Excerpt: ...audulent inducement to enter into contract, the seventh cause of action for unjust enrichment, the eighth cause of action for money had and received, the ninth cause of action for conversion, and the eleventh cause of action for fraudulent business practices. Each of these causes of action is based on misrepresentations that allegedly induced plaintiffs to monetarily invest in Hills One. (FAC ¶¶ 123, 125 [fraud and deceit]; 132, 135 [negligent ...

Excerpt: ...et One is GRANTED. I. MOTION TO COMPEL FURTHER RESPONSES TO FORM INTERROGATORIES‐EMPLOYMENT, SET ONE Defendant WFS HTS, Inc. (“HTS”) moves to compel further responses from plaintiff Ai Agnes Sasaki to Form Interrogatory-Employment, Set One, Nos. 200.1, 200.4, 201.1-201.7, 202.1, 203.1, 205.1, 207.1, 207.2, 208.1, 210.1-210.3, 210.5, 210.6, 212.1-212.7, 213.1, 213.2, 215.1, and 215.2. As preliminary matter, the fact that HTS may have asserte...

Excerpt: ...C”). Generally, “[E]motional distress damages are not recoverable when attorney malpractice leads only to economic loss.” (Camenisch v. Superior Court (1996) 44 Cal.App.4th 1689, 1691.) A plaintiff may not recover damages for emotional distress arising from a legal malpractice action as “the foreseeability of serious emotional harm to the client and the degree of certainty that the client suffered such injury by loss of an economic claim ...

Excerpt: .... B.) Defendants contend the following: (1) this is an improper motion for reconsideration of the Court's August 18, 2022 order sustaining their demurrer to the Fourth Amended Complaint without leave to amend; (2) this motion violates the August 18, 2022 order sustaining the demurrer; and (3) the proposed Fifth Amended Complaint is futile because South Gate Tweedy, LLC, a proposed defendant in the Fifth Amended Complaint, was dismissed in the Aug...

Excerpt: ...ant Kia Motors America Inc.'s evidentiary objections 6-33 are SUSTAINED. All other evidentiary objections from plaintiffs and defendant are OVERRULED. The parties agree that plaintiffs Gerardo Ruiz and Lupe Ruiz were prevailing parties in this action and, under Civil Code § 1794(d), may recover as part of the judgment a sum to cover attorney fees based on actual time expended and determined by the Court to have been reasonably incurred in connec...

Excerpt: ... Motion to Strike Portions to Complaint by Defendant Haruko Minakawa, as Trustee of the Minakawa Trust is DENIED. I. DEMURRER TO COMPLAINT FROM DEFENDANT THOMAS OKABE DBA ALTA PROPERTIES A. Misjoinder of Parties Defendant Thomas Okabe dba Alta Properties demurs to the entire Complaint on the ground that plaintiffs were improperly joined in the action. (CCP § 430.10(d) [allowing for demurrer for misjoinder of parties].) Okabe argues that the “p...

Excerpt: ...the resolution” of the issues before the Court. (Martinez v. San Diego County Credit Union (2020) 50 Cal.App.5th 1048, 1075.) Defendant Nissan North America, Inc., the manufacturer or distributor of the subject vehicle, seeks to compel arbitration of plaintiffs Luis Rivas and Rosa Garcia's claims against it under the provisions of the Motor Vehicle Lease Agreement (“Lease Agreement”). (Chung Decl. ¶ 4 & Ex. 3.) The Court finds that defenda...

Excerpt: ...n this action does not override the right of public access to court records. “[T]he public has an interest, in all civil cases, in observing and assessing the performance of its public judicial system, and that interest strongly supports a general right of access in ordinary civil cases.” (NBC Subsidiary (KNBC‐TV), Inc. v. Superior Court (1999) 20 Cal.4th 1178, 1210.) California recognizes a common law and First Amendment right of access to...

Excerpt: ...o Request for Production of Documents, Set One, Nos. 1, 7, 8, 11, 12, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 24, 25, 27, 28, 30, 31, 32, 34, 35, 42, 43, 50, 70-75, and 77-84. After the motion was filed, defendant served supplemental responses. (Neubauer Decl. ¶ 4 & Ex. A.) Plaintiffs withdrew the motion as to Request No. 12 but contend the responses to the other requests remain insufficient. (Neubauer Decl. ¶ 10.) The Court finds that plaintiffs demonstrate good ...

Excerpt: ...equests for leave to amend pleadings will normally be granted unless (a) the party seeking to amend has been dilatory in bringing the proposed amendment; and (b) the delay in seeking leave to amend will cause prejudice to an opposing party. (Hirsa v. Superior Court (1981) 118 Cal.App.3d 486, 490.) Plaintiff commenced this action on October 9, 2019, asserting five causes of action under the Song- Beverly Consumer Warranty Act (“Song-Beverly Act�...

Excerpt: ...; and Prodigy Brands, LLC move for summary judgment, or alternatively summary adjudication. As a preliminary matter, the current causes of action against moving defendants are the first cause of action for Fraudulent Concealment, the second cause of action for Fraudulent False Promise, the fourth cause of action for Breach of Contract, and the fifth cause of action for Quantum Meruit. The third cause of action for Interference with Contract was s...

Excerpt: ...man Services Association et al. (21STCV25000) TENTATIVE RULING: Plaintiff Rosemary Ramos' Motion to Compel Defendant Human Services Association to Provide Further Responses to Request for Production of Documents, Set One (Reservation ID: 616825783059) is GRANTED IN PART. Plaintiff Rosemary Ramos' Motion to Compel Defendant Human Services Association to Provide Further Responses to Form Interrogatories-General, Set One (Reservation ID: 62895193931...

Excerpt: ...hen, Esq.'s evidentiary objections are OVERRULED. Defendant Guy Griffithe moves to set aside the default and default judgment entered against him on the grounds that he was not properly served. Defendant maintains that he did not have actual notice of this action at time default judgment was entered against him. (Griffithe Decl. ¶ 10.) Defendant maintains he discovered the existence of this action on or about January 21, 2022, after the entry of...

Excerpt: ...o Special Interrogatories, Set One is GRANTED IN PART. I. DEMANDS FOR PRODUCTION, SET ONE Plaintiff Susan Gradman, as Co-Trustee of the Fiske Living Trust of June 14, 1967, as Amended and Restated on January 29, 2015, moves to compel further responses from defendant Parkview Limited Investors, LP to Demands for Production, Set One, Nos. 1-15 and 17-20. Plaintiff's request for judicial notice is DENIED as “unnecessary to the resolution” of the...

Excerpt: ..., LLC's Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings is GRANTED. I. DEFENDANT AMERICAN HONDA FINANCE CORPORATION'S DEMURRER Defendant American Honda Finance Corporation (“AHFC”) demurs to the second cause of action for insurance bad faith on the ground that plaintiff purportedly fails to allege the existence of an insurance policy that can form the basis of a bad faith cause of action. As a preliminary matter, the reply to the concurrently heard moti...

Excerpt: ...a Binding Arbitration and Class Action, Collective Action, and Representative Claim Waiver Agreement (“Agreement”). (Blume Decl. ¶¶ 13, 14 & Exs. 1, 2.) Plaintiff argues that the Agreement must be rescinded because she signed it under economic duress. “The doctrine of ‘economic duress' can apply when one party has done a wrongful act which is sufficiently coercive to cause a reasonably prudent person, faced with no reasonable alternativ...

Excerpt: ...al Collection, Inc.; MMK International Inc.; and Rafi Shokrian to the First Amended Complaint (“FAC”). Further, since the filing of the FAC, FWD Future, LLC, Peach Medical LLC, and Eapen Enterprises purportedly assigned their claims to TRO, thereby eliminating a prior issue due to these other plaintiffs being represented by separate counsel. (Cf. Compl. [Margarita Salazar, Esq. as plaintiffs' counsel] with FAC [Tailim Song, Esq. as counsel fo...

Excerpt: ...ancial Insurance Services (“Colony West”) and Town and Country Financial and Insurance Group Inc. (“Town and Country”) concerning whether defendant Healthy Start has umbrella and/or excess insurance policy coverage for the automobile accident at issue in this case. Defendants Healthy Start-East LA, Inc. (“Healthy Start”), Daniel Tercero Neri, and Casa de Angeles Cal. Corp. (collectively, “Healthy Start Defendants”) move for a dete...

Excerpt: ...the Verified Fourth Amended Complaint (“4AC”). A. FIRST CAUSE OF ACTION: DISSOLUTION OF PARTNERSHIP Defendants contend that plaintiffs fail to allege the formation of a partnership, a prerequisite to the first cause of action for dissolution to partnership. A partnership requires “a sharing of profits as well as losses” and a “right to joint management and control of the business.” (Cislaw v. Southland Corp. (1992) 4 Cal.App.4th 1284,...

Excerpt: ...ings in the action shall be stayed upon the filing of a notice of motion made pursuant to this section. The stay of discovery shall remain in effect until notice of entry of the order ruling on the motion. The court, on noticed motion and for good cause shown, may order that specified discovery be conducted notwithstanding this subdivision.” “In the anti-SLAPP context, ‘good cause' requires ‘a showing that the specified discovery is neces...

Excerpt: ...ntiff identified Bembi as a witness to the events alleged in the action. (James Decl. ¶ 5 & Ex. C [response to Form Interrogatory No. 12.1].) For each of the questions at issue, as set forth in defendant's separate statement, Bembi objected based on the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination. “To the extent that such privilege exists under the Constitution of the United States or the State of California, a person has a privilege ...

Excerpt: ...he demurrer is an improper speaking motion or motion for summary judgment or adjudication. In a demurrer, while the Court considers only the four corners of the complaint, the Court may also consider matters that may be judicially noticed. (Blank v. Kirwan (1985) 39 Cal.3d 311, 318.) Defendant's requests for judicial notice are well taken based on the statutes and case law cited below. Plaintiff did not oppose defendant's asserted bases for reque...

Excerpt: ... hired attorney Leslie Ellis of Ellis & Makus, LLP to conduct an investigation and provide a report to defendant. (Mtn. at 1:6-8.) As a preliminary matter, even though defendant sent a meet and confer letter on the day before the date of production specified in the subpoena (Lyon Decl. ¶ 14 & Ex. 2), CCP § 1987.1 does not require the moving party to meet and confer prior to the filing of the motion. Even though CCP § 1985.3(g) requires that no...

Excerpt: ...les' claims against them. The Court finds that plaintiff agreed to arbitration of the causes of action asserted in this action by signing the Mutual Arbitration Agreement (“Agreement”). (Mersiovsky Decl. ¶ 3(b) & Ex. 2 at 2.) The Agreement is properly authenticated. Defendants submit the declaration of Sharon Mersiovsky, a Senior Paralegal at Brink's, Incorporated (“Brink's”). (Mersiovsky Decl. ¶ 3.) Mersiovsky is charged with maintaini...

Excerpt: ...endants Family Choice Private Duty Agency, Inc. and Shellydale Princess Gray did not state sufficient facts to constitute any defense. Affirmative defenses must not be pled as “terse legal conclusions,” but “rather … as facts ‘averred as carefully and with as much detail as the facts which constitute the cause of action and are alleged in the complaint.'” (Quantification Settlement Agreement Cases (2011) 201 Cal.App.4th 758, 812-13, c...

Excerpt: ...son's Motion to Quash Deposition Subpoena Issued to CoraMed Healthcare is GRANTED. The deposition subpoenas issued to (1) Allied Universal Executive Protection and Intelligence Services, Inc., (2) Universal Protection Service, LP, and (3) CoraMed Healthcare are QUASHED. With respect to the deposition subpoenas issued to Allied Universal Executive Protection and Intelligence Services, Inc. and Universal Protection Service, LP, personnel files soug...

Excerpt: ...e Defendant's Interest in National Surgery Center Operations TWO, LLC is GRANTED. I. MOTION FOR ATTORNEY'S FEES On December 15, 2021, the Court entered default judgment against defendant Lee Marek, D.P.M., in the amount of $119,525. Plaintiff did not seek attorney's fees in connection with plaintiff's request for entry of default judgment, and the Court awarded none. Months later, on March 18, 2022, plaintiff Essam Taymour, M.D. filed the instant...

Excerpt: ...defendants Kairos University, Grace Kim, and Daniel Kim, joined by defendant Sierra States University, is SUSTAINED. Motion to Strike Portions of First Amended Complaint filed by defendants Kairos University, Grace Kim, and Daniel Kim, joined by defendant Sierra States University, is DENIED as MOOT. The Court GRANTS plaintiff ten (10) days leave to amend only for the causes of action and/or defendants with respect to which the demurrers are susta...

Excerpt: ...fault and default judgment entered against him on the grounds that he was not properly served. Defendant maintains that he discovered the existence of this action on or about January 21, 2022, after the entry of default judgment, when he investigated an unauthorized inquiry on his credit report. However, defendant sought the same relief in his motion heard on April 28, 2022. (RJN Ex. A.) The motion was denied because defendant did not sufficientl...

Excerpt: ...t a sum to cover attorney fees based on actual time expended and costs, and determined by the Court to have been reasonably incurred by the lessor in connection with the commencement and prosecution of this action. The Court finds that the $650 hourly rate charged by counsel for plaintiff in this action is reasonable. (Margarian Decl. ¶¶ 15-18.) However, the Court notes that relatively higher billing rate must necessarily correlate with reduced...

Excerpt: ...ly filed case, Assisted Living America, LLC v. BE La Cienega LLC et al., Case No. 19STCV25674 (“ALA Compl.” or “ALA Action”). In this action (“Isaacson Compl.” or “Issacson Action”), plaintiff Dean Isaacson is suing defendants Zachary Zalben, Darren Weinstock, and DBJKG, LLC in connection with a joint venture for the development of real property located at 1022-26, 1032, and 1042 S. La Cienega Blvd. in Los Angeles and construction...

Excerpt: ...ntitled to claim costs as a defendant in whose favor a dismissal was entered. (CCP §§ 1032(a)(4), (b).) As a preliminary matter, Acabal did not submit any documentation in support of her costs. “Once costs claimed in the memorandum are challenged via a motion to tax, ‘[d]ocumentation must be submitted' to sustain the burden.” (Jones v. Dumrichob (1998) 63 Cal.App.4th 1258, 1265, quoting Bach v. County of Butte (1989) 215 Cal.App.3d 294, 3...

Excerpt: ...d Lab Services Inc. and Anabelle Myers untimely filed their opposition on June 30, 2022, only seven court days from the hearing. (See CCP § 1005(b) [deadline to file opposition is nine court days from hearing].) Nevertheless, plaintiffs were able to file a substantive reply brief in response thereto. Therefore, the Court exercises its discretion and considers the opposition. (Cal. Rule of Court 3.1300(d) [“No paper may be rejected for filing o...

Excerpt: ... Enter and Inspect Premises is GRANTED. Plaintiff St. John Armenian Apostolic Church Hollywood, California moves to compel defendant Petros Taglyan to permit plaintiff to inspect the exterior and interior of the Taglyan Hall, also known as Taglyan Cultural Complex. (Beligan Decl. ¶ 6 & Ex. E.) On June 9, 2022, the Court continued the hearing on plaintiff's motion because plaintiff raised ae new argument in reply that inspecting Taglyan Hall is r...

Excerpt: ...Music Express Coach, Inc.'s (“Music Express”) failure to preserve the 2017 Lincoln Navigator in which plaintiff was involved in an automobile collision. The vehicle contained an event data recorder (“EDR”), which, in the event of a “non-trivial crash situation,” records how far the driver was depressing the accelerator and/or the brake pedal, how fast the vehicle was traveling, and where the driver was positioning the steering wheel. ...

Excerpt: ..., Sola Management LLC, Sola Rentals Inc., and Martin Muoto's Demurrer to Complaint is OVERRULED. Defendants Sola Impact Fund II GG, Sola Impact Fund II LP, Sola Impact Rental Company Inc., Sola Management LLC, Sola Rentals Inc., and Martin Muoto's Motion to Strike Portions of Complaint is OVERRULED. I. DEFENDANTS SYLVESTER MALONE AND DOROTHY N. MALONE'S DEMURRER TO COMPLAINT A. First Cause of Action: Negligence The Malone defendants argue that pl...

Excerpt: ... this action for unpaid rent is not ripe because defendant, a commercial tenant, has until January 31, 2023 to pay the rent. Section VI.C.2.a of the January 25, 2022 Resolution of the Board of Supervisors of the County of Los Angeles Further Amending and Restating the County of Los Angeles COVID-19 Tenant Protections Resolution states: “Commercial Tenants with nine (9) employees or fewer shall have until January 31, 2023 to repay unpaid rent in...

Excerpt: ...�) request for judicial notice of plaintiff Ernest Melendrez's complaint filed with the Department of Fair Employment and Housing is GRANTED. (Evid. Code §§ 452, 453.) With respect to the first cause of action, Retaliation under Qui Tam/California False Claims Act, the Church Defendants argue that plaintiff did not comply with Government Code § 12652(c)(2) and (c)(3) because plaintiff did not file the complaint under seal or serve the Attorney...

Excerpt: ...ission, and electrical issues in the subject vehicle (Compl. ¶ 8), plaintiff is entitled to discovery that is probative of (1) defendant's knowledge of engine, transmission, and electrical defects in 2015 Nissan Pathfinders, including in vehicles other than the subject vehicle, and (2) defendant's handling of complaints and repurchases. (Donlen v. Ford Motor Company (2013) 217 Cal.App.4th 138, 143-44; Doppes v. Bentley Motors, Inc. (2009) 174 Ca...

Excerpt: ... On February 15, 2022, the Court granted defendant's motions to compel responses to the first sets of Form Interrogatories, Special Interrogatories, and Demands for Production. (Perez Decl. ¶ 12 & Ex. C.) Plaintiff did not file any written opposition beforehand. (Perez Decl. ¶ 10.) Plaintiff attended the hearing on February 15, 2022 (Perez Decl. ¶ 12 & Ex. C at 2:3-4), when the Court ordered plaintiff to serve written verified responses, witho...

Excerpt: ...Hovannes Kiramittchian, and Arutuyan Gledzhan's entitlement to punitive damages and plaintiffs' prayer for punitive damages. Travelers argues that plaintiffs fail to plead specific facts demonstrating oppression, fraud, or malice. “In determining the merits of a demurrer, all material facts pleaded in the complaint and those that arise by reasonable implication, but not conclusions of fact or law, are deemed admitted by the demurring party.” ...

Excerpt: ...l defendant Petros Taglyan to permit plaintiff to inspect the exterior and interior of the Taglyan Hall, also known as Taglyan Cultural Complex. (Beligan Decl. ¶ 6 & Ex. E.) As a preliminary matter, the motion is timely filed based on objections that defendant served on February 22, 2022. (Beligan Decl. ¶ 7 & Ex. F.) This motion was timely filed on April 8, 2022, within 45 days of February 22, 2022. (CCP § 2031.310(c).) Defendant's citation to...

Excerpt: ...2) Requests for Admission, Set One; (3) Special Interrogatories, Set One; and (4) Form Interrogatories-General, Set One is GRANTED IN PART. Plaintiff L&C Corporation International, Inc. moves to compel further responses from defendant Sky Express World Courier, Inc. to Requests for Production, Set One, Nos. 1-54; Requests for Admission, Set One, Nos. 1-19 and 22-35; Special Interrogatories, Set One, Nos. 1-3, 7-63, and 65-76; and Form Interrogato...

Excerpt: ...nd 9 and plaintiff Morris Matloubian's requests for judicial notice as to Exhibits 2-5, 7-9, 11-14, and 19 are GRANTED, but only for the existence of the documents, not the truth of the matters asserted therein. (See Evid. Code § 452(d); Sosinsky v. Grant (1992) 6 Cal.App.4th 1548, 1564-69.) Defendants' requests for judicial notice as to Exhibits 2, 4, 7, 8, 10-13 and plaintiff's requests for judicial notice as to Exhibits 1, 6, 10, and 15-18 ar...

Excerpt: ...ompelling plaintiff to submit to a neuro-psychological examination by Dr. Manuel Saint Martin, Ph.D. on June 10, 2022 at 9:00 a.m. This motion was timely served. Based on the proof of service filed on May 25, 2022, the moving papers were personally served on May 10, 2022, which was 16 court days from the hearing date. This is timely under CCP § 1005(b). Even if the time for plaintiff to respond to the Demand for Independent Mental Examination ha...

Excerpt: ...with defendant's counsel regarding defendant's objections to the deposition notice on August 16, 2021. (Hayes Decl. ¶ 10 & Ex. 3.) Defense counsel responded on August 24, 2021, largely standing by its objections, essentially arguing that this action is a “single-vehicle case” and that deposition topics and document requests not concerning the subject vehicle are not relevant. (Hayes Decl. ¶ 11 & Ex. 4 at 1.) Defense counsel concluded the me...

Excerpt: ...quests for judicial notice are DENIED as irrelevant. (Mangini v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. (1994) 7 Cal.4th 1057, 1063.) Defendants' evidentiary objections to the declaration of Fahim Farivar are all OVERRULED. I. STANDING A. Plaintiff Digital Ignition Entertainment, LLC “The failure of a foreign corporation to qualify to transact business prior to commencing an action is a matter of abatement of the action.” (United Medical Mgmt. v. Gatto (1...

Excerpt: ... arbitration of plaintiff Victor Manuel Montenegro's claims against it. I. EXISTENCE OF ARBITRATION AGREEMENT The Court finds that plaintiff agreed to arbitration of the causes of action asserted in this action by signing the Dispute Resolution Agreement. (Rouse-Tennison Decl. ¶ 9 & Ex. 2.) Defendant submits the declaration of Consuwella Rouse-Tennison, Director of Employee Relations. (Rouse-Tennison Decl. ¶ 2.) Rouse-Tennison avers that once a...

Excerpt: ...d Employees will receive their individual settlement payments first, before the Labor and Workforce Development Agency (“LWDA”), counsel, and the settlement administrator are compensated. (Zakay Decl. ¶ 12, fn. 4.) The Settlement provides that the Aggrieved Employees will be mailed payments no later than 15 calendar days after the “Funding Date.” or the date defendant Healthcare Investment, Inc. makes the last Installment Payment. (Settl...

Excerpt: ...hat all claims against them are time-barred. “[T]he statute of limitations begins to run when the plaintiff suspects or should suspect that his or her injury was caused by wrongdoing—when the plaintiff has notice of information or circumstances that would put a reasonable person on inquiry.” (San Francisco Unified School Dist. v. W.R. Grace & Co. (1995) 37 Cal.App.4th 1318, 1328.) With respect to Spragna, plaintiff Keyron Lamonte Binns alle...