Excerpt: .... ¶ 6); (2) fees incurred by attorney Steve Martini in the amount of $94,520.00 (Downs Decl. ¶ 7); (3) fees incurred by Murphy, Pearson, Bradley & Feeney (“MPBF”) in the amount of $1,613,321.00 (Watkins Decl. ¶ 16). The Court finds that Downs is entitled to recover attorney fees under Section 13.10 of the 2007 Amended Operating Agreement. (FAC Ex. 3.) On March 16, 2022, the Court, Hon. Rupert. A Byrdsong presiding, entered judgment in favo...

Excerpt: ...mental briefing concerning whether the contact information for sexual harassment complainants, as requested in Special Interrogatories, Set One, Nos. 39-41, should be disclosed to plaintiff on an “opt-out” or “opt-in” basis. After considering the supplemental briefing of plaintiff and defendant Legislative Counsel Bureau (“LCB”), the Court finds that the opt-out procedure is appropriate for this case. Defendant argues that, under the ...

Excerpt: ...istance of Cheung, defrauded him into entering into the purchase agreement for the subject property. (Proposed Cross-Complaint [“XC”] ¶¶ 14, 18, 21, 22; cf. FAC ¶ 13 [description of subject property].) Based on Kwon's false representations, Roger Han entered into an oral agreement with Kwon and Cheung, whereby he signed a purchase agreement. (XC ¶¶ 16-18.) In exchange, the parties agreed that the purchase price in the written agreement w...

Excerpt: ...ssary. On the other hand, if the items are properly objected to, they are put in issue and the burden of proof is on the party claiming them as costs.” (Ladas v. California State Auto. Assn. (1993) 19 Cal.App.4th 761, 774.) “Only if the costs have been put in issue via a motion to tax costs must supporting documentation be submitted.” (Jones v. Dumrichob (1998) 63 Cal.App.4th 1258, 1267.) As a preliminary matter, with respect to $969 in cou...

Excerpt: ... in a protected activity. The elements of a violation of Labor Code § 98.6 are: (1) the employee engaged in protected activity; (2) the employer subjected the employee to an adverse employment action; and (3) the employee's protected activity substantially motivated the employer's adverse employment action. (Garcia‐Brower v. Premier Automotive Imports of CA, LLC (2020) 55 Cal.App.5th 961, 977.) Protected activity includes making a written or o...

Excerpt: ...ly. Ultimately, the sur-reply is not dispositive because, even considering just the arguments presented in the motion, opposition, and reply, the motion would be denied. The Court notes, however, its concern that defense counsel may have “felt the proper course of action was to file the supplemental brief[] without leave to do so” (10/24/22 Keeton Decl. ¶ 3), which, if true, is the sort of unprofessional and unseemly conduct that would warra...

Excerpt: ...red by the Court on April 28, 2022. (Koulloukian Decl. ¶ 5 & Ex. 1.) Plaintiff contends that, on August 29, 2022, arbitration provider JAMS served a letter, entitled “Commencement of Employment Arbitration and Notice of Appointment of Arbitrator” (“Commencement Letter”), dated August 29, 2022, by email to all counsel, including defense counsel. (Koulloukian Decl. ¶ 8 & Ex. 4; Koulloukian Reply Decl. ¶ 3 & Ex. 1.) This Commencement Lett...

Excerpt: ... Jonathon Polter to arbitration. (Wagner Decl. ¶ 4 & Ex. 1 at § 12.1 [“If any dispute arises between the Members regarding this Agreement or any provision hereof, that dispute shall be resolved through a binding arbitration proceeding to be conducted in the State of California in accordance with the commercial arbitration rules of the Rabbinical Council of California”].) Plaintiff's claims arise of the Agreement. (Compl. ¶¶ 13, 14, 16.) W...

Excerpt: ...iff William E. Rice moves to tax $24,892 of the costs claimed by defendant Nixon Peabody LLP. Nixon Peabody is entitled to claim costs as “a defendant as against those plaintiffs who do not recover any relief against that defendant.” (CCP §§ 1032(a)(4), (b).) “If the items appearing in a cost bill appear to be proper charges, the burden is on the party seeking to tax costs to show that were not reasonable or necessary. On the other hand, ...

Excerpt: ...sts, and Interest is CONTINUED. According to the Order Extending Time to File Opposition and Reply to Petitioner's Motion for Post- Judgment Attorney Fees, Costs and Interest (“Order Extending Time”) entered by the Court on October 6, 2022 pursuant to stipulation, judgment debtor William E. Rice's deadline to file the opposition was October 3, 2022. As opposition was filed on behalf of judgment debtor Rice on October 4, 2022. Nevertheless, th...

Excerpt: ...ollectively, “Healthy Start Defendants”) move for a determination that the settlement they reached with plaintiffs Salvador Barrios and Elena Barrios, as well as third-party Oscar Aldrete, who was also involved in the subject accident, was reached in good faith. Under the proposed settlement, the Healthy Start Defendants are to pay $1,000,000 total, with $940,000 to plaintiffs and $60,000 to Aldrete. (Attia Decl. ¶ 7 & Ex. E at ¶ 1.) On Apr...

Excerpt: ...nt, as is required by Rule of Court 2.112(4). The fourteenth cause of action is asserted against all defendants, according to its heading. The other causes of action do not state in their headings the defendants against whom they are directed, which is in violation of Rule of Court 2.112(4). However, the other causes of action incorporate all prior allegations, including paragraphs 7- 10, which contain allegations against Doe 1. The other causes ...

Excerpt: ... the subject vehicle collision, defendant Beliakoff suffered an unforeseeable loss of consciousness, which is an absolute defense to negligence. “California has approved the rule of Cohen v. Petty, 62 App.D.C. 187, 65 F.2d 820, that as between an innocent passenger and an innocent fainting driver, the former must suffer.” (Ford v. Carew & English (1948) 89 Cal.App.2d 199, 203, citing Waters v. Pacific Coast Dairy, Limited Mut. Compensation In...

Excerpt: ...rer was not accompanied by a meet and confer declaration, as required by CCP § 430.41(a)(3)(A). The declaration filed with the moving papers only serves to authenticate documents that Robinson contends supports his arguments. Nevertheless, in the reply, Robinson attaches emails evidencing an effort to meet and confer before filing the demurrer. (Armstrong Reply Decl. ¶ 2 & Ex. 1.) Accordingly, the Court rules on the merits of the demurrer. Robi...

Excerpt: ...Service, Inc. (Rapaport Decl. ¶ 2.) The subpoena contains the following document requests: Without limiting the foregoing, this subpoena for employment records calls for the production of any and all DOCUMENTS and THINGS relating, pertaining, or referring to the following category prepared, created, or drafted at any time from November 15, 2019 to the present: 1. All applications for employment and resumes that CALLES submitted to You; 2. Any an...

Excerpt: ...Ambulance Service, Inc. (“AMRAS”) and American Medical Response of Southern California (“AMRSC”) seek terminating, issue, or evidentiary sanctions for violation of a court order compelling responses to discovery. On March 29, 2022, the Court granted defendants' motion to compel responses to the first sets of Form Interrogatories-General, Form Interrogatories-Employment, Special Interrogatories, and Requests for Production of Documents. (K...

Excerpt: ...covery. On May 12, 2022, the Court granted defendant's motion to compel responses to the first sets of Form Interrogatories-Employment, Special Interrogatories, and Requests for Production of Documents. (Schnayerson Decl. ¶ 11 & Ex. F.) Plaintiff did not file any written opposition beforehand. (Schnayerson Decl. ¶ 11 & Ex. F.) The Court ordered plaintiff to serve written verified responses, without objection, to Form Interrogatories-Employment,...

Excerpt: ....20 after prevailing on appeal. As a preliminary matter, based on the hearing date of October 6, 2022, the deadline to serve and file the opposition was September 22, 2022. (CCP § 1005(b) [opposition deadline is nine court days before hearing date – September 23, 2022 was a court holiday].) The opposition was untimely served and filed on September 27, 2022. However, because defendants were able to address the substantive merits of defendant's ...

Excerpt: ...e resolution” of the issues before the Court. (Martinez v. San Diego County Credit Union (2020) 50 Cal.App.5th 1048, 1075.) Plaintiffs' evidentiary objections are OVERRULED. ISSUE NO. 1: Plaintiffs are entitled to summary judgment, or in the alternative summary adjudication, that the Parkview Limited Partnership has been terminated and must be dissolved on at least three (3) separate and independent grounds (any single one of which supports sum...

Excerpt: ... of the allegations in the pleading. (Blank v. Kirwan (1985) 39 Cal.3d 311, 318.) Counsel for plaintiffs' declaration constitutes extrinsic evidence that is not considered on demurrer. I. FIRST CAUSE OF ACTION – BREACH OF THE COVENANT OF QUIET ENJOYMENT Defendants Eva E Moreno and Eva E Moreno Trust argue that plaintiffs Debraha Williams, Jazaha Williams, and Josiah Williams were not legally entitled to quiet enjoyment of the subject property b...

Excerpt: ...ing it would grant the motion, finding that defendants' assertion of its Seventeenth Additional Defense and related positions in this litigation waived defendants' asserted privilege as to the discovery at issue. The Court, however, continued the hearing to allow defendants the opportunity to decide whether to modify its litigative position in order to avoid the finding of waiver. (See, e.g., Transamerica Title Ins. Co. v. Superior Court (1987) (...

Excerpt: ...d 2031.320(c) due to plaintiff's failure to serve a privilege log, which was ordered by the Court on May 10, 2022. (Walker Decl. ¶ 3 & Ex. B.) The Court finds that monetary sanctions are not warranted. Defendant is correct that, prior to service of supplemental responses on May 27, 2022 (Walker Decl. ¶ 8 & Ex. E), plaintiff should have thoroughly reviewed the documents produced in response to defendant's Requests for Production, Set One and det...

Excerpt: ...ons Code § 308(c), “[a] provisional director shall have all the rights and powers of a director until the deadlock in the board or among shareholders is broken or until such provisional director is removed by order of the court or by approval of the outstanding shares (Section 152). Such person shall be entitled to such compensation as shall be fixed by the court unless otherwise agreed with the corporation.” Brown now seeks an order reimbur...

Excerpt: ...idence for which plaintiff provided in the declaration supporting its reply. (Pines Reply Decl. ¶¶ 21-24 & Es. 3-5.) Defendant Ambulnz Health, LLC does not dispute that plaintiff, who obtained a judgment in its favor at trial, is entitled to an award of reasonable fees under paragraph 31 of the Standard Industrial/Commercial Multi-Tenant Lease between plaintiff and defendant. (Pines Decl. ¶ 2 & Ex. A.) Defendant argues that plaintiff's request...

Excerpt: ... and its assignors contributed $150,100 to the pizzeria. (Compl. ¶¶ 10, 16, 30, 37.) “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.” (Rodas v. Spiegel (2001) 87 Cal.App.4th 513, 517.) Even though other paragraphs of the Complaint describe defendant's discussions with Rob Vinok...