Excerpt: ...omplaint. (2) Set forth the facts on which the plaintiff seeks to recover. (3) Describe the premises with reasonable certainty. (4) If the action is based on paragraph (2) of Section 1161, state the amount of rent in default. (5) State specifically the method used to serve the defendant with the notice or notices of termination upon which the complaint is based.” The complaint meets all five requirements. First, it includes a verification and t...

Excerpt: ...rty as a result of actions or tactics, made in bad faith, that are frivolous or solely intended to cause unnecessary delay.” (CCP § 128.5(a).) “ ‘Actions or tactics' ” include, but are not limited to, the making or opposing of motions or the filing and service of a complaint, cross-complaint, answer, or other responsive pleading.” (Id., subd. (b)(1).) “ ‘Frivolous' means totally and completely without merit or for the sole purpose ...

Excerpt: ... are sustained. Objection Nos. 1 and 2.a, 2.b, 2.e, and 2.g-2.n are overruled. Lifting Stay On August 22, 2022, the court issued an order finding this civil action related to the unlawful detainer action and staying the unlawful detainer action. The court ordered the stay is subject to the following conditions: “(1) David Abbasi must pay defendant Jerry Davidson his monthly mortgage costs; (2) David Abbasi must pay Jerry Davidson all taxes on t...

Excerpt: ...misrepresentation, (3) concealment, and (4) negligent concealment. The fifth cause of action alleges comparative indemnity. Cross-defendants' demurrer does not directly address the elements of any of these causes of action. The demurrer argues that the first amended cross-complaint's claims all arise from the complaint by plaintiff Arcadia Ramos against defendant/cross-complainant Salvador for various wage and hour violations under the Domestic W...

Excerpt: ...he complaint is part of the court's file in this action. Defendants' request for judicial notice is denied. Plaintiff requests judicial notice of 26 facts or exhibits labeled A through Z. Assuming any of those facts or documents may be subject to judicial notice under Evidence Code section 452, they are not relevant or necessary to the court's analysis. (See Jordache Enterprises, Inc. v. Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison (1998) 18 Cal.4th 739, 748, fn....

Excerpt: ...er, or other proceeding taken against him or her through his or her mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect.” (CCP § 473(b).) “Because the law favors disposing of cases on their merits, ‘any doubts in applying section 473 must be resolved in favor of the party seeking relief from default.' ” (Rappleyea v. Campbell (1994) 8 Cal.4th 975, 980.) Defendants present sufficient evidence that their defaults and the default judgment...

Excerpt: ...uction, set one. When a party fails to timely respond to interrogatories or demands for inspection, the requesting party may move for an order compelling responses. (CCP §§ 2030.290(b) [interrogatories]; 2031.300(b) [demands for inspection].) Failure to timely respond waives any objections. (CCP §§ 2030.290(a); 2031.300(a).) Defendant served form interrogatories – general, set one and request for production, set one by mail to plaintiff on ...

Excerpt: ...f it “is so incomprehensible that a defendant cannot reasonably respond.” (A.J. Fistes Corp. v. GDL Best Contractors, Inc. (2019) 38 Cal.App.5th 677, 695.) A complaint must sufficiently apprise defendants of the claims against them. (Ibid.) Plaintiff's second amended complaint is not uncertain. It clearly and concisely alleges the basis for defendant's liability. Plaintiff alleges she had surgery at Cedars- Sinai in 1995. (SAC, ¶ 5.) “Duri...

Excerpt: ...hich the opposing party has relied on the absence of a list of expert witnesses. (b) The court has determined that any party opposing the motion will not be prejudiced in maintaining that party's action or defense on the merits. (c) The court has determined that the moving party did all of the following: (1) Failed to submit the information as the result of mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect. (2) Sought leave to submit the info...

Excerpt: ...ing Act (FEHA) based on disability, including the portions of the first and second causes of action for discrimination and harassment, the ninth cause of action for failure to provide reasonable accommodation, and the 10th cause of action for failure to engage in the interactive process. A party may move to “[s]trike out all or any part of any pleading not drawn or filed in conformity with the laws of this state, a court rule, or an order of th...

Excerpt: ...ll confirm the award as made, whether rendered in this state or another state, unless in accordance with this chapter it corrects the award and confirms it as corrected, vacates the award or dismisses the proceedings.” (CCP § 1286.) Evidentiary Objections Koplowitz makes 14 objections to the declaration of Robert Shtofman in support of Sunset's petition to vacate the arbitration award. Objection Nos. 1, 3, and 7-14 are sustained. Objection Nos...

Excerpt: ...ation any matter relevant to the leave requested, including, but not limited to, the following: (1) The necessity and the reasons for the discovery. (2) The diligence or lack of diligence of the party seeking the discovery or the hearing of a discovery motion, and the reasons that the discovery was not completed or that the discovery motion was not heard earlier. (3) Any likelihood that permitting the discovery or hearing the discovery motion wil...

Excerpt: ...se discovery disputes. These disputes carried on for months. Plaintiff's counsel made numerous attempts to meet and confer over that time. In the circumstances, these efforts were sufficient. Requests for Admission Plaintiff Dana Moon moves to compel defendant Chong H. Park to serve further responses to requests for admission Nos. 8, 10, 22, 23, 24, 36, 37, 41, 42, 43, 66, 80, 84, 97, 103, and 105. A party requesting admissions may move to compel...

Excerpt: ...antively identical to a general demurrer—after the time to demur has expired. (CCP § 438(f)(2); Korchemny v. Piterman (2021) 68 Cal.App.5th 1032, 1054-1055 [defendant may move for judgment on the pleadings under § 438 or under common law].) Overruling the demurrer because it is late would thus serve no useful purpose. The court will treat Aaron Green's demurrer as a motion for judgment on the pleadings. 2nd Cause of Action for Fraud Against A...

Excerpt: ...not meet and confer with defendant Farmers Group, Inc. as required before moving to compel the deposition of its person(s) most qualified. A motion to compel deposition under Code of Civil Procedure section 2025.450, subdivision (a) “shall be accompanied by a meet and confer declaration under Section 2016.040, or, when the deponent fails to attend the deposition and produce the documents, electronically stored information, or things described i...

Excerpt: ...greement. Equitable Estoppel Defendants rely on the doctrine of equitable estoppel and the opinion in Felisilda v. FCA US LLC (2020) 53 Cal.App.5th 486 (Felisilda). “[A] nonsignatory defendant may invoke an arbitration clause to compel a signatory plaintiff to arbitrate its claims when the causes of action against the nonsignatory are intimately founded in and intertwined with the underlying contract obligations.” (Id. at p. 495.) After defen...

Excerpt: ...l case other than a juvenile case is entitled to costs on appeal.” Rule 8.278(a)(2) provides, “The prevailing party is the respondent if the Court of Appeal … dismisses the appeal.” On April 10, 2022, plaintiff appealed the judgment. On January 5, 2023, the Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal. The Court of Appeal issued a remittitur on March 9, 2023. Medicali Holdings Inc. and Charles Weinberger were the respondents. Because the Court of...

Excerpt: ...his provision, courts may strike a pleading that is not signed. (Vaccaro v. Kaiman (1998) 63 Cal.App.4th 761, 768.) “Every pleading shall be subscribed by the party or his or her attorney.” (CCP § 446(a).) “An unsigned paper shall be stricken unless omission of the signature is corrected promptly after being called to the attention of the attorney or party.” (CCP § 128.7(a).) “[A]n unsigned complaint is an irregularity, rather than a ...

Excerpt: .... Salem's complaint alleges Chronicpractor breached a commercial lease in 2020. (Comp., p. PLD-C-001, ¶ BC-2.) Cross-defendant argues Salem lacks standing because he no longer owned the property in 2020. Cross- defendant requests judicial notice of a grant deed transferring the property to Salem Commercial Investments, LLC in 2017. (RJN, Ex. 3.) Lack of standing may be a defense for Chronicpractor against plaintiff's complaint. And if Chronicpra...

Excerpt: ...Someone with an easement cannot state a cause of action for trespass against the servient property's owner unless the easement constitutes “an exclusive possessory right in that property.” (Id. at p. 1174.) Plaintiffs and defendant own neighboring properties. Pursuant to a recorded property instrument between the parties' predecessors, plaintiffs have an easement over part of defendant's property. Only if the easement is exclusive can they br...

Excerpt: ...s may strike allegations related to punitive damages where the facts alleged cannot support recovery of punitive damages under Civil Code section 3294. (Turman v. Turning Point of Central California, Inc. (2010) 191 Cal.App.4th 53, 64.) Conclusory allegations are not enough. (Smith v. Superior Court (1992) 10 Cal.App.4th 1033, 1042.) Plaintiff alleges sufficient facts to constitute malice. “ ‘Malice' means conduct which is intended by the def...

Excerpt: ...he two entity defendants, Synergy Traffic and American Traffic (and not Kenneth R. Jones), demur to the first cause of action on the grounds that they did not enter the alleged contract. The court addresses this cause of action below because the same reasoning applies to the entity defendants' arguments on all three causes of action. 2nd Cause of Action for Promissory Fraud Plaintiff alleges sufficient facts for promissory fraud. Fraud generally ...

Excerpt: ...ting sanctions. (CCP §§ 2030.290(c) [interrogatories], 2031.300(c) [requests for production].) Plaintiff Maria Delgado disobeyed the court's order compelling discovery responses. On March 8, 2023, the court ordered her to serve verified responses to defendant's form interrogatories and requests for production of documents within 30 days. The court also ordered plaintiff to pay $2,542.20 in monetary sanctions within 30 days. Defendant served not...

Excerpt: ...of all disputed matters in the same lawsuit.” (Kittredge Sports Co. v. Superior Court (1989) 213 Cal.App.3d 1045, 1047.) Courts exercise their discretion “liberally to permit amendment,” and “[t]he policy favoring amendment is so strong that it is a rare case in which denial of leave to amend can be justified.” (Howard v. County of San Diego (2010) 184 Cal.App.4th 1422, 1428.) Defendants Paul Sandweiss and Christian Schrader argue the a...

Excerpt: ...or concealed the fact with intent to defraud plaintiff; (4) plaintiff must have been unaware of the fact and would have acted otherwise if he had known of the concealed fact; and (5) the omission caused damages. (Boschma v. Home Loan Center, Inc. (2011) 198 Cal.App.4th 230, 248.) A cause of action for fraud requires specifically pleading each element. (Alfaro v. Community Housing Improvement System & Planning Assn., Inc. (2009) 171 Cal.App.4th 13...