 1 five-year dismissals. (Id., at p. 240.) The Moran court, however, did not stop there. “Moran relied on Hartman [Hartman v. Santamarina (1982) 30 Cal.3d 762, 767-769 ( 180 Cal.Rptr. 337 , 639 P.2d 979 , 32 A.L.R.4th 833 )] and Nail [Nail v. Osterholm (1970) 13 Cal.App.3d 682, 686-687 ( 91 Cal.Rptr. 908 )] in holding that once a party has requested a trial de novo following arbitration, it is the duty of the court to set the case for trial in a timely fashion; the *224 five-year statute is tolled during the time it takes the court to perform such duty.” (Ward v. Levin, supra, at p. 1032 .)

Division Seven of the Second District of this court in Ward v. Levin, supra, at page 1033, astutely analyzed Moran’s…

Appellants Teresa and Michael Cannon appeal from a dismissal of their personal injury action against respondent City of Novato and other defendants who are not parties to this appeal. Appellants contend that the trial court erred in granting respondent’s motion to dismiss pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure section 583, subdivision (b), 1 which mandates dismissal of suits not brought to trial within five years after the filing of the complaint. We affirm the judgment of dismissal.

Facts

Appellants filed their complaint on April 14, 1976, and all defendants had answered by December 20, 1976. The parties engaged in discovery activities, which on appellants’ part consisted of propounding five identical sets of interrogatories in September 1976 to the various public entity defendants. During the period between April 1976 and April 1979, defendants brought several motions challenging the sufficiency of the complaint and praying for summary judgment. From April 1979 to December 1980, a period of approximately 20 months, appellants were completely inactive. In December 1980 they filed their first at-issue memorandum and noticed a motion for December 29 to advance the case for…

BARRY-DEAL, J.

Appellants Teresa and Michael Cannon appeal from a dismissal of their personal injury action against respondent City of Novato and other defendants who are not parties to this appeal. Appellants contend that the trial court erred in granting respondent's motion to dismiss pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure section 583, subdivision (b), [1] which mandates dismissal of suits not brought to trial within five years after the filing of the complaint. We affirm the judgment of dismissal.

Appellants filed their complaint on April 14, 1976, and all defendants had answered by December 20, 1976. The parties engaged in discovery activities, which on appellants' part consisted of propounding five identical sets of interrogatories in September 1976 to the various public entity defendants. During the period between April 1976 and April 1979, defendants brought several motions challenging the sufficiency of the complaint and praying for summary judgment. From April 1979 to December 1980, a period of approximately 20 months, appellants were completely inactive. In December 1980 they filed their first at-issue memorandum and noticed a motion for December 29 to advance…