Excerpt: ... Code section 452, subdivision (h), which permits judicial notice of “[f]acts and propositions that are not reasonably subject to dispute and are capable of immediate and accurate determination by resort to sources of reasonably indisputable accuracy.” This provision “is intended to cover facts which are not reasonably subject to dispute and are easily verified,” such as “facts which are widely accepted as established by experts and spe...

Excerpt: ... nonperformance, (3) defendant's breach, and (4) the resulting damages to the plaintiff.” (Oasis West Realty, LLC v. Goldman (2011) 51 Cal.4th 811, 821.) Hegge argues the second amended complaint does not allege he was a party to the subject contract. It alleges Hegge breached the partnership agreement governing defendant Mertz-Del Amo, a California general partnership. (SAC, ¶ 27, Ex. A.) Ouye alleges he is a general partner of the partnershi...

Excerpt: ...y rely on its own experience and knowledge in determining the reasonable value of attorney fees. (Id. at p. 1096; accord Taylor v. Nabors Drilling USA, LP (2014) 222 Cal.App.4th 1228, 1249.) Basis for Attorney Fees A prevailing party can only recover attorney fees when authorized by contract, statute, or law. (CCP § 1033.5(a)(10).) Plaintiff claims attorney fees under three statutes: Code of Civil Procedure section 1021.6, Labor Code section 218...

Excerpt: ...urther responses on the basis that defendant produced documents that were not “identified with the specific request number to which the documents respond.” (CCP § 2031.280(a).) Defendant did that. On May 1, 2023, defendant served a notice of production including a table identifying which documents respond to which requests for production. (Reyes Decl., Ex. 2.) Unlike the written responses to requests for production (CCP §§ 2031.210(a)(1)-(...

Excerpt: ...urt to exclude the expert opinion of any witness offered by a party who has unreasonably failed to produce expert reports and writings as required by section 2034.270.” (Boston v. Penny Lane Centers, Inc. (2009) 170 Cal.App.4th 936, 952 (Boston).) The statute applies to “creation of expert reports and writings” by the expert (ibid.; see CCP §§ 2034.210(c), 2034.270), not to all documents an expert witness relies on or reviews. Plaintiff p...

Excerpt: ...lies. The court declines to reach the issue because the result would be the same under either the FAA or the California Arbitration Act. Existence of Agreement Defendants present sufficient evidence that plaintiff electronically signed the purported arbitration agreement. A motion to compel arbitration is “a summary proceeding.” (Espejo v. Southern California Permanente Medical Group (2016) 246 Cal.App.4th 1047, 1057.) The moving party can me...

Excerpt: .... 3). Defendant is entitled to enforce the latter arbitration provision. Section 4 of Owner's Handbook & Warranty Information provides: “If you purchased or leased your Hyundai vehicle in the State of California, you and we each agree that any claim or disputes between us (including between you and any of our affiliated companies) related to or arising out of your vehicle purchase, use of your vehicle, the vehicle warranty, representations in t...

Excerpt: ...trol Group, LLC (Crowd Control) because he does not meet the continuous membership requirement. To bring a derivative action on behalf of a limited liability company, the plaintiff must allege he “was a member, of record or beneficially, at the time of the transaction or any part of the transaction of which the plaintiff complains.” (Corp. Code, § 17709.02(a)(1).) “[S]ection 17709.02 requires both ‘contemporaneous' membership—meaning t...

Excerpt: ...dual employees or coworkers are not liable for retaliation under Labor Code section 1102.5. Only employers can be liable. While no California court has decided the issue, persuasive authority has reached this conclusion. “District Courts have reasoned that if the California Supreme Court were to address the issue, it would hold that section 1102.5 does not impose personal liability on employees and supervisors.” (Mewawalla v. Middleman (N.D. ...

Excerpt: ...rgue this cause of action is barred by the statute of limitations. A demurrer should be sustained where “the complaint shows on its face that the statute [of limitations] bars the action.” (E-Fab, Inc. v. Accountants, Inc. Services (2007) 153 Cal.App.4th 1308, 1315.) In evaluating a demurrer based on untimeliness, the court must determine: (1) which statute of limitations applies; and (2) when the claim accrued. (Id. at p. 1316.) The statute ...

Excerpt: ...ions to the declaration of Viridiana E. Aceves. Objection Nos. 1, 2, and 4 are sustained. Objection No. 3 is overruled. Meet and Confer Plaintiff did not make an adequate attempt to informally resolve this dispute. A motion “for an order staying the taking of [a] deposition and quashing [a] deposition notice … shall be accompanied by a meet and confer declaration under Section 2016.040.” (CCP § 2025.410(c).) “A meet and confer declaratio...

Excerpt: ...rogatories or requests for production, the requesting party may move for an order compelling responses. (CCP §§ 2030.290(b) [interrogatories]; 2031.300(b) [request for production].) Failing to timely respond waives any objections. (CCP §§ 2030.290(a); 2031.300(a).) Mertz-Del Amo served responses after Ouye filed these motions. The motions are therefore moot as to ordering Mertz-Del Amo to respond. The only remaining issues are whether Mertz-D...

Excerpt: ...v. GDL Best Contractors, Inc. (2019) 38 Cal.App.5th 677, 695, internal quotes and alterations omitted.) The complaint must sufficiently apprise defendants of the claims against them. (Ibid.) Plaintiff's amendments cured the initial complaint's uncertainty. The first amended complaint may not be a model of clarity, but it now labels its causes of action, including expressly alleging defendant breach three separate contracts. (FAC, ¶¶ 8- 10.) It ...

Excerpt: ...bjection in the response is without merit or too general.” (CCP § 2031.310(a).) Meet and Confer Defendant General Motors, LLC argues plaintiff did not meet and confer in good faith before filing this motion. Plaintiff sent a detailed meet and confer letter on July 20, 2023 (Treybig Decl., ¶¶ 23-24, Ex. 5), over three weeks before filing this motion. The record includes no evidence that defendant responded to the letter. Defendant asserts the...

Excerpt: ... because CarMax assigned its contractual rights to ACA. “An assignee stands in the shoes of the assignor, taking his or her rights and remedies subject to any defenses the obligor has against the assignor prior to notice of the assignment.” (Creative Ventures, LLC v. Jim Ward & Associates (2011) 195 Cal.App.4th 1430, 1447, internal quotes omitted.) ACA authenticated a copy of a retail installment sales contract between plaintiff and CarMax. (...

Excerpt: ... consistent with or not supported by the facts.” (CCP § 663, subd. 1.) “In ruling on a motion to vacate the judgment the court cannot ‘ “in any way change any finding of fact.” ' ” (Glen Hill Farm, LLC v. California Horse Racing Bd. (2010) 189 Cal.App.4th 1296, 1302.) Defendant contends the judgment relies on an incorrect or erroneous legal basis because the court did not properly apply the lease and its addendum's terms defining “...

Excerpt: ...unding interrogatories may move to compel further responses when an answer “is evasive or incomplete,” “[a]n exercise of the option to produce documents under Section 2030.230 is unwarranted or the required specification of those documents is inadequate,” or “[a]n objection to an interrogatory is without merit or too general.” (CCP § 2030.300(a).) Code of Civil Procedure section 2030.220 provides how a party must answer interrogatori...

Excerpt: ...ree causes of action allege violations of the Franchise Investment Law (FIL), Corporations Code section 3100, et seq. Defendants argue plaintiffs have no standing to sue under that law because they do not qualify as “franchisees.” The law “grant[s] standing to sue for violations of the Franchise Investment Law to franchisees or subfranchisors.” (Dameshghi v. Texaco Refining & Marketing, Inc. (1992) 3 Cal.App.4th 1262, 1284, overruled on o...

Excerpt: ...ause of action. Intentional infliction of emotional distress requires: “(1) extreme and outrageous conduct by the defendant with the intention of causing, or reckless disregard of the probability of causing, emotional distress; (2) the plaintiff's suffering severe or extreme emotional distress; and (3) actual and proximate causation of the emotional distress by the defendant's outrageous conduct.” (Hughes v. Pair (2009) 46 Cal.4th 1035, 1050....

Excerpt: ...ion transcripts. Legal Standard for Sealing Records California Rules of Court, rule 2.550(d) provides: A court may order that a record be filed under seal only if it expressly finds facts that establish: (1) There exists 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 ...

Excerpt: ... against Kelly Seidlitz and Annette Seidlitz. “If a party” disobeys an “an order compelling further response to interrogatories, the court may make those orders that are just, including the imposition of an issue sanction, an evidence sanction, or a terminating sanction … . In lieu of, or in addition to, that sanction, the court may impose a monetary sanction.” (Code Civ. Proc., § 2030.310, subd. (e).) Kelly Seidlitz and Annette Seidli...

Excerpt: ... set one. When a party fails to timely respond to interrogatories, the requesting party may move for an order compelling responses. (CCP § 2030.290(b).) Failure to timely respond waives any objections. (CCP § 2030.290(a).) Gibson served special interrogatories, set one, on plaintiff on January 4, 2023. (Rosenthal Decl., ¶ 2, Ex. A.) Plaintiff had not served responses as of July 27, when Gibson filed this motion. (Id., ¶ 3.) Plaintiff did not ...

Excerpt: ...rogatories, and requests for production of documents. 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).) On May 24, 2023, defendant Carrington Mortgage Services, LLC served set one of for...

Excerpt: ...P Plaintiff Ugo O. Asobie moves to compel further responses by defendant Universal Protection Services, LP (Universal) to special interrogatories Nos. 1-72, 79, 80, 89, and 90. A party propounding interrogatories may move to compel further responses when an answer “is evasive or incomplete,” “[a]n exercise of the option to produce documents under Section 2030.230 is unwarranted or the required specification of those documents is inadequate,...

Excerpt: ...� (Espejo v. Southern California Permanente Medical Group (2016) 246 Cal.App.4th 1047, 1057 (Espejo).) The moving party can meet the “initial burden to show an agreement to arbitrate by attaching a copy of the arbitration agreement purportedly bearing the opposing party's signature.” (Id. at p. 1060.) For this initial burden, “ ‘it is not necessary to follow the normal procedures of document authentication.' ” (Id. at p. 1058.) Only aft...