Bruns

Plaintiff and appellant Dana Bruns (plaintiff) brought an action in the Orange County Superior Court in 2000. There were various amendments and substitutions of parties. The trial court stayed proceedings and then lifted the stay for discovery. It then stayed proceedings pending resolution of an appeal in another case. There were further stays of discovery and a stay of all proceedings in connection with a petition for coordination with other cases. The petition for coordination was granted and the case transferred to the Los Angeles Superior Court. Plaintiff obtained a default as to certain defendants. Proceedings were again stayed, with that stay lifted only for purposes of serving unserved parties. Ultimately the discovery stay was lifted.

The trial court granted a motion to dismiss the action pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure section 583.360, [1] which requires dismissal of an action not brought to trial within five years of the commencement of the action. The trial court, under section 583.340, subdivision (b) excluded from the computation of time when an action must be brought to trial, only periods when the entire action was stayed. The trial court did not…