Excerpt: ...of all disputed matters in the same lawsuit.” (Kittredge Sports Co. v. Superior Court (1989) 213 Cal.App.3d 1045, 1047.) Courts exercise their discretion “liberally to permit amendment,” and “[t]he policy favoring amendment is so strong that it is a rare case in which denial of leave to amend can be justified.” (Howard v. County of San Diego (2010) 184 Cal.App.4th 1422, 1428.) Defendants Paul Sandweiss and Christian Schrader argue the a...

Excerpt: ...or concealed the fact with intent to defraud plaintiff; (4) plaintiff must have been unaware of the fact and would have acted otherwise if he had known of the concealed fact; and (5) the omission caused damages. (Boschma v. Home Loan Center, Inc. (2011) 198 Cal.App.4th 230, 248.) A cause of action for fraud requires specifically pleading each element. (Alfaro v. Community Housing Improvement System & Planning Assn., Inc. (2009) 171 Cal.App.4th 13...

Excerpt: ...ief summary of the case; (2) declarations or other admissible evidence in support of the judgment requested; (3) interest computations as necessary; (4) a memorandum of costs and disbursements; (5) a proposed form of judgment; (6) a dismissal of all parties against whom judgment is not sought; (7) a dismissal of all parties against whom judgment is not sought or an application for separate judgment under CCP § 579, supported by a showing of grou...

Excerpt: ... totaling is GRANTED. STATEMENT OF MATERIAL FACTS AND/OR PROCEEDINGS: Plaintiff¿Tufeld¿Corporation (“Plaintiff”¿or “Tufeld”)¿is the owner and landlord of property consisting of a city lot located at 973-77 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, California (“Property”).¿Defendant Beverly Hills Gateway LP (“Defendant”¿or “BHG”)¿is the current tenant on the Property pursuant to a¿ground lease (“Ground Lease”) which was execut...

Excerpt: ...endant has made a threshold showing that the challenged cause of action is one arising from protected activity.” (Navellier v. Sletten (2002) 29 Cal.4th 82, 88 (Navellier).) The defendant must show “the cause of action is based on the defendant's protected free speech or petitioning activity.” (Id. at p. 89.) Second, once the defendant establishes the first element, courts “must then determine whether the plaintiff has demonstrated a prob...

Excerpt: ...itation.] Moreover, a court will normally reject any claims that the chosen forum is unfair or inconvenient.” (Richtek USA, Inc. v. uPI Semiconductor Corp. (2015) 242 Cal.App.4th 651, 661.) “A forum selection clause is valid in the absence of the resisting party meeting a heavy burden of proving enforcement of the clause would be unreasonable under the circumstances of the case.” (Bancomer, S. A. v. Superior Court (1996) 44 Cal.App.4th 1450...

Excerpt: ...division provides, “If a court at any time determines that there has been a change of law that warrants it to reconsider a prior order it entered, it may do so on its own motion and enter a different order.” The statute's plain language does not permit a party to make such a motion. Instead, a party's motion to reconsider an order granted by the court must abide by the restrictions of Code of Civil Procedure section 1008(a), including that th...

Excerpt: ...% of whatever moneys Plaintiff will save Yoav in lawsuits in Israel” (¶ 29, Ex. 2 [written in Hebrew]); (2) “the foundational agreement” in October 2012, under which Yoav agreed to “pay Plaintiff $2.5 million for his work in Los Angeles” (¶ 12, Ex. 4); (3) a settlement agreement executed on March 31, 2015, under which Yoav agreed to pay plaintiff $1.5 million by September 30, 2015 (¶ 20, Ex. 12). The complaint alleges Yoav Botach did...

Excerpt: ...nadequate, incomplete, or evasive,” or “[a]n objection in the response is without merit or too general.” (CCP § 2031.310(a).) Meet and Confer GM argues plaintiff failed to meet and confer in good faith as required before filing this motion. The court finds plaintiff made a sufficient effort to informally resolve these disputes. Though plaintiff's letters did not separately address each request for production, plaintiff adequately addressed...

Excerpt: ...y Depose Jacob Emrani Plaintiff The Law Offices of Jacob Emrani, APC argues defendant cannot depose Jacob Emrani, the individual, because he is not a party to this action. “The service of a deposition notice under Section 2025.240 is effective to require any deponent who is a party to the action or an officer, director, managing agent, or employee of a party to attend and to testify.” (CCP § 2025.280(a).) Plaintiff does not dispute that Jaco...

Excerpt: ...e ground of waiver bears a heavy burden [citation], and any doubts regarding a waiver allegation should be resolved in favor of arbitration.” (St. Agnes Medical Center v. PacifiCare of California (2003) 31 Cal.4th 1187, 1195 (St. Agnes).) The California Supreme Court has held the issue of prejudice “is critical in waiver determinations.” (Id. at p. 1203.) “Because merely participating in litigation, by itself, does not result in a waiver,...

Excerpt: ...In an action for recovery of damages suffered as a result of childhood sexual assault” (CCP § 340.1(a)), section 340.1 requires filing “certificates of merit” by plaintiff's counsel and a licensed mental health practitioner (id., subds. (g-h)). The certificates of merit by plaintiff's counsel Michael A. Amaro state he reviewed the facts of the case, consulted with a mental health practitioner, and concluded there is reasonable and meritori...

Excerpt: ...greement. Plaintiff argues the Code of Civil Procedure governs discovery in any arbitration proceeding. Defendant argues the JAMS Rules should apply. (Yuzna Decl., ¶¶ 4, 6, Ex. A.) The current dispute over the discovery provision does not pertain to whether the parties agreed to arbitrate disputes. “Contract formation is governed by objective manifestations, not the subjective intent of any individual involved. The test is what the outward ma...

Excerpt: ... vacate any (1) resulting default entered by the clerk against his or her client.” (CCP § 473(b).) Timeliness Plaintiff Virginia Hazarian argues defendant's motion is untimely. A motion to set aside default based on an attorney's affidavit of fault must be “made no more than six months after entry of judgment.” (CCP § 473(b).) Defendant filed this motion more than six months after the clerk entered its default on September 29, 2022. But n...

Excerpt: ... plaintiff People's Pizza LLC. Defendants argue the complaint only alleges facts regarding plaintiff Kenji Morinaga, “the chief executive of People's Pizza,” rather than People's Pizza LLC itself. (Comp., ¶ 7.) In general, the law recognizes “separation between an individual and a business entity.” (Curci Investments, LLC v. Baldwin (2017) 14 Cal.App.5th 214, 221.) As defendants argue, that an LLC's sole member has a cause of action does...

Excerpt: ...urt may impose such sanctions against a party who disobeys a court order compelling further responses to requests for production (CCP § 2031.310(i)) or an order compelling inspection or production of documents (CCP § 2031.320(c)). Court Orders Plaintiff contends defendant violated two related court orders. On June 29, 2016, the court granted plaintiff's motion to compel defendant Dignity Health to further respond to requests for production. (Ma...

Excerpt: ...abeled “request to enter default judgments for good cause against defendants T.L. Beach Ltd.; Greendot Limited; Four Star Development; Flower Funding; North Star Holdings; Rafael A. Alburto Soza; Javier Padilla; Randal Fox; and Dorothy R. Brown Smith.” Defendant North Star Holdings Plaintiff's request to enter default judgments purports to include a stipulation with defendant North Star Holdings to set aside a deed of trust in lieu of service...

Excerpt: ... to defendants' evidence. All 10 objections are overruled. Defendants make five objections to plaintiff's evidence. All five objections are overruled. Legal Standard Summary judgment should be granted where no triable issues of fact exist and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. (CCP § 437c(c); Villa v. McFerren (1995) 35 Cal.App.4th 733, 741.) Courts use a three-step analysis: “(1) identify the issues framed by the ple...

Excerpt: ... Leonardo Ramirez-Alvarez, Keila Daniela Ramirez-Alvarez, and Dasha Sadash Ramirez. 4th Cause of Action: Business & Professions Code § 17200 Plaintiffs allege sufficient facts for this cause of action. Defendants argue plaintiffs have not shown that any wrongful conduct is defendants' “regular practice.” (Demurrer, p. 7.) Business and Professions Code section 17200, however, “covers single acts of misconduct.” ( Klein v. Earth Elements, ...

Excerpt: ...s and rates: Timekee er Barry (rate 1) Barry (rate 2) Barry (rate 3) Quinn (rate 1) Quinn (rate 2) Galaviz (rate 1) Galaviz (rate 2) Hayes (rate 1) Hayes (rate 2) Norris Pascal (rate 1) Pascal (rate 2) Kim (rate 1) Rate Hours $525 $600 $625 $500 $550 $425 $515 $400 $450 $425 $300 $350 $250 8.5 16.1 5 2.8 0.3 11.4 0.3 5.5 0.3 6.4 9 0.3 69.5 Billed 4,462.50 9,660.00 3,125.00 1,400.00 165.00 4,845.00 154.50 2,200.00 135.00 2,720.00 2,700.00 105.00 1...

Excerpt: ...e following attorney fees and expenses: Timekeeper Rate Hours Billed Kaufman Mandel Flansburg Masri Subtotal Multiplier Other Costs Total $595 $395 $210 $150 1.5 69.9 17.1 1.8 0.5 s 41,590.50 6,754.50 378.00 75.00 48,798.00 73,197.00 2,147.38 75,344.38 Hourly Rates Attorney Joseph Kaufinan bills $595 hourly. Attorney Jacqueline Mandel bills $395 hourly. Defendant Nissan North America, Inc. argues the court should reduce their rates to $400 and $2...

Excerpt: ...rsity internal administrative remedies before filing suit in superior court for retaliatory termination under _ _ Labor Code section 1102_5_" (Campbell v. Regents of University ofCa/ifornia (2005) 35 Cal_4th 3 1 1, 317 The University of California's whistleblower protection policy requires employees to "file their complaints with a Sworn Statement within 12 months of the actions believed to be retaliatory." (RJN, Ex_ B, p. 1.) UCLA procedure 620 ...

Excerpt: ...party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. (CCP 437c(c); Villa v. McFerren (1995) 35 Cal App_4th 733, 741.) Courts use a three-step analysis. "(1) identihr the issues framed by the pleadings, (2) determine whether the moving party has negated the opponent's claims; and (3) determine whether the opposition has demonstrated the existence ofa triable, material factual issue." (Hinesley v. Oakshade Town Center (2005) 135 calApp_4th 289, 294) P...

Excerpt: ...s to requests for production or interrogatories, "[i]f a party then fails to obey" the order, "the court may make those orders that are just, including" imposing monetary, issue, evidence, or terminating sanctions. (CCP [interrogatories], 2031 _300(c) [requests for production] _ ) Defendant Eldridge disobeyed two orders compelling discovery responses. On January 10, 2023 the court ordered Eldridge to respond to form interrogatories, set one, with...

Excerpt: ...o any alleged cause of action, we examine the factual allegations of the complaint, 'to determine whether they state a cause of action on any available legal theory.' " (Adelman v. Associated Intern. Ins. Co. (2001) 90 Cal App_4th 352, 359.) Moreover, gross negligence is not truly a cause of action, as the demurrer ackrlowledges_ (Cin of Santa Barbara v. Superior Court (2007) 41 Cal 4th 747, 779—780 (Santa Barbara) ["We do not view our holding ...