Excerpt: ...he declaration must state in general terms and without compromising the confidentiality of the attorney-client relationship why a motion under CCP Section 284(a) is brought, instead of filing a consent under CCP Section 284(1). Counsel's motion does not state – even in general terms that do not compromise the confidentiality of the attorney-client relationship (e.g., the client's failure to communicate with counsel, or a breakdown in the attorn...

Excerpt: ...n of their seventh cause of action and have submitted no argument on the issue in their briefs on appeal. Accordingly, we deem plaintiffs to have abandoned the issue.”].) In any event, Defendant's arguments have merit. Plaintiff fails to allege whether the alleged contract was written, oral, or implied; nor does she allege the terms of the contract or the legal effect of the contract. (See Miles v. Deutsche Bank National Trust Co. (2015) 236 Ca...

Excerpt: ... sustained. No acts by the Sailhouse Defendants are alleged in the FAC. The Court will hear from Plaintiffs at the hearing as to what facts, if any, they believe they could allege against these defendants if they were given leave to amend. The Court is inclined to deny U.S. Bank's motion/demurrer if (1) Plaintiffs advise the Court at the hearing that they intend to proceed against U.S. Bank and (2) advise the Court at the hearing specifically wha...

Excerpt: ... that took several months – the parties have advised the Court that they succeeded in narrowing the requests that are in dispute to Request Nos. 6, 7, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 21, 22, 24, 25, 28, 29, and 30. 4/8/2019 Final Joint Status Report, 9:10-18:22. Based on the 4/8/2019 Final Joint Status Report, Plaintiff no longer seeks an order compelling Defendant to serve further responses. Plaintiff now seeks an order that: (1) directs Defendant to comp...

Excerpt: ...The Court grants Defendant's unopposed Request for Judicial Notice as to Exhibits 1 through 7. These documents, and their legal effect, may properly be judicially noticed under Evidence Code § 452 (f) as to the existence of the recorded documents and their legal consequence. (Fontenot v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. (2011) 198 Cal. App. 4 th 256, 264). Merits re Negligence Claim Plaintiff's sparse Complaint alleges that Defendant acted negligently whe...

Excerpt: ...ant Tam Nguyen for a vertical machining center in defendant's possession – apparently, the same piece of machinery. On 2/25/2019, the Court continued the hearing on both applications and permitted Plaintiff to file and serve supplemental supporting papers to address the deficiencies noted in the Minute Order. Plaintiff timely filed a supplemental declaration on 2/26/2019 and timely served it by personal service on Alva and substitute service on...

Excerpt: ...s the second cause of action, the demurrer to that cause of action is moot. First cause of action for tortious breach of insurance contract and third cause of action for breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing “A cause of action for breach of contract requires proof of the following elements: (1) existence of the contract; (2) plaintiff's performance or excuse for nonperformance; (3) defendant's breach; and (4) damages to ...

Excerpt: ...�� Nos. 37 and 61 – were withdrawn in the reply. The Court addresses the remaining 13 requests below. As an initial matter, a motion to compel further responses to requests for production “shall be accompanied by a meet and confer declaration under Section 2016.040.” Code Civ. Proc., § 2031.310(b)(1). CCP Section 2016.040 requires the meet and confer declaration in support of a motion to “state facts showing a reasonable and good faith a...

Excerpt: ...t under CCP Section 2015.5. The Court continued the hearing on the motion, in part because it appeared the opposition and reply briefs submitted by the parties had been delayed in processing in the clerk's office and therefore had not been considered by the Court at the time of the 2/25/2019 hearing. The Court has now considered the moving papers, the opposition and reply papers. On the basis of the record before it, the Motion/Application is den...

Excerpt: ...vailing party in any civil action is entitled to recover costs as a matter of right. Code Civ. Proc. §1032; Charton v. Harkey (4/3 2016) 247 Cal. App. 4 th 730, 737. A “prevailing party” includes the party with a net monetary recovery, a defendant in whose favor a dismissal is entered, a defendant where neither plaintiff nor defendant obtains any relief and a defendant as against those plaintiffs who do not recover any relief against that de...

Excerpt: ...and her child's social security and bank account numbers is manifest. Plaintiff has proposed a limited redaction to protect this information. The Court thus finds that: (i) an overriding privacy interest exists that overcomes the right of public access to the information; (ii) the overriding interest supports sealing the records; (iii) a substantial probability exists that the overriding interest will be prejudiced if the record is not sealed; (i...

Excerpt: ...500 to Susan Vanderpool, payable in monthly installments of $10,000, beginning on December 1st of 2018 and continuing until one final monthly payment is made in the amount of $12,500 to comprise the total $62,500 payment”; “[o]nce those payments have been made, the parties stipulate that judgment quieting title to the subject property in this action, located at 115 Majorca Place, Placentia, will be entered in favor of Carol A. Smith with an e...

Excerpt: ...oth procedurally and substantively to govern the arbitration per the agreement of the parties. The FAA does not include a provision comparable to CCP § 1281.2(c) and therefore requires this court to enforce the written arbitration agreements even if there is pending litigation involving a third party that may result in conflicting rulings. Under the FAA, this court's task on a motion to compel arbitration is limited to answering two questions: (...

Excerpt: ... (4) The reasons why the request for amendment was not made earlier.” Cal. Rules of Ct., Rule 3.1324. The motion must state what allegations in the previous pleading are proposed to be deleted, if any, and where, by page, paragraph, and line number, the deleted allegations are located; and what allegations are proposed to be added to the previous pleading, if any, and where, by page, paragraph, and line number, the additional allegations are lo...

Excerpt: ...d are not merely correcting a typographical error or making a minor, unsubstantial change. The documents Plaintiff filed on 3/5 include a new separate statement, a declaration from Plaintiff and a revised declaration of Plaintiff's counsel, Mr. Bruchey. The purpose of these documents is to introduce new facts and evidence (i.e., Plaintiff's declaration). This is improper and the Court declines to consider the untimely new documents. Evidentiary O...

Excerpt: ...ant agreed to comply, in full, with requests 18 and 19. To the extent Defendant has responsive emails that it has not produced, Defendant must produce them within 10 days. Code Civ. Proc. § 2031.320. The remainder of the motion is denied. Defendant was ordered to provide a privilege log if it withheld any documents on the basis of privilege. Defendant has confirmed that it did not provide a privilege log, because no documents have been withheld ...

Excerpt: ...rds from Behavioral Health Services - American Recovery Services.” The Separate Statement fails to include the definition provided for the term “YOUR” but for purposes of this motion, the Court assumes that it referred to Plaintiff Ali Moghadam. The requested documents appear to be relevant. According to the Declaration of Grace Park dated 2/8/2019, Plaintiff identified Encino Hospital Medical Center as a facility that provided him treatmen...

Excerpt: ...ust account. For the reasons set forth below, the Motion is denied. The Court grants the request for Judicial Notice of Exhibits 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 under Evidence Code Section 452(d). The Court cannot accept as true the contents of pleadings or exhibits just because they are part of a court record or file; they constitute inadmissible hearsay in this action. Day v. Sharp (1975) 50 Cal.App.3d 904, 914. But the legal effect of orders in an...

Excerpt: ...nd Ins. Companies 91988) 46 Cal. 3d 287, 305. Only parties to an insurance contract and those entitled to benefits under the policy, such as an additional insured or express beneficiary, have standing to sue for breach of the contract's express or implied terms. Thus, a third-party claimant has no standing to sue for breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing without first obtaining an assignment of the insured's rights. Murphy...

Excerpt: ...jury trial set for 1/28/19 and scheduled an Order to Show Cause re: Dismissal on Settled Case for 1/28/19. (12/14/2018 Minute Order.) On 1/28/19, no parties appeared at the OSC, so the entire action was dismissed without prejudice. (01/28/2019 Minute Order.) Plaintiffs brought the instant motion on 2/4/19. Although Plaintiffs ask the Court to “reconsider” the 1/28/19 order of dismissal, Plaintiffs did not provide the grounds for this relief i...

Excerpt: ... is denied. (Ibid.) To establish a likelihood of prevailing on the merits, the moving party must present evidence demonstrating a probability of prevailing on the merits. This is customarily done by affidavits or declarations, although a verified complaint and other discovery can be considered. (Continental Baking Co. v. Katz (1968) 68 Cal.2d 512, 527; and Weil & Brown, Cal. Practice Guide: Civil Procedure Before Trial (The Rutter Group 2017) ¶ ...

Excerpt: ...nting Wells Fargo relief from the stay in order to proceed with the foreclosure. [Evid. Code § 452(d).) 2. The claims are not preempted by HOLA. The court finds that the claims alleged are not preempted by the Home Owners' Loan Act because the alleged wrongful conduct occurred after the loan changed hands from the federal savings association of bank to Defendant. HOLA is strictly limited to federal savings institutions, however, and was not inte...

Excerpt: ... law regarding the sufficiency of the allegations set forth in the complaint. (Lambert v. Carneghi (2008) 158 Cal.App.4th 1120, 1126.) The challenge is limited to the “four corners” of the pleading (which includes exhibits attached and incorporated therein) or from matters outside the pleading that are judicially noticeable under Evidence Code §§ 451 or 452. Although California courts take a liberal view of inartfully drawn complaints, it r...

Excerpt: ...ntic Richfield Co. (2001) 25 Cal.4th 826, 850. “A prima facie showing is one that is sufficient to support the position of the party in question.” Id. at 851. Where a plaintiff seeks summary judgment, the burden is to produce admissible evidence on each element of a cause of action entitling him or her to judgment. Code Civ. Proc. § 437c(p)(1); S.B.C.C., Inc. v. St. Paul Fire & Marine Ins. Co. (2010) 186 Cal. App. 4th 383, 388. It is not pla...

Excerpt: ...y the dismissal of Hayden's cross-complaint, filed derivatively on Granite's behalf on January 25, 2018. However, nothing in the moving papers addresses the settlement between Free and Raymond Handling or the dismissal of the cross- complaint. There is no authority or explanation provided re how the Court would have jurisdiction or authority to “approve” a settlement with an entity (Raymond Handling) that is not a party to this action. Likewi...