Excerpt: ...tle with Plaintiffs for $20,000. LAUSD seeks an order from the Court finding that the settlement is in good faith. LAUSD timely and properly served the moving papers on all parties to the action. Any opposition to the motion was due on or before 2/15/18. The Court has not received opposition to the motion. Notably, on 1/24/18, Plaintiff filed a Notice of Settlement of the entire case. The burden on a motion for determination of good faith settlem...

Excerpt: ...ous UV light that caused eye damage. SRC filed a cross‐complaint against Nazzareno Electric Co., Inc. At this time, Nazzareno moves for leave to file a cross‐complaint against Acuity Brands Lighting, Inc. for indemnification and related claims. Defendant contends Acuity manufactured and sold the subject light. A cross‐complaint against any of the parties who filed the initial complaint or cross‐complaint against the cross‐complainant mu...

Excerpt: ...s' tram; the tram driver made a sudden turn, which caused Plaintiff to sustain a laceration on her knee; she has recovered fully from all injuries at this time. At this time Plaintiff, by and through her GAL and attorney of record, has agreed to settle all claims with Defendants for the total amount of $70,000. If approved, $6142.33 will be used for medical expenses, $23,333 for attorneys' fees, and $2960 for costs of suit; the net balance of $37...

Excerpt: ... and negligent entrustment; it was filed on 8/10/17. On 10/03/17, Defendants filed an answer to the complaint. The case is set for trial on 2/11/19. Motion for Leave to Amend At this time, Plaintiff seeks leave to amend the complaint to add a claim for gross, as opposed to ordinary, negligence. Plaintiff timely filed and served her motion on 1/17/18. To date, there is no opposition to the motion. i. Law Governing Leave to Amend The court may, in ...

Excerpt: ... not possible. The motion is denied without prejudice. Counsel's declaration indicates Client was served by personal service and also service by mail. The proof of service, however, only indicates the papers were served by mail. The proposed order on the motion indicates the papers were served by personal service. This ruling is without prejudice to Counsel's right to re‐file the motion and clarify how the papers were served and ensure all docu...

Excerpt: ...IME of Plaintiff. The parties have met and conferred at length, but cannot agree on whether or not a female “chaperone” should be present at the examination. Plaintiff correctly notes in the opposition to the motion that there is no provision in the Code that permits a chaperone to be present at the examination. However, the Code does not prohibit it either. Defendant argues the request is being made per Code, and cites §2032.310 to support ...

Excerpt: ...date. On 11/27/17, Plaintiff appeared ex parte and was granted a continuance of the trial date; discovery was NOT continued to reflect the new trial date. The case is now set for trial on 3/20/18. On 12/11/17, Defendant filed this motion to re‐open discovery. Plaintiff filed opposition and Defendant a reply. If the motion were granted, the effect of the ruling would be to re‐open discovery with the discovery cut‐off reflecting the new, as o...

Excerpt: ...laint on 4/21/17. On 7/17/17, the Clerk entered default on Shinkle and Sons' Greenhouse, Inc. On 7/27/17, David Diaz and Bountiful Gardens filed an answer to the complaint. At this time, Defendant, Shinkle and Sons' Greenhouse moves to set aside the default entered against it. Defendant filed its moving papers on 12/08/17. The essence of the motion is simple. Defendant contends it has long been run by two brothers, Jim and Bill. Jim recently suff...

Excerpt: ...n from unlimited to limited jurisdiction court, contending Plaintiffs will not recover damages in excess of the jurisdictional limit in this case. The crux of Defendant's argument is that the automobile accident at issue was caused primarily by an uninsured driver, and Plaintiffs have already recovered all of their damages by way of their uninsured motorists' insurance. Additionally, he provides evidence that Plaintiffs' combined property and med...

Excerpt: ...17. On 11/07/17, Plaintiff filed a Notice of Settlement of Entire Case, pursuant to which Defendant took its motion off calendar. Plaintiff has not, to date, filed a request for dismissal of the case. b. Parties' Positions Defendant moves to dismiss the case pursuant to CRC 3.1385, which requires a plaintiff who files a notice of settlement to file a request for dismissal within 45 days. Alternatively, it moves to dismiss pursuant to CCP §583.41...

Excerpt: ... of interrogatories and one RPDs, as well as a motion to deem RFAs admitted (inadvertently captioned as a motion to compel responses to RFAs), contending no responses had been served. On 1/30/18, Plaintiff filed oppositions to the motions. The oppositions indicate that Plaintiff has responded to all discovery, and served the responses on 12/27/17. No copy of the responses is included with the opposition. The Court assumes this is correct as it ca...

Excerpt: ... Plaintiff filed a First Amended Complaint. The FAC also fails to include any substantive cause of action or facts in support of his claim. On 8/16/16, the Court denied Plaintiff's request for a fee waiver. On 9/15/16, in light of the Court's lack of receipt of the filing fees, the Court dismissed the case. On 11/06/16, the Court denied an ex parte application re: payment of fees. The Court's ruling was without prejudice. On 5/04/17, Plaintiff su...

Excerpt: ...Defendant moves to dismiss the action, contending Plaintiff is a vexatious litigant and has not obtained the necessary pre‐filing order prior to commencing this litigation. Defendant provides evidence, by way of Exhibit A to the moving papers, that Plaintiff was declared a vexatious litigant by the Honorable Elihu M. Berle on 11/17/03. Defendant also provides evidence, by way of Exhibit B to the moving papers, that the Honorable Lee Smalley Edm...

Excerpt: ... on 1/06/16, and the matter was originally set for trial on 12/06/17. On 10/04/17, the parties filed a stipulation to continue the trial date, and trial is currently scheduled for 4/25/18. At this time, Doe Defendant, California Food Management, LLC moves to continue the trial date for approximately four months, from 4/25/18 to 8/23/18. Defendant was substituted into the action on 6/05/17. Defendant also explains that, shortly after it was added ...

Excerpt: ...adings on the complaint, contending a settlement has been reached and Plaintiffs agreed to dismiss the case. Defendants cite no applicable authority in support of their motion for judgment on the pleadings, and it is denied. The Court, in ruling on a motion for judgment on the pleadings, is limited to consideration of the face of the pleading and judicially noticeable documents. CCP § 438(d). Defendants herein failed to show that the face of the...

Excerpt: ...l council form complaint against defendant Judicial Council of California (“JCC”) and Does 1 to 50 alleging causes of action for premises liability and general negligence. Notably, the premises liability claim includes count one ‐ negligence, count two‐willful failure to warn and count three‐dangerous condition of public property. The form complaint alleges that on September 20, 2016, as Plaintiff was exiting an elevator on premises own...

Excerpt: ...as operating her rental vehicle at the airport in Cabo San Lucas during a business trip related to and on behalf of defendant [NP]. Defendant…so carelessly and negligently operated her rental vehicle in such a manner as to cause it to move forward while the Plaintiff was partly in and partly out of the passenger side of the vehicle, causing the vehicle to collide with and drag the Plaintiff, which caused Plaintiff to sustain physical injuries a...

Excerpt: ...dant's slide onto unpadded pavement. The minor plaintiff suffered an elbow/arm fracture as a result of the incident, but has completely recovered from his injuries at this time. Plaintiff, by and through his GAL and attorney, has agreed to settle this action with Defendant for the total amount of $50,627.19. If approved, $5627.19 will be used for medical bills, $12,656.80 for attorneys' fees, and $846.42 for costs of suit. Petitioner proposes to ...

Excerpt: ...dice, holding: The application fails to satis$ CRC 9.40. While the applicant establishes that he is licensed in the States of Arizona and Florida, is in good standing, does not regularly work or live in CA, and has an associated CA attorney, Ryan D. Fischback associated as counsel in the case, the applicant fails to state whether he has appeared pro hac vice in any other cases in California in the past two years. This statement is required per CR...

Excerpt: ...omplaint, and related documents; the POS shows service by substituted service on Defendant's husband on 11/15/15 with the documents mailed thereafter. A declaration of mailing and declaration of diligence is included. On 6/13/16, Plaintiff filed proof of service of the statement of damages; the POS shows service via personal service on Defendant. On 2/14/17, at Plaintiff's request, the Clerk entered Defendant's default. 2. Prior Request for Defau...

Excerpt: ...d after the appendectomy heals; Defendants indicate they will contact Plaintiff to schedule the gall bladder surgery in the future Early 2017 – Plaintiff switches medical providers 4/14/17 – Plaintiff undergoes an emergent gall bladder removal surgery 5/30/17 – Plaintiff submits a claim for damages to Defendants June 2017 – Defendants contact Plaintiff to schedule the gall bladder removal surgery 6/01/17 – Defendants deny the claim beca...

Excerpt: ...iff files her complaint against the City 8/29/16 – Defense Counsel writes Plaintiff a letter suggesting LACMTA be added as a defendant to facilitate satisfactory settlement of the case 8/30/16 – Defendant files a cross‐complaint against LACMTA 9/19/19 – Plaintiff files an amended complaint naming LACMTA as a defendant 10/19/16 – LACMTA files an answer to the complaint and a cross‐complaint against the City 10/24/16 – Plaintiff submi...

Excerpt: ...ndant served Plaintiff with a second copy of the outstanding discovery. On 1/16/18, Plaintiff filed responses to all of the above‐detailed discovery. On 1/17/18, Defendant filed and served these motions to compel, contending it had not received any responses to the outstanding discovery. Pursuant to CRC 3.250(a)(8), responses to discovery are NOT to be filed with the Court. Each of the sets of discovery responses, however, also bears proof of s...

Excerpt: ...finds the motion, as well as the opposition and reply, reveal ongoing discovery abuses by Plaintiff that are inexcusable. The Court is, however, concerned that terminating sanctions are too harsh a remedy at this point. The Court granted a motion to compel initial responses, without objections, to supplemental interrogatories, supplemental RPDs, and special interrogatories, set two on 11/02/17. Plaintiff served responses to all of the discovery, ...

Excerpt: ...ch that further representation is not possible. Each of the attorneys declares he served the moving papers on his client via mail at a confirmed address. Each attorney has filed proof of service on his client and on all parties who have appeared in the action. Defendant opposes the motion, arguing that the Court recently imposed monetary sanctions on Plaintiff and his attorneys of record, jointly and severally, which have not been paid. Defendant...

Excerpt: ...intiff suffered lacerations and scars to his face as a result of the accident, but has fully recovered. At this time Plaintiff, by and through his GAL and attorney of record, has agreed to settle his claims with the Ahns for the total amount of $60,265.00. Petitioner proposes to use $15,066.26 to pay outstanding medical bills, $5329.00 for attorneys' fees, $3098.18 for costs of suit, and to place the remaining $36,771.57 in a blocked account. The...

Excerpt: ...d automobile accident. At this time, Defendants move to reclassify this case as a limited jurisdiction case. Defendants provide evidence that Plaintiffs' recoverable medical specials are approximately $7000 and their property damage claim is approximately $900. Defendants provide evidence that Plaintiffs only treated with a chiropractor as a result of the accident. A motion to reclassify an unlimited civil case as a limited civil case may be gran...

Excerpt: ... a deposition subpoena for production of business records on Plaintiff's employer. The deposition subpoena is an “any and all” style subpoena, seeking to compel production of Plaintiff's entire personnel file from 8/20/13 to the present date. At this time, Plaintiff moves to quash the subpoena, contending it is protected by his right to privacy, and any need for the information is not outweighed by his right to privacy. Any opposition to the ...

Excerpt: ...urposes. The facts important to today's motion are as follows: on the date of the accident, Wayna Tamanaha was driving a motorcycle when he was struck by a car driven by Mendoza. Mendoza and Barrios have given conflicting statements concerning how the accident occurred; each contends the other made an unsafe and illegal lane change, which resulted in their two cars colliding, ultimately sending Mendoza's car into Tamanaha's motorcycle. Tamanaha i...

Excerpt: ...inal complaint on 7/21/17. On 7/31/17, before Defendant was served with the summons and complaint, Plaintiffs filed a First Amended Complaint. On 9/26/17, Defendant appeared in the action by filing a motion to strike the prayer for punitive damages and related language from the FAC. Plaintiffs, rather than oppose the motion, chose to file a Second Amended Complaint; upon receipt of the SAC, Defendant voluntarily took the motion to strike off cale...

Excerpt: ..., and on 12/13/17, Sandoval filed a motion to strike the punitive damages related allegations. The hearing on the motion is scheduled for 2/09/18, with any opposition to the motion due on or before 1/29/18. As of 2/02/18, the Court has not received an opposition to the motion. For reasons that are not clear, rather than opposing the motion and seeking leave to amend, Plaintiff instead chose to file a motion for leave to amend, setting it for hear...

Excerpt: ...nt is the original complaint, which alleges Herb Dow is liable to Plaintiff because he operated the subject vehicle; Plaintiff alleged Does 1‐100 employed the persons who operated the subject vehicle, owned the motor vehicle, and entrusted the motor vehicle. See complaint, ¶MV‐2. 2. Motion for Leave to Amend At this time, Plaintiff moves for leave to amend the complaint. Plaintiff seeks to amend the complaint in two ways. First, she wants to...

Excerpt: ...ime, Defendant, Imad‐Aldeen Shbeeb‐Muammad, M.D. moves for summary judgment on the complaint, contending the care and treatment of Decedent complied with the standard of care at all times and did not cause or contribute to Decedent's death. The standard of care against which the acts of health care providers are to be measured is a matter within the knowledge of experts. Elcome v. Chin (2003) 110 Cal.App.4th 310, 317. Unless the conduct requi...

Excerpt: ...r. On 11/07/17, the Court denied the request for a fee waiver. On 11/30/17, the Clerk voided the filing of the complaint. At this time, Plaintiff seeks an order reinstating the case. He indicates that he paid the necessary fees on 12/01/17, and the Clerk cashed the check. Indeed, the Court's file shows receipt of the filing fee on 12/07/17. Plaintiff indicates that he “does not understand” why the case was dismissed, and concludes the dismiss...

Excerpt: ...d an additional attempt to meet and confer, Plaintiff has not served responses. Defendant therefore seeks an order compelling Plaintiff to respond, without objections, to the outstanding discovery and to pay sanctions. Defendant's motions are granted. Plaintiff is ordered to serve verified responses to form interrogatories, special interrogatories, and RPDs, without objections, within ten days. CCP §§2030.290(a),(b), 2031.300(a),(b). Sanctions ...

Excerpt: ...ges arising out of an automobile accident. Plaintiffs' Decedent, Brianna Sanchez, died in the collision. On 10/03/17, the Schneider Defendants propounded a deposition subpoena for production of business records on the California Highway Patrol. The subpoena sought production of all of CHP's records and documents relating to the subject vehicle accident. Defendants contemporaneously served a notice to consumer on Plaintiff. Plaintiffs did not obje...

Excerpt: ...f a slip and fall in one of Defendant's stores. At ¶Prem. L‐1, Plaintiff alleges Defendant had actual or constructive notice of the spill on their premises in sufficient time to clean the spill. 2. Motion for Summary Judgment Defendant moves for summary judgment on the complaint, contending it lacked actual or constructive notice of the subject spill prior to the accident. a. Law Governing Motions for Summary Judgment A defendant moving for su...

Excerpt: ...the matter was originally set for trial on 10/26/17. On 7/25/17, the parties filed a stipulation to continue the trial date, and trial is currently scheduled for 3/27/18. At this time, Defendant moves to continue the trial date for approximately five months, from 3/27/18 to 8/06/18. Defendant indicates all parties have stipulated to the relief sought; no formal stipulation, however, is submitted with the moving papers. Defendant establishes that ...

Excerpt: ...dants' path. The parties stipulated to substitute AC‐Catalina Landing, LLC for The Abbey Company, LLC. 2. Motion for Summary Judgment At this time, Defendants, Catalina Channel Express and AC‐Catalina Landing, LLC move for summary adjudication on Plaintiff's operative Second Amended Complaint. Specifically, they seek adjudication of the following two issues: 1. Plaintiff's sole cause of action against Defendants for "Negligence" is co...

Excerpt: ...sition off calendar. Thereafter, Defendant agreed to several deposition dates with Plaintiff's attorney, but each was canceled at the last minute. Defendant has been attempting to obtain dates for deposition from Plaintiff's attorney, but no dates have been forthcoming. On 12/12/17, the Court denied Defendant's motion to compel Plaintiff's deposition, without prejudice, finding that Defendant failed to show she propounded a Notice of Deposition o...

Excerpt: ...cident are not in dispute. The accident occurred on San Vicente Blvd. in Brentwood. Fact 1. There were four cars involved in the accident, from front to back being Plaintiff, unidentified third party, McDermott, and then Schaffner. Fact 3. McDermott was completely stopped when Schaffner made impact with him. Facts 4‐6. At this time, the McDermott defendants move for summary judgment on the complaint, contending nothing Conor McDermott did cause...

Excerpt: ...roduction of business records on Plaintiff's various medical providers. The parties attempted to meet and confer, but were unable to resolve the issues relating to this motion to quash. At this time, Plaintiff moves to quash the subpoenas. Of note there, are five subpoenas that are the subject of this hearing; three motions were originally scheduled for 2/06/18, but have been continued to 2/07/18, to be heard contemporaneously with the remaining ...

Excerpt: ...ity to eat from the date of the procedure (9/27/16) until she passed away on 1/11/18. Plaintiff was 47 years old at the time of her death, and there was a conservatorship over her estate created by the Probate Court, with John Kao, Plaintiff's brother, appointed as her conservator. At this time Plaintiff, by and through her brother and attorney of record, has agreed to settle all claims with Defendant for the total amount of $165,000; Petitioner ...

Excerpt: ...0/23/17, Defendants served non‐party, Uber with a deposition subpoena for production of business records. The subpoena sought production of “any and all documents or reports evidencing or documenting all passenger rides wherein Saeed Foroutan utilized Uber as a driver on March 28 ‐ 31, 2015, including the times and locations of passenger pick‐up and drop off, and identities of passengers.” Defendants and Uber met and conferred, with Ube...

Excerpt: .... Plaintiff filed her complaint on 6/30/16. On 11/28/17, Defense Counsel e‐mailed Plaintiff's attorney to obtain a date for Plaintiff's deposition. Receiving no response, Defense Counsel unilaterally set the deposition for 12/21/17. Defense Counsel attempted to confirm the deposition on two occasions, again without response. There was no objection to the notice of deposition. Ultimately, on 12/19/17, at 11:54 p.m., Plaintiff's attorney e‐mail...

Excerpt: ... on 2/02/15. Plaintiff tendered a claim to Defendant's insurance company, which denied the claim. On 5/11/16, Plaintiff filed proof of service of the summons, complaint, statement of damages, and related documents on Defendant. The POS indicates Defendant was served by personal service at her home address on 4/26/16. On 9/05/17, at Plaintiff's request, the Clerk entered Defendant's default. On 9/06/17, the Court entered judgment in Plaintiff's fa...

Excerpt: ...a stipulation to continue the trial date, but the Court rejected the stipulation because the name of the attorney on the stipulation did not match the name of the attorney in the file. The parties executed a second stipulation and filed it prior to trial. It did not, however, reach the courtroom prior to the scheduled trial date of 11/27/17. No party appeared at the trial, and the Court dismissed the case due to failure to appear. At this time, P...

Excerpt: ...in his capacity as a cross‐complainant, on 8/21/17 and 10/27/17. To date, despite multiple extensions of time to respond, Cross‐Complainant has not served responses. Cross‐Defendant therefore seeks an order compelling Cross‐Complainant to respond, without objections, to the outstanding discovery and to pay sanctions. Cross‐Defendant's motions are granted. Cross‐Complainant is ordered to serve verified responses to form interrogatories...

Excerpt: ...na Shores”) for damages arising out of a slip and fall incident. Important to this motion, Marina Shores was the owner of the property where Plaintiff fell, and Phenix operated a salon on the property. At ¶11 of his complaint, Plaintiff alleges: On or about 9:00 a.m. on February 27, 2014, Plaintiff, LOUIS GARCIA fell as he entered PHENIX SALON SUITES. A condition on the property caused water to pool in front of the door to PHENIX SALON SUITES....

Excerpt: ...e in connection with the care and treatment of Decedent, Marleny Escobar. At ¶10 of their complaint, Plaintiffs alleges Defendants are liable for malpractice because they “negligently failed to recognize, timely diagnose and/or properly treat an infection and/or a malignancy and/or an autoimmune disorder and/or a life ‐threatening condition, hemophagocytic symphohistiocytosis, and/or some other disorder without being limited thereto.” 2. M...