(OK. I’ve contradicted myself by saying “maybe a response a month to unique problems”:
https://forum.freeadvice.com/small-claims-courts-24/small-claim-never-served-debt-twice-original-574059.html) This makes two but the post is unique.
OP – I’m guessing that more is omitted than stated in your post. One could infer that you need to learn much more about the litigation process and also conclude that your boat has already sunk.
1) You’ve posted in the wrong forum. Attorneys and discovery are not permitted in CA Small Claims. You should be in the Civil Litigation forum but, before you repost, there is an answer to the query:
2) (a) You necessarily must be in the Limited or Unlimited divisions of Superior Court and (b) there is no form. You must file a Motion (for Reconsideration, I suppose) that is drafted to address the specific facts leading to your failure to respond to discovery. My assumption is that you will have to learn to prepare a motion and that you will have to go to court and review the file to study the service of the discovery and the filing/service of the motion. You’ll want to look at the Proof of Service for each to see if the mailing address is correct and, if you’ve never seen the discovery, buy a copy.
3) I suspect that you have three related problems that may be insurmountable: (a) the original discovery was (presumably) sent to the wrong address; (b) the Notice of Motion was also (presumably) sent to the wrong address; (c) the Notice of Ruling was sent to the right address and that better not be the same address for all three or you’ll have a very hard time convincing the Court that the lapse was justified.
4) Discovery consisted of more than Interrogatories. The Notice of Ruling indicates that there were also Requests for Admissions. If the attorney did an adequate job on the RFAs, the Ruling means that you’re now susceptible to a Motion for Summary Judgment.
5) If you don’t have a very strong expectation of both winning a motion to vacate the ruling and winning a Motion for Summary Judgment or winning at trial (with essential facts deemed admitted), I suggest that you are simply protracting the inevitable and that you contact plaintiff’s attorney to negotiate a settlement arrangement that allows a waiver of sanctions. Depending on the Order for Sanctions, there is a possibility that you will not even be permitted to proceed (except to file the motion) until they are paid. That would leave you essentially powerless.
If you’re going to try all of this anyway, I would suggest that you retain an attorney and that you file (Proposed) Responses to Discovery along with your Motion.
