4DCA: Local court rules cannot override statutory windows

Local court rules cannot override statutory windows, the Fourth District Court of Appeal ruled in a July 10 published ruling. The ruling comes in the case of CFP Bermuda Dunes Airport v. Peter Bedford. Bedford owns land adjacent to the Bermuda Dunes Airport. He wants to impose an easement across the airport property. On Nov. 14, the airport reserved an April 1 hearing date for their motion for summary judgment through the Riverside Court Reservation System. Under Riverside Superior Court’s Local Rule 3310, all moving documents must be filed no later than 10 court days after the reserving party reserves a hearing date. The April 1 hearing was canceled because the airport did not file their documents in time under the local rule. On Jan. 22, the airport asked to set the hearing for any other day before trial, and reserved an April 29 hearing date. Riverside Superior Judge Kira Klatchko denied their request, and the airport appealed. 

The Court of Appeal ruled that Klatchko could not have refused to consider a motion for summary judgment that was timely filed.

“We are sympathetic to the difficulty trial courts face when trying to manage what is often an unwieldy calendar, and our decision should not be construed as a challenge to the validity of Local Rule 3310. Nonetheless, where the rule is applied in such a way that it prevents a timely filed MSJ from being heard, case law requires that the trial court make accommodations so the matter may be considered on its merits,” the ruling says.

Read the ruling here.