Koch-Ash v. Superior Court

Opinion

WOODS, P. J.

By petition for mandate civil plaintiffs, whose actions were severed for trial from the consolidated actions of numerous other plaintiffs, seek to prevent the trial court from denying them the preferential trial date conferred by Code of Civil Procedure section 36, subdivisions (a) and (e).

The determinative question presented is whether section 36, subdivision (a), leaves trial courts with discretion to deny preferential trial rights to litigants who qualify under that statute. Here, the trial court claims such discretion to serve judicial economy and to protect defendants…