Collins v. Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority

Background

On September 1, 2020, the court conditionally granted AllAccess Law Group and attorneys Irene Karbelashvili and Irakli Karbelashvili permission to withdraw as counsel of record for plaintiff Janie Collins. The court stayed the case through October 1, 2020, so Collins could find a new lawyer or file an appearance stating that she would represent herself.

The September 1 order warned Collins that failing to comply with court orders and deadlines could result in dismissal for lack of attention to the case and failure to prosecute. Her former counsel remained responsible for receiving and forwarding court papers until Collins obtained new counsel, stated that she would represent herself, or the court ordered otherwise. The record showed that counsel forwarded the September 1 order to Collins.

Order to Show Cause

The court stated that it had inherent authority to dismiss an action on its own initiative to achieve the orderly and expeditious resolution of cases. The court found that Collins had not entered an appearance indicating that she intended to proceed without a lawyer, and that no new counsel had appeared for her.

The court ordered Collins to file a written response by December 4, 2020, explaining why the action should not be dismissed without prejudice for failure to comply with court orders and failure to prosecute. The Clerk was directed to mail the order to Collins at the mailing address provided by her former counsel. The former counsel were also asked to email the order to Collins if they had an alternate email address and to file proof that they had done so.

Disposition

Judge Virginia K. Demarchi issued an order to show cause regarding possible dismissal. The opinion does not state that the case was dismissed; it required Collins to respond before the court decided whether dismissal was appropriate.