Warner Bros. Entm't Inc. v. Superior Court of L. A. Cnty.

*245 SUMMARY

On March 26, 2018, the trial court in this putative class action filed on January 29, 2013, denied defendant's motion to dismiss for failure to bring the action to trial within five years ( Code Civ. Proc., §§ 583.310 & 583.360 ). 1 The court then granted plaintiffs' motion for trial preference, setting the case for trial "immediately" (on April 10, 2018). This was six days before the five-year period was to expire, calculated to include a disputed 43-day tolling period the court found applicable under section 583.340, subdivision (b) (hereafter, section 583.340(b) ) (excluding from the calculation time during which "[p]rosecution or trial of the action was stayed or enjoined").

The court set the matter for trial despite these circumstances: Plaintiffs' motion for class certification - the hearing of which was also advanced to April 10, 2018 - had not yet been decided; the court "[did] not believe that the reasonable diligence has been exercised" with respect to class certification; discovery on the merits of plaintiffs' claims had not yet been permitted; and the court had "not yet determined the order of the trial" (but ordered the parties to file, by April 2,…