Excerpt: ...s government agencies (MRCA and SMMC) own property (parcels 900 and 901) within Sycamore Park. Defendants/cross complainants assert their right to invite the public to use the easements for trail access and argue plaintiffs created a nuisance and violated the California Coastal Act by erecting a security kiosk/gate preventing access to the roads. Plaintiffs' and Cross-Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment/Summary Adjudication Plaintiffs move fo...

Excerpt: ...ontract, professional negligence and fraud. Cross-defendants Jason J. Allison and Brett A. Berman move for judgment on the pleadings. A motion for judgment on the pleadings may be made on the same ground as those supporting a general demurrer. Stoops v. Abbassi (2002) 100 Cal.App.4th 644, 650. The standard for ruling on a motion for judgment on the pleadings is essentially the same as that applicable to a general demurrer, that it appears a party...

Excerpt: ... Farbod Youshei (“Farbod”), Shoor Temple, LLC and Eagle Nasher, LLC. Joseph argues Etehad used privileged documents to support its opposition to the prior motion to disqualify counsel, heard by this court on December 18, 2019. At that hearing, the court found an actual conflict existed but declined to disqualify due to Joseph's delay. A trial court is empowered to disqualify counsel through its inherent power to control the conduct of its min...

Excerpt: ...ff alleges Masoud fraudulently conveyed his interest in two pieces of real property to defendants Park LA LLC and Nato Fund, Inc. Plaintiff also alleges Nato was involved in a 2016 settlement with Masoud, under which Nato would hold one of the properties in trust for Masoud. Masoud cross-complained, alleging Pickford is an alter ego of cross-defendant Nilofar Kahrobai, and assignment of the judgment to Pickford satisfied or extinguished the judgm...

Excerpt: ...ues away from the Trust. Further, defendants allegedly formed a competing entity, Southern California Research LLC (SCR), while working for SRI, planning to dissolve SRI and continue its business under SCR's name. Plaintiffs moved for terminating sanctions against Murphy for failing to comply with a November 7, 2018 court order requiring him to produce SRI's records from a storage locker, respond to contention interrogatories and supplement prior...

Excerpt: ...action only. Plaintiff seeks to depose Dicheck. Plaintiff is subject to an elder abuse restraining order prohibiting him from contacting Dichek and requiring him to stay 100 yards from her. See Rudy Decl., exhibit B. Plaintiff acknowledges a “TRO” is in place. Defendants seeks a protective order delaying Dichek's deposition while the restraining order is in place and until a version of the complaint naming Dicheck as a defendant survives demu...

Excerpt: ...ion of emotional distress and breach of contract. West moves to strike under California's anti-SLAPP statute (Cal. Civ. Code §425.16), arguing Calvert's allegations arise out of West's protected speech. Legal Standard (Anti‐SLAPP) Courts resolving an anti-SLAPP motion follow a two-step process. Jarrow Formulas, Inc. v. LaMarche (2003) 31 Cal.4th 728, 733. In prong one, the court determines whether the conduct underlying the plaintiff's cause o...

Excerpt: ... another client. Brooks filed a claim in arbitration under his contract with Innovative. After a seven-day hearing, the arbitrator determined all issues in favor of Innovative and Stein and awarded $170,550.97 in sanctions against Brooks. Innovative and Stein petition the court for confirmation of the award. Brooks seeks to vacate the award or, alternatively, eliminate sanctions. A party to an arbitration may petition to confirm, correct or vacat...

Excerpt: ...eral public. Defendants move for an order requiring plaintiffs to join approximately 95 other Sycamore Park property owners on the grounds that all homeowners have an interest in the easements at issue. Under Cal. Code of Civ. Proc. §389, a person “shall be joined” as a party in an action if “(1) in his absence complete relief cannot be accorded among those already parties,” or “(2) he claims an interest relating to the subject of the ...

Excerpt: ...rking on a television show produced by cross-defendant ThinkFactory Media, LLC. The Luxe entities cross-complained against ThinkFactory. ThinkFactory moves to compel arbitration of the Luxe entities' claims pursuant to the terms of a Location Agreement between ThinkFactory and E.H. Summit. ThinkFactory also moves to seal its unredacted Location Agreement (a redacted version has been filed), its settlement agreement with Stanger and the unredacted...

Excerpt: ...tiff to furnish security or for an order dismissing the litigation if the plaintiff is a vexatious litigant and there is not a reasonable probability he will prevail against the moving defendant. After an evidentiary hearing under §391.1, a court has discretion to dismiss the action or require the vexatious litigant to post security. Cal. Code of Civ. Proc. §391.3. Plaintiff filed eight lawsuits in the eight years preceding this action. See def...

Excerpt: ...ed on arguments not raised in the moving papers and ignored material facts. Courts do not ordinarily consider issues raised for the first time in the reply brief. American Indian Model Schools v. Oakland Unified School Dist. (2014) 227 Cal.App.4th 258, 275. Defendants argue “the only issues presented by Plaintiff in the MSJ for adjudication were whether Moradi's capital call request was justified and whether his requests to the LPs' members was...

Excerpt: ...n he was involved in a lawsuit. Under California Rule of Court 2.550, all or part of a court record may be sealed if the court finds (1) there is an overriding interest that overcomes the right of public access to the record, (2) the overriding interest supports sealing the record, (3) a substantial probability exists that the overriding interest will be prejudiced if the record is not sealed, (4) the proposed sealing is narrowly tailored, and (5...

Excerpt: ...ng the action is barred by the contract's terms, specifically an exculpatory clause and a shortened statute of limitations. Request for Judicial Notice When a plaintiff references a document in her complaint, and the document forms the basis of allegations in the complaint, that document is subject to judicial notice even if not attached to the pleading. E.g. Align Technology, Inc. v. Bao Tran (2009) 179 Cal.App.4th 949, fn. 6; Ingram v. Flippo (...

Excerpt: ...wals were authorized loans, disclosed to plaintiff's trustee and predecessor in interest. Plaintiff seeks a constructive trust on assets or profits acquired via funds taken. Defendant moves for summary adjudication on plaintiff's constructive trust cause of action, alleging his repayment of the funds establishes his affirmative defense of election of remedies. Under the doctrine of election of remedies “if a plaintiff elects a particular remedy...

Excerpt: ... daughter and son-in-law (Spielbergs) to file a temporary restraining order against plaintiff and reported him to the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department and Adult Protective Services for allegedly mistreating his elderly roommate Lewinson. Defendants filed a separate unlawful detainer action, leading to plaintiff's eviction. Defendants file this anti-SLAPP motion alleging their conduct is protected by the constitutional right to petition the govern...

Excerpt: ...01a0003> Plaintiff argues the fees claim should be disregarded because defendant failed to supply a “cognizable line of reasoning or ratiocination applying Civil Code §1717(a)'s first sentence to the alleged facts[.]” No “reasoning or ratiocination” is required. Plaintiff does not dispute the existence of an attorney's fees clause. Plaintiff also argues the court should treat Mr. Parcell's declaration with skepticism because an <004c0057...

Excerpt: ...he City moves to strike plaintiffs' request for emotional distress damages (para. 27 of SAC) and the portion of the caption identifying a sixth cause of action for promissory estoppel. Second and Fifth Causes of Action—Mandatory Duty A public entity cannot be held liable for an act or omission causing injury “[e]xcept as otherwise provided by statute.” Cal. Gov. Code §810 et seq. When a public entity “is under a mandatory duty imposed by...

Excerpt: ...f alleges defendants wrongfully isolated his mother. Defendants demur to all causes of action and move to strike portions of the complaint. First Cause of Action for Conspiracy Conspiracy is not a separate tort, but a form of vicarious liability by which one defendant can be liable for the acts of another – there must be an “underlying tort” to give rise to civil conspiracy liability. IIG Wireless, Inc. v. Yi (2018) 22 Cal.App.5 th 630, 652...

Excerpt: ...tween 9:00 pm and 7:00 am, unless accompanied or on a leash. Plaintiffs move to amend the judgment to remove language identifying defendant as the prevailing party and move to tax or strike defendant's memorandum of costs. Judge Newman's ruling did not identify a prevailing party. The proposed judgment drafted by defendant and signed by the court identifies defendant as the prevailing party. Plaintiffs' counsel was not served with the proposed ju...

Excerpt: ... were actually authorized loans that he disclosed to plaintiff's trustee and predecessor in interest. Plaintiff seeks a constructive trust on any assets or profits that defendant acquired via funds taken from the entities. Defendant moves for summary adjudication on plaintiff's constructive trust cause of action on the grounds that since he already repaid what he alleges were loans from the entities, undisputed facts establish all the elements of...

Excerpt: ...wed under LARSO. Plaintiff alleges defendant required plaintiff to pay for a neighboring unit's electricity and a monthly pet maintenance fee. Defendant demurs to all causes of action for failure to state sufficient facts (Cal. Code of Civ. Proc. §430.010) and because plaintiff failed to plead exhaustion of administrative remedies. Defendant also moves to strike the entire complaint, as well as specific portions of the complaint. Plaintiff alleg...

Excerpt: ...the bamboo or install a barrier, but defendants refused. Defendants demur to plaintiff's fourth and fifth causes of action for property damage and intentional infliction of emotional distress (IIED.) Fourth Cause of Action for Property Damage When a cause of action adds nothing to a complaint by way of fact or theory, it is duplicative and subject to demurrer. Rodrigues v. Campbell Industries (1978) 87 Cal.App.3d 494, 510. There is no independent...

Excerpt: ...-contract cases where defendant is guilty of oppression, fraud, or malice. Malice means conduct which is intended by the defendant to cause injury to the plaintiff or despicable conduct which is carried on by the defendant with a willful and conscious disregard of the rights or safety of others. Oppression means despicable conduct that subjects a person to cruel and unjust hardship in conscious disregard of that person's rights. Finally, fraud me...

Excerpt: ...subpoena on Mr. Jimenez, who failed to appear for his deposition. Defendant moves to compel Daniel Jimenez to comply with a third-party deposition subpoena. Personal service of a deposition subpoena is effective to require personal attendance, testimony, and production of documents. Cal. Code of Civ. Proc. §2020.220(c). When a nonparty disobeys a deposition subpoena, the subpoenaing party may move for a court order compelling the nonparty's comp...