Excerpt: ...endants failed to fix it. Eckhaus sues for breach of the warranty of merchantability under Cal. Civ. Code §1791 et seq., the Song-Beverly Act. Defendant McLaren Automotive (MAI) argues discovery revealed Eckhaus suffered no damages, making no lease payments or incurring any other expenses related to the vehicle. MAI seeks to reclassify the matter as limited civil. On January 13, 2021, the court issued a tentative ruling granting the motion. The ...

Excerpt: ...urt would consider terminating sanctions if Albinali again failed to comply. Defendant Calvert moves for terminating sanctions, as Albinali failed to appear. A court may order sanctions, up to and including terminating sanctions, for disobeying a discovery order. Cal. Code of Civ. Proc. §§ 2023.010, 2023.030. Terminating sanctions are meant to be remedial, not punitive, and should generally not be imposed unless lesser sanctions fail to induce ...

Excerpt: ...art Rubin's brother, seeking records and communications related to the project, and other development projects involving Stuart Rubin. Dr. Rubin, Stiffelman's former client, argues the subpoena violates attorney-client privilege and improperly seeks to weaponize confidential client information. Dr. Rubin also argues the subpoena's requests are overly broad, uncertain and oppressive. An attorney is forbidden to use against a client knowledge or in...

Excerpt: ... punitive damages from the SAC. On 10/13/2022 the court sustained a prior demurrer with leave to amend the FAC to provide facts as to the nature of the Bane/Ralph act violation allegations and to clarify Chompol and Sweeney's liability. Corporate officers are not liable for a corporation's wrongdoing by virtue of their status as officers or directors; they are liable only if they personally direct, ratify or participate in tortious conduct. Reyno...

Excerpt: ...Professional Conduct Rule 3.7(a) provides that a lawyer shall not act as an advocate in a trial in which the lawyer is likely to be a witness. Under the advocate-witness rule, “an attorney who intends to testify at trial may not participate in any pretrial activities which carry the risk of revealing the attorney's dual role to the jury.” In some instances, rule 3.7 prevents a testifying attorney from participating in pretrial litigation, suc...

Excerpt: ...her requests for reasonable accommodations, and the hotel and its amenities were inaccessible and/or dangerous. Defendant Palmetto Hospitality demurs to causes of action for intentional infliction of emotional distress and false imprisonment. Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress (IIED) A cause of action for intentional infliction of emotional distress requires conduct “so extreme as to exceed all bounds of that usually tolerated in a ci...

Excerpt: ... complaint (TACC), containing causes of action for negligent infliction of emotional distress and abuse of process. Aimco moves to strike under California's anti-SLAPP statute. Courts resolving an anti-SLAPP motion under Cal. Civ. Code §425.16 must follow a two-step process. Jarrow Formulas, Inc. v. LaMarche (2003) 31 Cal.4th 728, 733. In the prong one, the court determines whether the conduct underlying plaintiff's cause of action arises from t...

Excerpt: ...im harassing messages, interfering with his business relationships and damaging and/or stealing property. Vandenberg cross-complained, alleging Hall threatened and intimidated her, prevented her from accessing anxiety medication, kicked her out of their shared residence, and interfered with her business relationships. Hall moves to strike Vandenberg's request for punitive damages. If a plaintiff seeks punitive damages but does not specifically al...

Excerpt: ...against Bestland, alleging a contractual duty to defend, indemnify and hold harmless and moves for summary judgment, arguing Bestland failed to defend. Bestland's contract with Oh obligates it to “defend, indemnify and hold harmless Owner from and against any claims, allegations, damages, awards, judgments and expenses of any kind or character . . . which may arise out of or result from in whole or in part from Contractor, Contractor's subcontr...

Excerpt: ...s unavailable when more than six months pass after the entry of default; relief under §473.5 becomes unavailable the earlier of two years after the entry of default judgment or 180 days after written notice that default judgment has been entered. Aldrich v. San Fernando Valley Lumber Co. (1985) 170 Cal.App.3d 725, 735 fn. 3. A court may vacate default on equitable grounds, such as extrinsic fraud or extrinsic mistake, even if statutory relief is...

Excerpt: ...om the property. Landlord Tana moves for a preliminary injunction, asking the court to order the De Julios to remove all personal possessions, so she can make repairs and rent the property. A preliminary injunction will issue if 1) moving party is likely to suffer greater injury from a denial than the non-moving party is likely to suffer from its grant, and 2) a reasonable probability that the moving party will prevail on the merits. IT Corp. v. ...

Excerpt: ...ve to amend as to the nuisance cause of action. Plaintiffs' third amended complaint contains a single cause of action for private nuisance. Defendants demur. A cause of action for private nuisance requires plaintiff to show “substantial actual damage.” This is based an objective standard which considers “effect . . . the invasion [would] have on persons of normal health and sensibilities living in the same community[.]” Additionally, plai...

Excerpt: ...n denying summary judgment on the grounds that there was a triable issue of fact regarding the issue of collapse. After oral argument, the court again continued and requested further supplemental briefing as to disputed fact #3 stating defendant's administrator allegedly told plaintiff the remaining portion of the balcony still attached to the property should be “professionally secured,” section E8A2 of the policy stating “[a] building or a...

Excerpt: ...tion. Doe seeks attorney's fees for prevailing on the anti-SLAPP motion and subsequent appeals, via two separate motions. The first motion seeks $231,606.25 for work by Martinez Law Group in the trial and appellate courts. The second seeks $750,000 for Sidley Austin and Bryan Cave's work before the Supreme Court. These motions were continued from November 30, 2022. Motion to Strike Plaintiff moves to strike references in defendants' opposition to...

Excerpt: ...ber, on the grounds that Houck's cause of action for adverse possession had not yet been adjudicated. 3/25/2022 minute order, pg. 2. On September 22, 2022 during court trial, the court granted Barber's motion for nonsuit as to the cause of action for adverse possession. At the conclusion of trial, the court ruled Barber owns the disputed area. Barber renews his motion for judgment on the pleadings as to trespass to timber. Houck filed no oppositi...

Excerpt: ...d negotiated its purchase on D&K's behalf; United alleges D&K failed to pay the contractual fee. Defendants demur and move to strike. At the time the demurrer was heard, the motion was unopposed. The court issued a tentative ruling granting the motion in part and denying it in part. The court declined to issue a final ruling and continued the hearing to allow plaintiff to file an opposition. The court will only address the portions of the demurre...

Excerpt: ...ues for breach of the warranty of merchantability under Cal. Civ. Code §1791 et seq., the Song-Beverly Act. Defendant McLaren Automotive (MAI) argues discovery revealed Eckhaus suffered no damages, making no lease payments or incurring any other expenses related to the vehicle. MAI argues the case must be reclassified as limited civil. A limited civil is case where the value of the property in controversy amounts to $25,000 or less. Cal. Code of...

Excerpt: .... Denali moves to strike Brandt's requests for punitive damages and some statutory damages. Punitive Damages A request for punitive damages must be supported by clear, specific allegations of fraud, malice, or oppression. Hilliard v. A.H. Robbins Co. (1983) 148 Cal.App.3d 374, 392. A properly pleaded cause of action for wrongful eviction is sufficient to support a prayer for punitive damages. Stoiber v. Honeychuck (1980) 101 Cal.App.3d 903. Brand...

Excerpt: ...radi argues there is a triable issue of fact as to whether payment of the guarantee was conditioned on Javaherian providing $300,000 after a capital call. After oral argument, the parties submitted supplemental briefs regarding the capital call. The agreement states Moradi would guarantee loans made to three of his entities “in consideration of Javaherian providing the additional funding[.]” Guaranty Agreement pg. 1. The term “additional fu...

Excerpt: ...ispute for $100,000. Framing Specialists alleges the Crisp defendants hacked into Pacificore's email and fraudulently redirected Pacificore's settlement payment into a Crisp Bank of America (BofA) account. Framing Specialists sued BofA for approving the allegedly fraudulent wire transfer, and Pacificore cross-claimed on the same grounds. BofA demurs. The court did not receive an opposition from either Pacificore or Framing Specialists, and BofA f...

Excerpt: ...th her. Visconti claims Pinto made a false domestic violence report against her, leading to her arrest. Pinto allegedly used Visconti's arrest to extort her into dropping domestic violence allegations against him. Pinto moves to strike the cross-complaint under the anti-SLAPP statute, arguing the domestic violence police report constitutes protected activity. Evidentiary Objections All Pinto objections to exhibits SUSTAINED for lack of authentica...

Excerpt: ...t-published case, Davis v. Shiekh Shoes, LLC No. A161961, 2022 WL 1654189. The court has reviewed the supplemental briefing and rules as follows. The Davis court found waiver of the right to arbitrate cannot be conditioned on a showing of prejudice. Id. at *7. Unreasonable delay and actions inconsistent with an intent to arbitrate are sufficient to show waiver, even in the absence of prejudice. Id. Unlike in Davis, this court's conclusion that Kh...

Excerpt: ...ll attached to the building (which Lloyd's identifies as the “south balcony,” as distinguished from the “east balcony” which collapsed) which it argues did not “collapse” within the meaning of the policy. Revello argues the balcony did collapse but remained standing due to the installation of temporary supports, and the supports were installed to comply with the policy's mitigation requirements. Revello argues Lloyd's is now using thi...

Excerpt: ... On September 27, 2022, the court sustained a demurrer to fraud cause of action in the first amended cross-complaint on the grounds that FACC did not clearly allege causation and damages. Mehdizadeh filed an SACC, to which Elysienne again demurs. Fraud Fraud must be pleaded with heightened particularity to survive demurrer. Goldrich v. Natural Y Surgical Specialties, Inc. (1994) 25 Cal.App.4th 772, 782. This means pleading facts showing “how, w...

Excerpt: ...al, seeking documents from 2015 to the present date. Defendant Molina argues these requests are overbroad and moves to quash. Personal financial information falls within the zone of privacy protected by the California Constitution. E.g. Williams v. Superior Court (2017) 3 Cal.5th 531, 552. When a party to litigation seeks to discover information subject to the constitutional right to privacy, the party bears the burden of establishing a compellin...