Excerpt: ... leave to amend. Streets & Highways Code 30922 allows plaintiffs to bring an action to contest the validity of the toll increase authorized by Regional Measure 3. However, section 30922 does not expressly refer to the validation statues and thus the procedural requirements of the validation statutes do not apply. Government Code 50077.5 is inapplicable to the second cause of action since Regional Measure 3 was not approved per Article 3.5 which i...

Excerpt: ... to an answer is not sanctionable conduct as there is a basis for such a filing per FPI Development, Inc. v. Nakashima (1991) 231 Cal.App.3d 346, the filing of this demurrer is a complete waste of time and ruling upon it does nothing to further the litigation in this case. The affirmative defenses are alleged in a way that conforms to long‐established and accepted practice in the Bay Area state courts. The purpose of this practice is to preserv...

Excerpt: ...ses of action. The first and second causes of action adequately allege intentional and negligent misrepresentation claims based on Swinteron's alleged dissemination of the Project Manual knowing that Energia would rely on it and the Manual containing intentional and negligent misrepresentations about the testing of the window products. While the first cause of action adequately alleges an intentional misrepresentation claim, it also adequatel...

Excerpt: ...hmayer as counsel for Yunji Willa Qian and Qian & Co., Inc is denied. "The substantial relationship test is not implicated [and disqualification is not warranted ] unless the attorney was in a position where he could have received information that his former client might reasonably have assumed the attorney would withhold from his present client." (Christensen v. U.S. Dist. Court for Cent. Dist. of California (9th Cir. 1988) 844 F.2d 694,...

Excerpt: ...ent Group, LLC, et al.'s motion for sanctions under CCP 128.7 against Loanvest IX, LP, Loanvest XII and Mark Rushin is granted in large part. The first amended complaint is dismissed with prejudice and the Loanvest entities and Mt. Rushin are required to pay $1,270 to Mt. Diablo for the reasonable fees and costs (4 hours of attorney work at $295 per hour plus $90 in costs) it incurred in filing this motion. The first amended complaint and all...

Excerpt: ...intiff Fireman's Fund Insurance Companies' causes of action for express contractual indemnity (the first three causes of action alleged in the two complaints) is granted in its entirety. Fireman's Fund's right to subrogation based on the defendants' alleged failure to comply with their express indemnity obligations in the ADMA and APA was eliminated by QFA's filing for bankruptcy and the release by the plaintiffs in the 95...

Excerpt: ...ertain and/or fails to allege sufficient ultimate facts as to each of the five claims. As to the claims for breach of contract and common counts, it is not clear whether Mr. Krow alleges that he entered into one or more contracts with Mr. Gevertz, as opposed to entering into a contract with an entity such as Fox Ortega Enterprises for which Mr. Gevertz may have worked as an agent and/or an employee. If Mr. Krow alleges that he entered into one or...

Excerpt: ...cond amended cross‐complaint filed by cross‐ complainant MBW‐Brotherhood Way, LLC is overruled as to both causes of action. Liberally construed, the second amended cross‐complaint alleges that the phrase "for any reason" in paragraphs 3 and 4 of the MSA should be construed as excluding circumstances that allegedly occurred here where RCS, at the urging of Mr. Comstock, precluded Mr. Hawke from ceasing to work at the Project. State...

Excerpt: ...ersonal friend and has recommended her as an attorney to several people including to members of his family. However, Judge Kahn believes that he is fair and impartial in this case. Defendants SH Property, Inc. and The Bohan Company, Inc.'s motion for terminating sanctions is denied and their alternate motion for a trial continuance and monetary sanctions is granted. Plaintiff Danielle Paquette's unilateral cancellation of the defense ment...

Excerpt: ...lly improper. There is no California procedure that permits entry of a stipulated judgment that is not made in conformity with the confession of judgment rules and/or is not amenable to summary enforcement per CCP 664.6. The stipulation for judgment entered into by the parties neither complies with the strict requirements for a valid confession of judgment nor was it entered into in a pending case to fall within the scope of section 664.6. Plaint...

Excerpt: ... the fourth cause of action for violation of Civil Code 3344 and overruled as to the fifth cause of action for common law appropriation of name. Mr. McKee does not, nor does it appear that he can, allege that Eastwood used his name and/or contractor's license on or in any product, merchandise or good or for the purpose of advertising, selling or soliciting the purchase of a product, merchandise, good or service, which is required for section ...

Excerpt: ...tions and off calendar as to the prayer for treble damages. Ms. Diamond adequately alleges punitive damages liability against Uber. While gender discrimination in employment may not always or necessarily constitute malice or oppression, depending on the facts found gender discrimination in employment can be sufficient to meet the definitions of malice and/oppression in Civil Code 3294. Liberally construed, the complaint alleges conduct that meets...

Excerpt: ... unconscionability or duress under CACI 332 or 333 to warrant denial of arbitration. Even if defendant violated Business and Professions Code sec. 7159.5(a)(3), that illegal conduct is collateral to the main purpose of the contract and courts will generally sever an offensive clause and enforce the contract. (See Little v. Auto Stiegler, Inc. (2003) 29 Cal.4th 1064, 1074‐1075.) Moreover, the claim of illegality is attenuated because the illegal...

Excerpt: ...he request for punitive damages in the complaint filed by Janine and Michael Zavosky is denied in its entirety. There are triable disputes whether Farmers: a) conducted a reasonable and thorough investigation and complied with its good faith obligations as stated in CACI 2330 and b) acted with malice or oppression as those terms are defined in Civil Code 3294. Farmers' objections to the Painter and Frangiamore declarations are overruled. Any ...

Excerpt: .... The fees sought by Ng Solutions far exceed the reasonable amount of fees for a simple collection action against a pro per defendant who, apart from filing an answer, did not make any real effort to defend this case. The outer limit for the high end of a reasonable range of hours for experienced collection counsel to expend on this case is 40. 40 multiplied by the reasonable hourly rate of $200 yields an award of $8000. Any party who contests a ...

Excerpt: ...ay Hospitals' motion for summary judgment and alternative motion for summary adjudication are denied in their entirety. The declaration of Dr. Lorne Label shows that there is a triable dispute whether the acts or omissions of CPMC's nurses, staff and employees were a substantial factor in causing any of plaintiff Kyee Yeo's claimed injuries. Dr. Label's opinion that nothing in Mr. Yeo's medical condition made a tPA administrat...

Excerpt: ... costs are taxed: 1) $150 of the filing and motion fees because of an addition error by defendant Scott Smith; 2) All $795.43 of the service of process costs because no explanation is provided why the costs were incurred and it is not apparent why such costs were incurred and/or the costs are not allowed per the costs statute; and 3) All $120 of the court reporter fees because no explanation is provided why the costs were incurred and it is not a...

Excerpt: ... Street Homeowners' Association, Matthias Spanle, Mark Sher, and Pamela Yoon's motion to enforce settlement agreement is granted. The court has jurisdiction to enforce the settlement per CCP 664.6. Defendants shall pay the settlement funds by February 28, 2018. The parties were obligated merely to "explore" in good faith the concept of retaining an independent board. In other words, the parties agreed to study or investigate the p...

Excerpt: ...er compelling plaintiffs' depositions and responses to discovery and for monetary sanctions is denied. Plaintiffs Masha Levinson and Leon Taylor's request for sanctions is also denied. The primary asserted basis for the relief sought in the motion ‐ that plaintiffs lied to the court and defense counsel about the scope of the destruction of their property as a result of the Sonoma County wildfires ‐ lacks merit as previously adjudicate...

Excerpt: ...tah Investments, LLC, Ninth Street Lodging, LLC and Lintedge, LLC's demurrer to all four causes of action alleged in the first amended complaint filed by Jonathan Asselin‐Normand is sustained without leave to amend as to all four causes of action. Mr. Asselin‐ Normand fails to allege a viable claim for violation of the Unruh Act. The amended complaint shows that Mr. Asselin‐Norman was perusing hotel options while in Canada. The Unruh Ac...

Excerpt: ...d as to all six causes of action. Mr. Norman allegations that Mr. Strateman unilaterally ceased operations of the company and took its assets for his personal benefit suffice to make Mr. Strateman an interested director per Delaware law. (Rales v. Blasband (Del. 1993) 634 A.2d 927, 936 ("A director is considered interested where he or she will receive a personal financial benefit from a transaction that is not equally shared by the stockholde...

Excerpt: ...cy of this lawsuit is granted. Dr. Artus has shown that she will likely prevail on the merits of her claims that the November 2016 changes to the election rules were not made in compliance with the notice requirements of Civil Code 4360(a) and violate the ballot counting and recovery of fees and costs provisions in Civil Code 5105(a)(5) and (6) and 5145(b). The statement "Simplify the election process" does not substantially comply with t...

Excerpt: ...motion to strike the sole cause of action for conversion in the complaint filed by plaintiff John Hanlin is denied. Defendants failed to satisfy their first prong burden of showing that Mr. Hanlin's claim arises from activity protected by the anti‐SLAPP statute. Mr. Hanlin alleges that defendants converted his BMW by wrongfully taking possession of, denying him access to, assuming ownership of, and selling the BMW. Nowhere in the complaint ...

Excerpt: ...nd to seek punitive damages is granted on the following conditions: 1) Mr. Pankonin must provide code‐compliant verified responses without any objections other than privilege no later than February 6, 2018 to the following deem‐served discovery: a) state all facts that support each of the new allegations and all previously existing allegations against the new defendants; b) identify and provide full contact information for each person who kno...

Excerpt: ...ive motion for summary adjudication is granted as to the eighth cause of action for failure to pay wages upon termination and denied as to other ten causes of action alleged in the first amended complaint filed by plaintiff Gregory Jeloudov. The undisputed facts show that Wells Fargo paid all wages and penalties it owed to Ms. Jeloudov as required by Labor Code 201‐203 and thus Wells Fargo is entitled to summary adjudication in its favor on the...

Excerpt: ...ructive notice of that dangerous condition. It cannot be determined as a matter of law that the one inch discrepancy in the sidewalk was not a dangerous condition of public property. "In general, '[w]hether a given set of facts and circumstances creates a dangerous condition is usually a question of fact and may only be resolved as a question of law if reasonable minds can come to but one conclusion.'" (Peterson v. San Francisco C...

Excerpt: ...or summary judgement is GRANTED. Defendants satisfied their summary judgment burden by presenting evidence that plaintiff Richard Thomas is unable to prove either of his claims for intentional tort (trespass to real property) or negligence and plaintiff Richard Thomas has not presented any evidence creating a triable issue as to either of his claims. Strictly construing defendants' evidence and liberally construing Mr. Thomas' evidence fa...

Excerpt: ... Berkley Assurance Company DENIED. There is a ripe controversy between Ms. Levinson and Mr. Taylor, on the one hand, and Berkley on the other, whether there is any possibility that Berkley's policy covers the malpractice claims asserted by Ms. Levinson and Mr. Taylor against Mr. Wiseblood in the underlying action. Based on the order rescinding the policy, Berkley is entitled to a declaration in its favor and against Ms. Levinson and Mr. Taylo...

Excerpt: ... to compel arbitration is granted. This case is stayed pending the conclusion of arbitration proceedings. The FAA applies to this case because it involves interstate commerce as acknowledged in the complaint. Instquest is a Delaware corporation and its on‐line services implicate interstate commerce. Paragraph 13 of the parties' agreement expressly states that the FAA will govern with the limited exception that the procedural rules of the CA...

Excerpt: ...othy Lis' motion to set aside default and default judgment is granted in part. The default entered against Timothy Lis on June 25, 2018 is vacated on the condition that must be accepted by Timothy Lis that he will not assert any argument that any claims of plaintiff Lynne Crawford against him are barred by the five year statute. No default judgment has been entered against Timothy Lis, so that portion of the motion is off calendar. Timothy Li...

Excerpt: ...ded complaint adequately alleges that TinyCo, Inc. assigned its obligations under the Revenue Share Agreement to Jam City. Loytr's failure to file the first amended complaint in the time frame required by the July 20, 2017 order is not a basis to preclude it from filing the first amended complaint at least where, as here, Jam City did not seek entry of judgment prior to Loytr's filing of the first amended complaint and Jam City has not sh...

Excerpt: ...re and Dr. Slosar must occur at a mutually agreeable date no later than January 15, 2018 or the experts will not be allowed to testify at trial. Plaintiff's counsel must pay sanctions of $3050 to defendants no later than January 15, 2018. Although plaintiff Lee Nager did not have permission to file any papers on this motion after the hearing before Judge Pro Tem Peter Catalanotti, the court reviewed those papers and does not believe that any ...

Excerpt: ...nt Litigation In Favor Of Arbitration. Memorandum Of Points And Authorities And Declaration Of Defendant Defendant Chung Chan, Jr.'s motion to compel arbitration is granted. This case is stayed pending completion of arbitration proceedings. If Mr. Chan does not cooperate in obtaining resolution of the claims filed by plaintiff Tour‐Sarkissian Law Offices, LLC by arbitration, TSLO is given leave to file a motion for determination that Mr. Ch...

Excerpt: ... fraud in the third amended complaint filed by plaintiff David Lampach GRANTED. By presenting Mr. Lampach's responses to the deemed‐served discovery, Mr. Keller and Delft satisfied their summary adjudication burden that Mr. Lampach has no information that either of the defendants made any communication in connection with the offer for the sale or purchase of securities in the consulting agreement that either included an untrue statement of ...

Excerpt: ...Azarinfar are the prevailing parties in this case for purposes of recovering costs. All costs claimed by the defendants in their memorandum of costs filed October 31, 2017 are allowable as a matter of right or in the exercise of the court's discretion. All claimed costs were reasonably incurred. None of Dr. Nanda's arguments why some or all of the claimed costs should be stricken or taxed have any merit. Any party who contests a tentative...

Excerpt: ...that the video produced by Mr. Luini is not entitled to the protections in the protective order or that his ability to prosecute this case is impaired by that protective order. While some of the evidence submitted with the moving papers is suggestive that counsel for defendants may be interested in avoiding embarrassment of their clients by public dissemination of the video, reviewed as a whole, the evidence submitted on this motion shows that de...

Excerpt: ... 2.812 to serve as a temporary judge, has been assigned to hear this motion. Prior to the hearing all parties to the motion will be asked to sign a stipulation agreeing that the motion may be heard by the Pro Tem Judge. If all parties to the motion sign the stipulation, the hearing will proceed before the Judge Pro Tem who will decide the motion with the same authority as a Superior Court Judge. If a party appears by telephone, the stipulation ma...

Excerpt: ...nth, eighth, seventeenth, and twenty‐first affirmative defenses, b) OVERRULED as to the fifth, sixteenth, eighteenth, nineteenth, twenty‐second through twenty‐fourth and twenty‐eighth affirmative defenses, and c) SUSTAINED without leave to amend as to the sixth, ninth through fifteenth, twentieth, twenty‐fifth through twenty‐seventh and twenty‐ninth affirmative defenses. Defendants' request for leave to amend certain of their af...

Excerpt: ...nd Production Of Documents By Fca Us Llcs Dealership Personnel And Request For Sanctions In The Amount Of 3,060 GRANTED. The noticed deposition location is appropriate under CCP 2025.250. A claim of undue burden is properly made by a motion for protective order or stay. Discovery sanctions of $3,060 are awarded against defendant. Any party who contests a tentative ruling must send an email to [email protected] with a copy to all other par...

Excerpt: ...DLSE proceedings is granted in part. All DLSE proceedings are stayed pending the California Supreme Court's decision in OTO, L.L.C. v. Kho. Once the decision in OTO is issued, the parties should meet and confer regarding the impact of that case on this petition. If any of the respondents believe that the California Supreme Court's decision in OTO does not support granting the petition, Uber may re‐notice its petition for a hearing at th...

Excerpt: ...fraud. Defendants' request that the court take judicial notice of the special consent signed on September 8, 2015 is DENIED. The special consent is not explicitly referred to in the first amended complaint and is not the kind of document that a court may judicially notice. Any party who contests a tentative ruling must send an email to [email protected] with a copy to all other parties by 4pm stating, without argument, the portion(s) ...

Excerpt: ...aylor did not make any intentional misrepresentation about the damages the plaintiffs suffered as a result of the Sonoma County fires. Mr. Wiseblood's accusations to the contrary and his efforts to obtain a litigation advantage not only are unfounded and violate norms of civility expected of all counsel, but are also arguably violative of CCP 128.5. Any party who contests a tentative ruling must send an email to [email protected] with...

Excerpt: ...ion which is based on sufficient facts establishing the absence of any assets attributable to Ms. Elizon that could be paid in settlement of this lawsuit. The papers filed on behalf of Ms. Elizon do not adequately show that there are no assets attributable to Ms. Elizon that could be paid in settlement of this lawsuit. Nor do those papers show that sufficient efforts were made to locate any heirs of Ms. Elizon or determine the scope of her decede...

Excerpt: ...el Zephyr is an entity that can be sued. Defendants have adequately shown that Hotel Zephyr is not a legal entity and thus it cannot be sued. If Ms. Salas learns information to the contrary, she may seek to amend her complaint or any judgment that she might obtain to add Hotel Zephyr and may do so without regard to any statute of limitations or laches defense due to principles of judicial estoppel. Any party who contests a tentative ruling must s...

Excerpt: ...ed on his recent receipt of discovery supporting these allegations. Granting the motion comports with California's liberal policy of allowing amendments to pleadings at any time, particularly where, as here, there is no legal prejudice to cross‐defendants by doing so. The court's previous comments about a last opportunity to amend are fairly construed to cover only matters that Mr. Schuldiner then knew or should have known, not matters ...

Excerpt: ...e strongest case of extrinsic mistake, Mr. Wong has adequately shown all of the required elements to invoke the court's exercise of its discretion to relieve him of the default and default judgment on the grounds of extrinsic mistake. Granting the motion comports with California's strong policy of deciding cases on their merits and plaintiff has not shown that it will suffer any legal prejudice by the granting of the motion. Plaintiff'...

Excerpt: ...sel per Le Francois v. Goel (2005) 35 Cal. 4th 1094. Mr. Rogers has failed to provide any persuasive reason why he needs the Lees' current address and the Lees have shown that there is at least some risk that their disclosure of their address will needlessly expose them to harassment. The extraordinary manner in which this case has been litigated provides at least some corroboration for the Lees' concerns. Any party who contests a tentati...

Excerpt: ...tate and thus it may not take any action to defend itself in this case, including bringing this motion. Nor has Pioneer 74 Lots provided any admissible evidence that Ms. Yip was not validly served with the summons and second amended complaint on its behalf. Any party who contests a tentative ruling must send an email to [email protected] with a copy to all other parties by 4pm stating, without argument, the portion(s) of the tentative rul...

Excerpt: ... mistake. The order was the result of an ex parte application which was heard on or about October 11, 2017 and Mr. Lopez was represented at the hearing by Phil Kilduff. In all events, even if there were any irregularities in the October 23, 2017 order, which there were not, Mr. Lopez suffered no prejudice because he had a full and fair opportunity to respond to the order to show cause initiated by plaintiff John Cowan and appeared and argued agai...

Excerpt: ...overriding interest" per CRC 2.550. Plaintiff has not made a sufficient showing that there is an overriding interest or that it is unable to request a default judgment without publicly disclosing truly confidential and business sensitive information. Any party who contests a tentative ruling must send an email to [email protected] with a copy to all other parties by 4pm stating, without argument, the portion(s) of the tentative ruling...