Opinion
2:10-CV-1385 JCM (PAL)
02-19-2013
PAINTERS JOINT COMMITTEE, et al., Plaintiffs, v. J.L. WALLCO, INC. Dba Wallternatives, et al., Defendants.
ORDER
Presently before the court is plaintiffs' motion for bench trial on alter-ego determination. (Doc. # 272). The defendants have not filed a response even though the deadline date for filing a response has passed. Plaintiffs filed a notice of non-opposition. (Doc. # 275).
Defendants have elected not to file a response to the motion for a bench trial. "The failure of an opposing party to file points and authorities in response to any motion shall constitute a consent to the granting of the motion." LR 7-2(d). Accordingly, defendants have consented to a bench trial under the local rules.
Additionally, "[m]any of the issues to be considered in determining whether to pierce the corporate veil are indeed fact based issues which a jury is readily capable of deciding. But it is the leap between those findings of fact and whether the corporate veil should be pierced that renders it 'essentially an equitable doctrine not amendable to determination by a jury.'" Siegel v. Warner Bros. Entm't., 581 F.Supp.2d 1067, 1075 (C.D. Cal. 2008) (ellipses omitted) (quoting Int'l. Fin. Servs. Corp. v. Chromas Techs. Canada, Inc., 356 F.3d 731, 738 (7th Cir. 2004)). The court finds good cause to grant the motion for a bench trial.
Accordingly,
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED, ADJUDGED, AND DECREED that plaintiffs' motion for a bench trial on alter-ego determination (doc. # 272) be, and the same hereby, is GRANTED.
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE