Excerpt: ...neral areas: the partnership concerning the recovery-business, the partnership concerning real-properties for the recovery business, and parties' relationship regarding Plaintiff's Greenleaf personal residence. The court finds that -- in pleading all the areas within the first 80 paragraphs of the complaint and incorporating all the allegations then into the individual causes of action (some of which have little do with others) – the individual...

Excerpt: ... Khalil. On 3/13/19, defendants served their statutory designation of expert trial witnesses. Defendants did not designate any experts – medical or otherwise. Neither side designated any experts to opine upon the question of fault or forces involved in the accident itself. On 4/18/19, with trial less than two weeks away, plaintiff applied ex parte for permission to swap out one of his designated medical experts, Dr. Khalil, for another in the s...

Excerpt: ...p. 4th 1, 20 [“Plaintiffs did not oppose the County's demurrer to this portion 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 addition, the FAC remains uncertain. A demurrer for uncertainty lies where the defendant cannot reasonably determine what issues must be admitted or denied or what counts or claims are directed a...

Excerpt: ...App.4 th 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 which are judicially noticeable under Evidence Code §§ 451 or 452. The complaint is read as a whole: material facts properly pleaded are assumed true; contentions, deductions or conclusions of fact/law are not. Blank v. Kirwan (1985) 39 Cal.3d 311, 318. 1st COA: ...

Excerpt: ...ent. Nevertheless, the motion is substantively deficient. Courts have a duty of inquiry regarding the grounds for the motion and are not required to accept at face value vague, unsupported, or uncertain representations as to reasons why an attorney seeks to withdraw. Manfredi & Levine v. Superior Court (1998) 66 Cal.App.4th 1128, 1134-1136. Counsel has a corresponding duty to respond and to describe the general nature of the issue, within the con...

Excerpt: ...udge Gooding, the judge assigned to the previously consolidated cases, found this case related to the previously consolidated cases and transferred this case to her department. That order has not been set aside or otherwise challenged as far as this Court knows. This Court is not empowered to revisit it. See Cal. Const. Art. VI, Sec. 4; in accord, Alvarez v. Superior Court (2010) 183 Cal.App.4 th 969, 982-983; In re Alberto (2002) 102 Cal.App.4th...

Excerpt: ... The allegations included within ¶7 are asserted on “information and belief.” Allegations made on “information and belief” are improper where a Complaint fails to allege “such information that lead[s] the [plaintiff] to believe that the allegations are true.” (Doe v. City of Los Angeles (2007) 42 Cal.4 th 531, 551, fn. 5; See also Pridonoff v. Balokovich (1951) 36 Cal.2d 788, 792: “Plaintiff may allege on information and belief any...

Excerpt: ...ns should be denied and sanctions awarded to the Plaintiff. Based on all the moving papers, the court finds that Defendant's counsel did meet and confer sufficiently to permit these motions to go forward. The request for sanctions is denied. Plaintiff's objection to each motion and each accompanying separate statement based on untimeliness is overruled. As explained in Pelton-Shepherd Industries, Inc. v. Delta Packaging Products, Inc. (2008) 165 ...

Excerpt: ...5, 754). Per Robinson v. Grossman (1997) 57 Cal.App.4 th 634, a seller's agent does not owe “a duty to independently verify or disclaim the accuracy of the seller's representations…” (Id. at 643); however, “the sellers' agent is required…to act in good faith and not convey the seller's representations without a reasonable basis for believing them to be true.” (Id. [emphasis added]). Additionally, per Civil Code §1088, “[i]f an agen...

Excerpt: ...conditions.” Id. Here, Plaintiffs allegedly informally requested a second inspection of the subject property located at 2826 N. Dayna Street in Santa Ana, CA (the “Property”), but have refused or failed to provide a date for the inspection. As Defendant received a Notice to Abate Public Nuisance from the City of Santa Ana on 09/10/18, Defendant risks large fines by not remediating the issues with the Property while Plaintiffs fail to comple...

Excerpt: ...if such allegation is controverted, then plaintiff must establish, on the trial, the facts showing such performance. (CCP § 457). When a condition precedent imposed by the contract is an act to be performed by the plaintiff, the plaintiff may allege the performance in general terms. (4 Witkin, Cal. Proc. 5th Plead § 538 (2008).) Under these rules, it is not required that a plaintiff allege the specific facts showing his performance of the contr...

Excerpt: ... statements of law” is without merit. Interrogatories may properly ask about a party's contentions of fact or law, and the facts, witnesses, or writings on which these contentions are based. CCP §2030.010(b); Burke v. Superior Court (1969) 71 Cal.2 nd276, 281. Moreover, plaintiff included the statements of law in her complaint, although their inclusion was not authorized by CCP §425.10(a)(1) and (2). Having alleged these statements of law, pl...

Excerpt: ... requirements are similar to negligence but stricter. (See Snider v. Whitson (1960) 184 Cal.App.2d 211, 214-215.) The elements for a willful misconduct claim include the same elements of any negligence cause of action, i.e. duty, breach of duty, proximate cause, and damages (Id.), as well as additional elements: No claim of willful misconduct can be stated without alleging the specific act or omission that caused the injury. (Id. at p. 215). In a...

Excerpt: ...rom Tara Hill (owner of the premises where the interaction occurred). The third motion is another motion to quash by specially appearing defendant Albaro Parada, claiming he was not effectively served. This Court will take each in turn. Discovery Motions – Granted Defendant Chief Financial Services first seeks an order compelling a further response to Form Interrogatory number 4.1 regarding available insurance coverage for the incident. Co-defe...

Excerpt: ...make a determination that Plaintiff was discriminated against by Defendant or that Plaintiff was fired on the basis of her disability or inability to perform the duties required of her. The MSA seeks adjudication as to the Business Necessity affirmative defense. “Where the plaintiff is the moving party and the defendant relies upon an affirmative defense, it is incumbent upon a moving party plaintiff . . . to show that there is no material fact...

Excerpt: ...of limitations will not lie where the action may be, but is not necessarily, barred. It must appear clearly and affirmatively that, upon the face of the complaint, the right of action is necessarily barred. Committee for Green Foothills v. Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors (2010) 48 Cal.4 th 32, 42; May v. City of Milpitas (2013) 217 Cal.App.4 th 1307, 1324. Plaintiff readily concedes that her complaint was filed outside the applicable two-...

Excerpt: ...0 (consuming alcohol while driving) and Dawes v. Superior Court (1980) 111 Cal.App.3d 82 (swerving in and out of lanes amongst pedestrians). They collectively stand for the proposition that merely driving while intoxicated is not enough to support punitive damages, but that driving in a way which enhances an appreciable risk to others may. Here, plaintiffs allege only that defendant was impaired, as if impairment makes exposure to punitive damage...

Excerpt: ...se individual and specific orders of the Panel which sought to provide further instructions to the Receiver or sought to provide the Receiver with additional powers. The court notes that the parties are free to file ex-parte or noticed motions with this court to seek the relief provided in any of the Panel's orders which are stricken as a result of this order. Authorities The court may, upon motion of the injured party, or its own motion, correct...

Excerpt: ...vided while these motions were pending, and the responses “are now substantially compliant.” What remains at issue is thus only the requests for sanctions. Under C.C.P. § 2033.280(c), it is mandatory that the court impose a monetary sanction on the party or attorney, or both, whose failure to serve a timely response to RFAs necessitated the motion. Therefore, despite the apparent discourtesy in bringing these motions without first advising n...

Excerpt: ...he Third Amended Complaint. The demurrer is overruled and the motion to strike is denied. Pertinent Background On 09/03/14, plaintiff entered into a services and joint venture agreement with the Boy Scouts to provide rowing equipment and instruction to the public. In pertinent part: 1. Boy Scouts would register participants and collect fees; 2. Boy Scouts would take a cut, and give the net to plaintiff; 3. Plaintiff would furnish and store the re...

Excerpt: ...ons of the pleading are not evidence for this purpose. (Nobel Floral, Inc. v. Pasero (2003) 106 Cal.App.4th 654, 657; In re Automobile Antitrust Cases I & II (2005) 135 Cal.App.4th 100, 110) It must be shown that it is appropriate to exercise personal jurisdiction over each defendant on an individual basis. (See Calder v. Jones (1984) 465 U.S. 783, 790) General Jurisdiction Only a limited set of affiliations with a forum will render a defendant a...

Excerpt: ...g any matter, not privileged, that is relevant to the subject matter involved in the pending action . . . if the matter either is itself admissible in evidence or appears reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence. C.C.P. § 2017.010. “The court shall limit the scope of discovery if it determines that the . . . intrusiveness of that discovery clearly outweighs the likelihood that the information sought will lead to th...

Excerpt: ...aims except for claims under Bus. & Prof. Code § 17200. Defendants have proven the existence of the arbitration agreements (“Agreements”) between them and the Signing Plaintiffs entered into in early 2018. Stokke Decl., Exs. A through F; Engalla v. Permanente Med. Grp., Inc. (1997) 15 Cal. 4th 951, 972, as modified (July 30, 1997). Plaintiffs have failed to show that the Agreements were either procedurally or substantively unconscionable, bo...

Excerpt: ... the forum state to justify personal jurisdiction, but the plaintiff has the right to conduct jurisdictional discovery to help develop the facts necessary to sustain this burden. (Mihlon v. Superior Court (1985) 169 Cal.App.3d 703, 710.) As Plaintiff here has requested a continuance for this purpose and may be able to discover facts to assist it in establishing jurisdiction, the requested continuance is granted to permit limited jurisdictional di...

Excerpt: ...t be admitted or denied or what counts or claims are directed against it. (Khoury v. Maly's of California, Inc. (1993) 14 Cal.App.4th 612, 616.) Here, the basis for the claims asserted is unclear. The parties are alleged to be co-owners of the three properties identified with a 75%/25% respective interest. (Complaint ¶¶ 6-8.) Plaintiff asserts that he should be found to have more than a 75% interest due to “his contributions” (¶ 8) and Mah...