Excerpt: ... for Admission (“RFA's”) in discovery. ANALYSIS A. Plaintiff's Motion for Attorney's Fees/Cost of Proof Sanctions Plaintiff seeks “cost of proof” attorney's fees and costs per § CCP 2033.420 based on Defendant's failure to admit certain Requests for Admission. Defendant asserts that the motion should be denied as it “had reasonable ground to believe . . . [he] would prevail on the matter,” and/or that he had “other good reason for ...

Excerpt: ...dum seeking $1,242,105.31 in costs. Both Defendants now move to tax those costs. A hearing was held on these is motions on 12/15/23, at which time this Court asked for additional briefing on Defendant Dakovic's argument that CCP 998(h) limits expert fees to trial testimony only. This Court has now read the supplemental briefs on this issue and analyzes it in Section IV.B.4(a) below. Only this paragraph and that new Section are new and delineated ...

Excerpt: ...seeking $1,242,105.31 in costs. Both Defendants now move to tax those costs. II. THRESHOLD PROCEDURAL ISSUES A. Dakovic Objection to Length of P Opposition Brief Dakovic objects to P's 23 page Opposition Brief under CRC 3.1113(b) [opposing briefs cannot exceed 15 pages]. Dakovic is correct, but rather than striking P's Opposition Brief in total, instead this Court strikes pages 16-23 of their Opposition Brief. B. P Objection to Timeliness of Dako...

Excerpt: ... on the property of Crystal Hotel and Casino. Defendant ACI owned the Crystal Hotel whereas Defendant Celebrity Casinos owned the Casino. Defendant ACI settled out just before trial and so trial proceeded only as against Defendant Celebrity Casinos. After a 9 day jury trial, the jury found for Plaintiffs and awarded approximately $52K to Plaintiff Michael Slocum and approximately $25K to Plaintiff Kendra Slocum. The jury also apportioned 10% faul...

Excerpt: ...ts JMM and George Dakovic and Sons. On 6/26/23, the jury found both Defendants responsible for exposing Metzger to asbestos from Defendant JMM's pipes and from Defendant Dakovich & Sons' cutting of asbestos containing pipe in Metzger's presence. The jury found that such exposures caused Mr. Metzger to contract mesothelioma which eventually killed him. The jury verdict awarded to Mr. Metzger's estate approximately $3.6M, Gail Metzger $4M, and daug...

Excerpt: ...ount rendered by the jury. Defendant (“D”) seeks in the instant motion to tax certain of P's requested costs. II. CHALLENGED COSTS A. Item 1: Filing and Motion Fees: Ex Parte Filing to Oppose Continuance ($ 60) D asserts that P's filing fee for opposing P's ex parte application to continue the trial was not reasonable or necessary. This Court disagrees and DENIES the taxing of this filing fee cost. B. Item 8: Witness Fees: P Witness George Gr...

Excerpt: ...efendant T&T Trucking had previously dropped a large commercial metal pipe onto the highway which the CR England tractor trailer then collided with. This in turn caused the CR England truck to lose control and strike P's truck. Plaintiff sued both Defendants and the jury returned a verdict for Plaintiff against Defendant T&T Trucking but not against Defendant CR England. After the verdict was rendered, both Plaintiff and Defendant CR England both...

Excerpt: ...lly: P claimed he suffered a shoulder injury from the collision which necessitated various medical treatnlents including surgery. After an 8 day jury trial, on 2/27/23 the jury returned a verdict finding that D's negligence had caused harm to P, but awarded no monetary damages. P now brings the instant motions for JNOV and for a new trial on the grounds that the verdict was not supportable by the evidence. D argues that these motions are time bar...

Excerpt: ... had agreed to stay in the leased apartment for only 1 year. The lease agreement was unenforceable as against public policy as it attempted to have D waive tenant protections under the Los Angeles Rent Stabilization Ordinance (“LARSO”). In spite of this, P's theory was that D defrauded them when she promised she would move out after a year knowing that she had no intention of doing so. After the year's lease expired, D did not vacate. After a...

Excerpt: ...“D”) admitted liability and trial proceeded only as to non-economic damages suffered by Plaintiff (“P”). After an 8 day jury trial, on 8/3/22 the jury awarded P a total of $15,000 for past non-economic damages and none for any future non-economic damages. Five months prior to verdict, on 3/14/22 D made an offer to settle for the amount of $90,000 per CCP § 998 which was not accepted by P. Because P did not recover more than the $90K sett...

Excerpt: ...h action brought by Plaintiffs (“P”) against Defendant's medical center (“D”), alleging that inadequate medical care regarding worsening bed sores led to the death of P's family member, decedent Edroy Brewer (“decedent”). The issue in this motion centers around both parties having had contact with the same juror consultant, Marshall Hennington (“Consultant”). These contacts have let to P's allegation in this motion that their priv...

Excerpt: ...ndant's medical center (“D”), alleging that inadequate medical care regarding worsening bed sores led to the death of P's family member, decedent Edroy Brewer (“decedent”). Voir dire began on 6/28/22 in which 2 panels of prospective jurors were brought in and time qualified. Those that were time qualified were given juror questionnaires to fill out which were completed, and copies provided to counsel in preparation for jury selection. On ...

Excerpt: ...ce Without repeating all the factual assertions contained in D's Opposition Brief, pps. 4-7, this Court finds that there was more than adequate evidence to support the jury's rejection of P's claim of past and future damages. As pointed out by D, there was more than sufficient evidence to cast doubt upon P's credibility and therefore his claims of damages suffered or P's assertion that those damages were caused by the accident. While the evidence...

Excerpt: ... Memorandum seeking $15,285.80 in costs. Defendant files this Motion to Tax Costs seeking to reduce that request by $5,588.19. II. FEES AT ISSUE A. Videotaped Depos Defendant challenges video processing charges of $1,618 for depositions of 2 of P's medical experts who eventually testified live at trial, which Defendant argues mooted the necessity for the videotaped testimony and was therefore not “reasonably necessary to the conduct of the liti...

Excerpt: ...21 finding D 85% liable and P 15% comparatively negligent and awarded past and future damages (after applying the 15% comparative negligence reduction to the gross award of $770,000) to P in the net amount of $654,500. P now brings this motion for attorney's fees via “cost of proof sanctions,” seeking $288,900 and additional costs of $102,523.85. P has also submitted his Memorandum of Costs seeking $106,271.09, including expert fees on the th...

Excerpt: ...he jury rendered a verdict on 9/17/21 and found D 65% liable and P 35% comparatively negligent and awarded past and future damages in the amount of $574,542.71. Applying the 35% discount for comparative negligence, the judgment against D nets out at $375,452.756. P brings her motion for attorney's fees via cost of proof sanctions, seeking $129,726.20. P has submitted her Memorandum of Costs requesting $183,076.73. D has moved to strike P's Cost M...

Excerpt: ...ovisions regarding excessive usage of 2 common areas: (1) loading dock area (alleging storing freezer trucks there), and (2) immediate front of the Ralphs Supermarket (alleging daytime storage of shopping carts). Plaintiff brings this motion for summary judgement or in the alternative for summary adjudication of 14 affirmative defenses asserted by Defendant. TENTATIVE RULING I. SUMMARY JUDGMENT This Court DENIES Plaintiff's MSJ on the grounds: 1....

Excerpt: ... Both Defendants answered, but only Defendant Flores appeared and proceeded to trial on 5/26/10. Movant/Defendant McManis failed to appear and was tried in absentia. Judgement was rendered for Plaintiff against both Defendants including damages of $10,731.58 against Movant McManis. Ten years later, on March 13, 2020, Plaintiff sought and was granted a renewal of his Judgment as there were still unpaid damages outstanding. Movant McManis filed her...

Excerpt: ...laintiff is an attorney who represented Defendant Vanessa Raicevic in a prior UD action. Vanessa failed to pay for the fees and costs incurred on her behalf in the UD action. Plaintiff also alleges that Vanessa's brother, Defendant Rade Raicevic interfered with the contract between Plaintiff and Vanessa and caused Vanessa to fire Plaintiff. A. COMPLAINT FILED ON 1-11-18 1st c/a—promissory fraud 2nd c/a—breach of contract 3rd c/a—common coun...

Excerpt: ...ade a CCP § 998 offer of waiver of costs to Plaintiffs which was rejected. As the prevailing party, Defendant now seeks $163,545.97 in expert fees. I. VALIDITY OF § 998 OFFER Initially, Plaintiff asks this Court to strike Defendant's § 998 offer as not being in good faith, unreasonable, and too early in the discovery process. This Court rejects these arguments. The glaring weakness in Plaintiff's case was the inability to prove causation; spec...

Excerpt: ...verdict. Specifically, the jury found that the railing on the bridge and surrounding area that the deceased went over was not a dangerous condition. Plaintiff brings this Motion for a New Trial on the following bases addressed below. 1. Reweighing the Evidence This Court finds that there was more than sufficient evidence to support the jury's finding that the bridge was not a dangerous condition, including evidence that there had never been any r...

Excerpt: ...ciary duty, and fraudulent transfer. Plaintiffs also sought punitive damages in a bifurcated phase. After a 4 week jury trial, on 4/5/19, the jury returned a verdict for Plaintiffs and found that Defendants had committed the violations with malice, oppression, or fraud. After immediately proceeding to the punitive phase of the trial, a mistrial had to be declared as two jurors were no longer able to serve after 4/5/19. Plaintiff now moves to try ...

Excerpt: ...UBJECT: COMPEL ARBITRATION MP: Defendant Sunrise Senior Living Management, Inc. d/b/a Sunrise Assisted Living of Santa Monica RP: Plaintiff Linda Kunimoto, by and through her successor-in-interest, Ann Kunimoto TENTATIVE RULING: GRANT I. BACKGROUND This is a medical malpractice and elder abuse case where Plaintiff decedent Linda Kunimoto (“Plaintiff”), by and through her successor-in-interest, Ann Kunimoto alleges that she was a patient at De...

Excerpt: ...L RECORD TENTATIVE RULING: DENY without prejudice Defendant Manon Hennesy (“Defendant”) made this motion for an order sealing records because Defendant claims that some documents at issue disclose highly confidential and sensitive personal and/or business information. The specific documents involve personal information, tax information, and property information. ANALYSIS Under CRC Rule 2.550(c), Court records are presumed to be open. CRC Rule...

Excerpt: ... Defendant WPS Parking Systems USA Corp. RP: Plaintiff Anna Moskowitz BACKGROUND Plaintiff alleges that on October 12, 2015, Defendants negligently maintained their property to allow a parking arm gate that could move up and down dropped onto her head as she walked underneath it. On April 3, 2018, Plaintiff filed a doe amendment, adding WPS Parking Systems USA Corp. as a defendant. COMPLAINT – filed January 26, 2017 1. Negligence 2. Premises li...