Excerpt: ...erty Management Company (“Defendants”) for habitability violations. Defendants move to strike portions of the complaint. Plaintiffs oppose the motion. ANALYSI S Any party, within the time allowed to respond to a pleading, may serve and file a motion to strike the whole pleading or any part thereof. (Code Civ. Proc., § 435, subd. (b)(1); Cal. Rules of Court, rule 3.1322(b).) On a motion to strike, the court may: (1) strike out any irrelevant,...

Excerpt: ... - 51, 54, 59-63, and 65. Defendant opposes the motion. But in their Joint Statement in keeping with the court's April 30, 2024 order, the parties inform the court only responses to RPD Nos. 9, 17, and 37 -51 remain in dispute. ANALYSIS If the propounding party deems responses to requests for production of documents unsatisfactory, the propounding party may move to compel further responses. (Code Civ. Proc., § 2031.310.) Here, Plaintiff alleges ...

Excerpt: ...al. (Super. Ct. L.A. County, 2016, No. BC609762). Plaintiff alleges Defendant withdrew from his representation of Plaintiff shortly before trial and thereby disadvantaged Plaintiff. (Complaint, ¶¶ 8(h), 10.) Defendant moves for summary judgment on Plaintiff's complaint. Plaintiff opposes the motion. LEGAL STANDARD – MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT “[T]he party moving for summary judgment bears the burden of persuasion that there is no triable i...

Excerpt: ...ant demurs to the fifth cause of action in Plaintiff's second amended complaint. Defendant also moves to strike Plaintiff's prayer for punitive damages in the second amended complaint. Plaintiff opposes the motions. ANALYSIS “It is black letter law that a demurrer tests the legal sufficiency of the allegations in a complaint.” ( Lewis v. Safeway, Inc. (2015) 235 Cal.App.4th 385, 388.) In ruling on a demurrer, the court must “liberally const...

Excerpt: ...ALYSIS The moving party on a petition to compel arbitration “bears the burden of proving the existence of a valid arbitration agreement by a preponderance of the evidence, while a party opposing the petition bears the burden of proving by a preponderance of the evidence any fact necessary to its defense. The trial court sits as the trier of fact, weighing all the affidavits, declarations, and other documentary evidence, and any oral testimony t...

Excerpt: ...oves to set aside the default judgment Plaintiff took against Defendant. Plaintiff opposes the motion. DISCUSSION “There are four grounds which a court, utilizing its equity capacity may rely upon to provide relief from a default. Those areas are (1) void judgment, (2) extrinsic fraud, (3) constructive service, and (4) extrinsic mistake.” ( Stiles v. Wallis (1983) 147 Cal.App.3d 1143, 1147.) The Court may set aside the default judgment as voi...

Excerpt: ...default against Defendant. Defendant moves to set aside the default judgment Plaintiff took against Defendant. Plaintiff opposes the motion. The Court previously considered this motion and, in its order of January 17, 2024, continued the matter for further briefing. DISCUSSION “There are four grounds which a court, utilizing its equity capacity may rely upon to provide relief from a default. Those areas are (1) void judgment, (2) extrinsic frau...

Excerpt: ... (“Rosen”), Kevin Werner (“Werner”) and Brendan Ochinero (“Ochinero,” collectively, “Defendants”) for employment claims. Defendants demur to the second, fifth, seventh, eighth, tenth, eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth causes of action in Plaintiff's complaint. Defendants also move to strike the punitive damages allegations from the complaint. ANALYSIS “It is black letter law that a demurrer tests the legal sufficiency of the all...