Excerpt: ...oe Samuel Bailey and Renew Spinal Care, Inc. The operative First Amended Complaint was filed on March 27, 2020. The purported Second Amended Complaint on July 31, 2023 is not properly filed because a party may only amend a complaint once without leave of court. (See Code Civ. Proc., § 472(a).) The FAC asserts a single cause of action for breach of written settlement agreement. The FAC alleges that Plaintiffs loaned money to Defendants and that t...

Excerpt: ...) breach of contract, (2) implied indemnity, (3) negligence, (4) conversion, and (5) fraud. The case involves a construction project that took place in Ventura County. The property is owned by RB. BFF was the general contractor on the project, and R&M was the subcontractor. Duarte owns and operates R&M. The complaint alleges that R&M performed its work negligently, causing multiple shutdowns and delays. BFF terminated R&M from the project, and Du...

Excerpt: ... provide accurate wage records; (2) unfair business practices; (3) constructive discharge; and (4-5) intentional/negligent infliction of emotional distress. The operative First Amended Complaint, filed May 27, 2022, adds causes of action for discrimination, harassment, and violation of civil rights. Plaintiff alleges that Defendant Desai hired Plaintiff as the general manager at Defendant's restaurant, R Bar. Defendant did not classify or pay Pla...

Excerpt: ...operative First Amended Complaint, asserting claims for interference with contract, interference with prospective economic advantage, fraud, and constructive trust. On May 23 and 25, 2023, Defendants filed the instant two demurrers against the FAC, primarily arguing that Plaintiff's claims to recover her supposed inheritance are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Probate Court. Plaintiff filed her opposition on June 14, 2023. Defendants...

Excerpt: ...e operative First Amended Complaint, filed June 15, 2023, asserts (1) quiet title, (2) declaratory relief, and (3) injunctive relief. Plaintiffs own a parcel of real property in Woodland Hills, California. In 2021, Plaintiffs acquired the property from the previous owner, Gonzales. AFCU has a money judgment against Gonzales from 2009, which AFCU plans on enforcing against the property, leading Plaintiffs to file this action. Plaintiffs allege tha...

Excerpt: ...t Defendant E&B Natural Resources Management Corporation (E&B) sought to purchase a 25% stake in WGH. Due to financial issues with its lenders, E&B could not directly deal with WGH. Instead, E&B allegedly formed Defendant Triton LA, LLC (Triton) to hold E&B's 25% interest in WGH. The complaint alleges that the arrangement was induced by fraud and that Defendants merely sought to take over WGH's assets for themselves. Triton allegedly demanded a h...

Excerpt: ...llation of instrument, and declaratory relief. Plaintiffs are owners of a home located in North Hollywood (the Property). Plaintiffs purchased the Property in 2003. The prior owner of the Property, William E. James (James), had a loan from Washington Mutual Bank FA, secured by a Deed of Trust recorded against the Property (WaMu Deed of Trust). Plaintiffs allege that James paid off the WaMu loan but that the Deed of Trust was erroneously not recon...

Excerpt: ...reach of contract and (2) quantum meruit. The FAC alleges that the parties entered into a written fee agreement in 2004, which encompassed representation in several matters. (FAC ¶ 7.) Plaintiff was retained to represent Defendant in business matters related to Defendant's divorce. (Id., ¶ 8.) Around July 2011, Plaintiff left the law firm he was working for and formed his own firm, and Defendant decided to have Plaintiff continue representing h...

Excerpt: ...od Partners, LLC, and 3240 Wilshire Associates, LLC (collectively, Harridge) against Defendants Varde Partners, Inc., Mountain Real Estate Capital, LLC, VP Met LLC, VP Inglewood, LLC, VP Wilshire, LLC, and MRECV Blake Street, LLC (collectively, Varde and MREC). Harridge is a real estate development company who partnered with investors Varde and MREC on numerous projects. Some of the projects sold at a profit and others sold at a loss. As a safety...

Excerpt: ...rporation, and Allen Brumer. The SAC asserts causes of action for (1) legal malpractice, (2) accounting malpractice, (3) breach of fiduciary duty, (4) fraudulent concealment, and (5) financial elder abuse. Defendant Lanning and his law firm represented Plaintiff for over thirty years in connection with estate planning. However, unbeknownst to Plaintiff, Defendants also began representing Plaintiff's son, Shervin. Defendants did not disclose this ...

Excerpt: ...was dismissed without prejudice. The case was restored to active status in October 2022 after the failure of arbitration. The order of dismissal was vacated. The complaint alleges that Defendant did not pay for advertising services provided by Plaintiff. On May 24, 2023, Defendant filed a cross-complaint against Plaintiff, alleging that Plaintiff did not provide the services as promised. On June 13, 2023, Cross-Defendant filed the instant demurre...

Excerpt: ...ber 2022, the parties agreed to renew their mediation efforts. Thinking that the parties would mediate rather than arbitrate, Defendant inadvertently failed to pay JAMS's initial filing fee within 30 days of the invoice. The parties mediated in January 2023 but were unsuccessful. Immediately after the mediation failed, Defendant paid the JAMS arbitration filing fee. Based on the lateness of this payment, Plaintiff sought to withdraw from arbitrat...

Excerpt: ...ay (Kay), and Does 1 through 10, alleging violations of FEHA, wrongful discharge, defamation, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The operative First Amended Complaint, filed January 29, 2020, adds Defendants Diana Eid (Eid) and Janae Bueno (Bueno) and asserts additional FEHA claims. Eid and Bueno were subsequently dismissed on summary adjudication, along with certain FEHA claims. Plaintiffs worked for Disney from the 1980s until 20...

Excerpt: ...h of the warranty of habitability, negligence, intentional infliction of emotional distress, nuisance, violation of Civil Code section 1942.4, violation of the Los Angeles Municipal Code (LAMC), and violation of Business and Professions Code section 17200. On July 10, 2023, Plaintiffs filed the instant motion for trial preference based on several Plaintiffs being minors. Defendant Freeman filed his opposition on July 20, 2023. Plaintiffs replied ...

Excerpt: ...that Defendant E&B Natural Resources Management Corporation (E&B) sought to purchase a 25% stake in WGH. Due to financial issues with its lenders, E&B could not directly deal with WGH. Instead, E&B allegedly formed Defendant Triton LA, LLC (Triton) to hold E&B's 25% interest in WGH. The complaint alleges that the arrangement was induced by fraud and that Defendants merely sought to take over WGH's assets for themselves. Triton allegedly demanded ...

Excerpt: ...Plaintiff in the underlying action because Defendants simultaneously represented two other clients seeking recovery from the same entity. Any recovery by one of the clients would necessarily have reduced the recovery of the others. For statute of limitations purposes, Plaintiff filed the instant action before the underlying case was resolved. The underlying action has since been settled. To handle the resolution in the underlying action, Plaintif...

Excerpt: ...ts. In 2019, M&R engaged Giardino to be the Office Managing Partner (OMP) of M&R's New York City Office. Giardino was defined as an Income Partner under M&R's Partnership Agreement. Giardino allegedly failed to properly manage the NYC office, and he allegedly ran a secret legal services business in competition with M&R. M&R seeks recovery based on breach of contract, bad faith, breach of fiduciary duty, fraud, conversion, inducing breach of contr...

Excerpt: ...s old who was terminated while on medical leave and replaced by a younger, less qualified employee. Defendant M.S. Aerospace was allegedly Plaintiff's employer, and Defendant Smith is allegedly a manager of M.S. Aerospace. On October 31, 2022, the Court granted Defendant's motion to compel arbitration. Arbitration was thereafter initiated, and an arbitrator was appointed. However, on May 17, 2023, JAMS issued an invoice for $86,000 that was due u...

Excerpt: ... violations. As part of discovery, Plaintiff propounded certain Requests for Production to which Defendant Jet Aviation initially objected based on scope. After meeting and conferring, the parties agreed to limit the RFPs to certain date ranges, custodians, and search terms. On July 6, 2023, Plaintiff filed the instant motion to compel compliance with the RFPs because Defendant has not produced the documents by the agreed-upon deadlines. Defendan...

Excerpt: ... video wall fell down from a stage upon Plaintiff at an event held at Griffith Park in Los Angeles. The Court previously granted in part Defendants' motion to strike punitive damages claim from Plaintiff's complaint. Plaintiff then filed a first amended complaint (FAC) on March 23, 2023. Defendants now move to strike Plaintiff's claim for punitive damages from her FAC and associated language within the FAC. Plaintiff opposes the motion. ANALYSIS ...

Excerpt: ... an approximately 1,2000 pound, ten foot tall, video wall fell down from a stage upon Plaintiff Tracey Iraca (Tracey) at an event held at Griffith Park in Los Angeles. The Court previously granted in part Defendants' motion to strike punitive damages claim from Plaintiffs' complaint. Plaintiff then filed a first amended complaint (FAC) on March 23, 2023. Defendants now move to strike Plaintiffs' claim for punitive damages from their FAC and assoc...

Excerpt: ...ollision. Plaintiff moves to quash the subpoenas issued by Defendants to (1) Kaiser Permanente Southern California; (2) Kaiser Permanente, The Central Release of Information Unit; and (3) Kaiser Permanente Radiology Release of Information Unit. In the alternative, Plaintiff moves for a protective order. Defendants oppose the motion. Plaintiff replies. On June 7, 2023, the original hearing date for the instant motion, the Court continued the heari...

Excerpt: ...us condition at issue, in addition to the already plead theory that Defendant had actual notice of said dangerous condition, based on new facts learned through discovery and a recent Motion for Summary Judgment filed by Defendant. Defendant opposes the motion. ANALYSIS Amendments to Pleadings: General Provisions Under Code of Civil Procedure section 473, subdivision (a)(1), “The court may, in furtherance of justice, and on any terms as may be p...

Excerpt: ... that Defendant E&B Natural Resources Management Corporation (E&B) sought to purchase a 25% stake in WGH. Due to financial issues with its lenders, E&B could not directly deal with WGH. Instead, E&B allegedly formed Defendant Triton LA, LLC (Triton) to hold E&B's 25% interest in WGH. The complaint alleges that the arrangement was induced by fraud and that Defendants merely sought to take over WGH's assets for themselves. Triton allegedly demanded...

Excerpt: ...trespass, and (3) unjust enrichment. The complaint alleges that the parties entered into a written contract wherein Plaintiff agreed to provide furniture in connection with the sale of a property in Beverly Hills. Defendants were allegedly obligated to make monthly payments for continued use of the furniture. Defendants allegedly breached the contract by defaulting on payments, retaining possession of the furniture, and failing to return the furn...