Carehouse Convalescent Hospital v. Superior Court

The adversarial system of justice presumes that the attorneys for each side oppose one another, not depose one another. We issue a peremptory writ because plaintiffs have failed to make the requisite showing of “extremely” good cause to overcome the presumption against taking the deposition of defense counsel Kippy Wroten.

I

Petitioner Carehouse Convalescent Hospital (Carehouse) operates a skilled nursing facility in which Richard Sims (decedent), a 90-year-old man, was being treated during most of 2002 following a stroke. Real parties in interest (plaintiffs) are Sims’s children and successors in interest.

In October 2003, plaintiffs sued Carehouse for wrongful death and elder abuse, alleging that die facility was understaffed and that Carehouse “knew that it could not provide enough staffing to meet Federal and state guidelines; and .. . made a conscious decision to continue with its pattern and practice of understaffing the Facility and thereby causing injuries to its residents, including Mr. Sims.”

Plaintiffs sent Carehouse requests for admissions asking it to admit or deny whether it had 3.2 nursing hours per-patient-day during the period of decedent’s residency.…