Excerpt: ...esentation that responses would be served no later than 12-15-23; Counsel shall appear to confirm whether this was accomplished. In addition, the Court is inclined to award sanctions against Defendant Craven Farming Company and its counsel in favor of Plaintiff in connection with the instant motion, which appears to have been necessary in order to elicit the required responses. Therefore, sanctions are awarded in the amount of $460, to be paid to...

Excerpt: ...82; Cal. Rules of rule 3.769.) Good cause appearing to the satisfaction of the Court, the Court is inclined to find that the proposed settlement and the associated fees and costs are approved as set forth in the motion and supporting papers, as follows: Fees and costs of Settlement Administrator: $9,500 Payment to Class Representatives: $17,500 PAGA allocation to LWDA (75%): $15,000 Class Counsel's attorney's fees: $325,000 Class Counsel's costs:...

Excerpt: ...scovery Act under which Plaintiff seeks relief in this instance. Moreover, while the Court presumes that Plaintiff may be attempting to obtain an order suppressing the June 2023 deposition pursuant to Code Civ. Proc. S 2025.520(g), Plaintiff has failed to demonstrate the meet-and-confer efforts required by that section. Moreover, the Court questions whether Plaintiff brought the instant motion seasonably, as it appears she delayed in this regard ...

Excerpt: ...bitrate that controversy, the court shall order the petitioner and the respondent to arbitrate the controversy if it determines that an agreement to arbitrate the controversy exists, unless it determines that: (a) The right to compel arbitration has been waived by the petitioner; or (b) Grounds exist for rescission of the agreement." Petitioner Central Valley — Sierra Associates ("CVSA") is correct in contending that there is an overarching lev...

Excerpt: ...law. (Serrano v. Priest (1971) 5 Cal.3d 584, 591.) The Court also considers matters that can be judicially noticed. (Ibid.) The Court sustains the demurrer on the following grounds: (1) Plaintiff has not demonstrated that she complied with the Government Claims Act; (2) the pleading is barred by the statute of limitations; and (3) Defendant Lucas is protected by quasi-judicial immunity with regard to the allegations in the First Amended Complaint...

Excerpt: ...dant Fulmer Pursuant to California EVIDENCE Code Section 1043 - GRANTED in part and DENIED in part. a) Plaintiffs' motion is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part. Plaintiffs' motion to compel responsesto the three questions set forth in the notice of motion and motion is GRANTED. Any issues, questions, or "matters of first impression" arising during the meet and confer process which occurred after the Court initially heard the Plaintiffs' motion an...

Excerpt: ...tion of the application of the immunity provided in Civ. Code S 846 (UMFs 21, 24, 25 and Plaintiff's Additional Facts 33-38, 40, 43, 44), she has failed to meet her burden as to Defendant's actual or constructive notice of the allegedly dangerous condition and causation (UMF 9, 26-30). Therefore, the Court finds that Defendant is entitled to judgment in its favor on the grounds that Plaintiff cannot establish these elements of her cause of action...

Excerpt: ...efendant's motion argues that it is not liable to indemnify Cross-Defendant Nicklaus Rey Siguenza because it is not liable to Plaintiff, the fact that the Court concludes Defendant's motion should be denied — with regard to both primary and alternative relief — dispenses with any need to rule directly on issues raised by Defendant's motion as it pertains to Cross-Defendant Siguenza. The Court believes the Plaintiff's evidence of "substantiall...

Excerpt: ...ategories and documents specified in Plaintiff's deposition notice. To the extent that the latter issues are raised bythe instant motion, the Court finds that the motion is premature. In addition, the papers demonstrate insufficient meet-and-confer efforts on those issues. With regard to the scheduling of the deposition itself, the Court notes that the defense has indicated a willingness to produce a qualified witness at a "mutually agreeable dat...

Excerpt: ... are waived. (Code Civ. Proc. S 2031.3W(a).) Moreover, the Court finds that Plaintiff has not complied with the requirements for relief set forth in Code Civ. Prtw S 2031.3W(a). Therefore, Defendant is entitled to an order compelling Plaintiff to provide verified responses, without objection, within 14 days. (CINIe Civ. Proc. S 2031.3w(b).) In addition, the Court finds that Defendant is entitled to an award of monetary sanctions in connection wit...

Excerpt: ...ourt also finds the unanimous rate of participation by class members to be a strong factor in approving this settlement. The Court also finds the awards to the Class Representatives and to the Class Members to be appropriate given all relevant factors of the Settlement. The Court also finds the attorney's fees to be comparable to the award of fees generally issued by California Courts. Therefore, the Class Class Representatives, and Class Counsel...

Excerpt: ...ars to identify factual issues with regard to whether the defect at issue triggered the potential for liability under the notce provisions of Modesto Municipal Code S 7-1.304. (See, e.g. UMF 12, 13, 18, 23-25.) In addition, Defendants' evidence does not support the conclusion that the subject defect was trivial as a matter of law. (See, e.g. UMF 24.) Assuming arguendo that Defendants had met the initial burden of establishing prima facie entitlem...

Excerpt: ...nd Blanca Padilla's Motion to Deem Admitted the Truth of the Matters Asserted in Requests for Admissions; Request for Monetary Sanctions — GRANTED, and unopposed. (a) The Court finds that Plaintiff, Viorica Jerrick, entirely failed to respond to the subject discovery and all objections are waived. (Code Civ. Proc. S 2030.290(a).) Therefore, Defendants are entitled to an order compelling Plaintiff to provide verified responses, without objection...

Excerpt: ..., 1287.4.) In that event, judgment shall be entered in the amount of $4,925 plus interest at 10% per annum from 3-23-23 to the date of judgment. (b) Preliminarily, the Court notes that the “trial” referenced in the instant mo
Ÿon appears to reference the hearing on Pe
Ÿ
Ÿoner's request to conÞrm the contractual arbitra
Ÿon award issued on 2-23-23. In addi
Ÿon, the Court notes that the hearing on the subject pe
Ÿ
Ÿon was previously con...

Excerpt: ...in Department 23; With regard to Special Interrogatories 1, 4, 14, and 16, the Court finds that Defendant has provided Code-compliant responses and no further responses are required. With regard to Special Interrogatories 18 and 19, however, the Court is inclined to find that Defendant is entitled to the requested discovery, provided that the responsive information can be limited to avoid the disclosure of personal identifying information of non-...

Excerpt: ...aintiff's argument that the communications regarding the multiple extensions of time afforded Defendant established Defendant's waiver of objections is not correct; none included an express waiver. (Code Civ. Proc., S 2031.270(c).) Plaintiff's further argument that the initial, objections-only response were tantamount to no response because these were unverified is also incorrect; objections only need be signed by counsel. (Code Civ. Proc., S 203...

Excerpt: ...anted. Responses shall be provided within fifteen (15) days. The request for monetary discovery sanctions is denied without prejudice. The Court finds that a good faith argument regarding the private and/or confidential nature of the discovery sought renders the imposition of discovery sanctions unjust. That said, this is the second motion to compel that Plaintiff's were required to bring and discovery is designed to be self-executing. Repeated d...

Excerpt: ...rt (Cole National Corp.) (2004) 122 Cal.App.4± 1060, 1078.) Plaintiffs' generic reference to the "State of California" does not provide sufficient information to put the relevant agency or department on notce of the claim(s) against it herein. Moreover, Plaintiffs' argument in opposition, i.e., that the subject property is designated as "open irrigated land" under the California Land Conservation Act, appears insufficient to support the purporte...

Excerpt: ... with Cal. Rules of Ct., rule 3.769(c). The class counsel, class representatives, and claims administrator are hereby preliminarily approved and appointed as set forth in the motion. However, the Court is not convinced that the proposed payment structure for enhancement payments to the representative plaintiffs is justified; specifically, the Court does not believe that the moving papers and supporting evidence support the proposed award of $18,5...

Excerpt: ...t 23. The Court notes that the parties' efforts have resulted in Defendant's service of two sets of amended responses to date, the latest of which was provided while the instant motions were pending. Therefore, it appears to the Court that the potential exists for the parties to further narrow and/or resolve the issues presented herein with the pursuit of additional meet-and-confer efforts conducted in faith. The hearing is continued for this pur...

Excerpt: ... the parties and finds that Defendant has not provided sufficient evidence relative to the ownership of the phone account to justify his claim that disclosure will unduly violate the privacy rights of non-parties herein. Nevertheless, the Court acknowledges that Defendant himself likely has some level of privacy interest in the sought-after phone records, butthe motion herein has not sufficiently demonstrated that Defendant's privacy interests ou...

Excerpt: ...al.App.5* 933, 941; Sanchez v. Kern Emergency Medical Transportation Corp. (2017) 8 Cal.App.5* 146, 165.) In this regard, the Court notes that Dr. Chang relies, in part on a purported declaration from Dr. Roubach explaining his choice of an alternative lens during the initial cataract procedure on 2-11-20; however, the information described by Dr. Chang in this regard does not appear in the evidence submitted with the instant motion. In addition,...

Excerpt: ...ly, the motion lacks a discussion of the reasonableness of the proposed settlement as compared to the maximum and practical exposure of Defendant on the claims asserted herein. Likewise, with regard to the PAGA claim, the information provided is insufficient for the Court to determine whether the proposed settlement provides for relief that is genuine, meaningful, and consistent with the State's goal of benefitting the public through enforcement ...

Excerpt: ...d Cause of Acton herein rests on the suffciency of the pleading with regard to the District's alleged violation of the Ralph Civil Rights Act (Civ. Code S 57.1) and the Tom Bane Civil Rights Act (Civ. Code S 52.1). With regard to Defendant's argument that the extended limitations period and revival provisions of Cade Civ. PrcL S 340.1 and the claim exemption provisions of Gov. Code S 905(m) do not apply to the Third Cause of Action herein, the Co...

Excerpt: ...ant are not competitors — in business or any other forum it is decidedly Defendant's burden to demonstrate "good cause" for the AEO designation of any document produced during discovery. If the Defendant's proposed protective order were entered, and Plaintiffs did not "catch" an AEO designation immediately (or later determined a document was improperly designated AEO), that designation would be "final" without any analysis of the "good cause" f...