Opinion
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED
APPEAL from the Superior Court of Riverside County No. RIC520582. Mac R. Fisher, Judge.
Manning, Leaver, Bruder & Berberich, Halbert B. Rasmussen and Franjo M. Dolenac, for Defendant and Appellant.
Wisener Nunnally Gold, and Robert H. Nunnally, Jr., for Plaintiff and Respondent.
OPINION
HOLLENHORST Acting P. J.
Defendant John Morgan filed an appeal from judgment following the trial court’s grant of judgment in favor of plaintiffs ADP Commercial Leasing, LLC and ADP, Inc. Dealer Services Group (collectively referred to herein as ADP) in ADP’s action to enforce an equipment lease against Morgan as guarantor. Morgan contends he raised a triable issue of fact as to his mistake of fact defense in that (1) his belief that he signed the guaranty in his representative capacity was a material mistake regarding a basic assumption of the contract; (2) he did not bear the risk of his mistake, because his good faith failure to determine the capacity in which he signed the guaranty constituted ordinary negligence; and (3) it is unconscionable to enforce the equipment lease against him as a result of his mistake when he had no intent to guarantee his employer’s performance. Morgan further contends he raised a triable issue of fact as to the reasonableness of the cumulative remedies in the equipment lease, and the trial court abused its discretion in overruling his evidentiary objections.
After the case was fully briefed and a tentative opinion was being drafted, the parties filed a joint motion to dismiss on the ground that the matter had been settled. We will exercise our discretion to grant the request. (Cal. Rules of Ct., rule 8.244.) At the same time, we note that while we strongly encourage parties to resolve their differences, if possible, through settlement, once the case has been fully briefed, it is assigned to a justice for preparation of the tentative opinion. To that end, valuable court resources are engaged in reviewing the entire record, researching the issues raised, and drafting the tentative opinion. Out of courtesy to the court and all parties involved, when settlement of a case is being discussed, the party initiating those settlement discussions should request a stay of further action in order to avoid wasting valuable judicial resources.
DISPOSITION
The appeal is dismissed. Each side is to bear its own costs.
We concur: RICHLI J., MILLER J.