Excerpt: ...he court will inquire whether the sanctions were paid. This is a landlord -tenant action filed by the tenant against the landlords. Although plaintiff has not lived in the unit for some time due to alleged hazardous conditions, she has continued to maintain legal possession of the unit. At issue in this motion is an inspection done by her expert. Although plaintiff has possession of her unit, and she has legal access to common spaces, she does no...

Excerpt: ...v. Moriana (2022) ___ U.S. ___, 142 S.Ct. 1906; Adolph v. Uber Technologies (2023) 14 Cal.5th 1104.) In fact, in Adolph , the plaintiff's second amended complaint (like this one) alleged only a PAGA claim. The problem plaintiff has is that although there is no obligation for a PAGA plaintiff to seek personal damages, to have standing to assert a PAGA claim as a representat ive the named plaintiff must have been “aggrieved” by the wage and hou...

Excerpt: ...er 14, 2023. On December 19, 2023, the court heard the motion and granted it. The court ordered that verified, code-compliant responses be served within 5 court days without objection other than privilege. But the court also stated that if Weiss and Hamer believed that the December 14, 2023, responses complied with the court's December 19, 2023, order, they could stand on those responses. The court warned, though, that if they stood on their resp...

Excerpt: ...that occurred after1/1/20, plaintiff has 3 years to go to the DFEH. The incidents here seem to have occurred in 2019, so plaintiff had 1 year to go to the DFEH. (It is not 100% clear that all of the conduct took place in 2019—the complaint is a bit vague on that.) Plaintiff alleges that she filed a timely claim with the DFEH. Although the actual claim is not attached, there is no requirement that it be attached and the court will presume that t...

Excerpt: ...elements do not require the specificity defendants demand. The demurrer is therefore OVERRULED as to Solis Design Studio. The demurrer is SUSTAINED WITHOUT LEAVE TO AMEND as to negligence per se (the seventh cause of action) because negligence per se is not a separate cause of action. Negligence per se is a form of negligence where a law or regulation provides the applicable standard of care, which is only an element of the cause of action. Becau...

Excerpt: ...r proper; defendant has met its burden of justification. As to requests 1-51, plaintiff has not filed any response at all. Even the supplemental responses fail to address the first fifty-one requests. The motion is therefore GRANTED as to those requests. Request 52 seeks documents relative to the location of the funds plaintiff received from Housing is Key. Defendant asserts that this money should have been paid to it because the money was for re...

Excerpt: ...urt will not stand on that technicality for purposes of deciding the instant demurrer. The gist of the contract is that defendant breached a contract by failing to pay plaintiff for services rendered. The contract at issue is reflected in a series of emails between the parties. Defendant demurs on grounds of uncertainty. Such demurrers are disfavored and succeed only where the complaint is so opaque that defendant (and the court) simply cannot un...

Excerpt: ...ile a redacted version in the public domain, but to file the unredacted version under seal. Plaintiff contends that the redacted portions discuss private medical issues relating to Spacey, a third party in this litigation (although a central figure). According to plaintiff, the information that is being redacted is similar in nature to information redacted during the demurrer hearings. Defendant objects. According to defendant, a lot has changed ...

Excerpt: ...an automatic renewal program the carrier had offered. Under that program, plaintiffs had pre-authorized premium payments to be made so as to renew the policy without the need for plaintiffs to take any affirmative action. Allegedly unbeknownst to plaintiffs, however, the carrier discontinued the program. As a result, the carrier did not collect the premium and the policy lapsed. Plaintiffs allege that they never received any notices warning them ...

Excerpt: ...dismissed. However, Donald Sterling is also a named defendant. He demurs, claiming that there are no allegations (other than boilerplate alter ego stuff) that tie him into anything. His claim is that he is named for the publicity it brings to harass him, and for no other reason. Plaintiff contends that Beverly Hills Properties is a part of the case, but it is only a DBA. Accordingly, those who are humans behind the DBA are properly named, and, ac...

Excerpt: ...nd responses were due on October 31, 2023. However, the responses were not served. When Surgical Center inquired, Strom's counsel said it was an oversight. Surgical Center gave Strom extensions, but that did not lead to responses. Surgical Center even agreed (at least initially) not to claim that good faith objections were waived, but even so, responses were not served. Further, Surgical Center claims that it has proof that Strom's counsel's clai...

Excerpt: ...n threatening the motion. Responses were served on November 15, 2023, but defendant had some problems with the response, leading to another letter written on November 20, 2023. On November 29, 2023, plaintiff's counsel wrote to say his email had been hijacked and that there would be supplemental responses forthcoming. But no supplemental responses were served. On December 1, 2023, defendant wrote again, and plaintiff promised to supplement by Dec...

Excerpt: ...has moved to compel responses and there is no opposition. The motions to compel further responses to the RFAs are GRANTED. Verified responses without objection other than privilege will be served within 30 days of today. The court notes that plaintiff did not seek to deem the matters admitted, which is a gift to the defense. The requests for production are more difficult. Even where there has been no response, the propounding party must demonstra...

Excerpt: ...orce the fee provision. He also notes that plaintiff would have sought fees from him. Plaintiff opposes. Plaintiff asserts that Shiri was sued only in tort; he was not sued for breach of contract. In point of fact, as Shiri points out, he was initially sued for breach of contract, although that was dropped in the amended complaint. The court believes that the contractual language is broad enough to support fees here given that the tort is interfe...

Excerpt: ... that the unredacted materials were not properly filed under conditional seal. Defendant contends that in fact the filing was done properly on October 27, 2023. For now, the court will assume a timely filing by the defense, although the court will inquire. Turning to the merits, the standard is well settled. The moving party must show that there is an overriding interest that overcomes the public's interest in access, the overriding interest supp...

Excerpt: ...oduced (as to these requests). Plaintiff first contends that objections were waived because they were served a day or two late. In fact, though, it appears that they were served on time. Defendant argues that the RFP's relating to employment are not reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence. Had defendant not camouflaged that objection with the other boilerplate ones, the court might have agreed, although that is not c...

Excerpt: ...d that they will be produced but only subject to a confidentiality order or agreement. Plaintiff has refused to so agree as to those documents (but has as to other documents). Turning first to the policies and procedures, the court generally agrees with plaintiff. It is up to defendant to make at least some showing as to why those documents should be subject to a confidentiality stipulation. Although those stipulations have become less cumbersome...

Excerpt: ...hitect until after the site inspection. They claim that to get a certificate of merit (as is required to sue the architect) they needed to have both the actual plans (which they claim that they did not get until relatively late) and also inspect the site, which plaintiff would not allow until about a month before the motion was filed. It is and was proper to get the certificate of merit before suing the architect and the court is not prepared to ...

Excerpt: ...e, especially given the alternatives offered in both the opposition and reply. Defendant offered to provide a redacted settlement agreement (but never produced it) and plaintiffs offered to have documents produced pursuant to a protective order. The court questions why these alternatives are offered in briefing and not in meet and confer efforts. However, while these were offered in briefing, that is no substitute for a meet and confer. The court...

Excerpt: ...sought—on multiple occasions—a preliminary injunction or TRO to allow him to stay on the property. Those motions were denied because the court found that plaintiff had not shown a likelihood of success on the merits. The written contracts all had fee-shifting clauses. Defendant obtained summary judgment and now seeks fees. There is an initial question whether fees are recoverable. Defendant has argued, with force although ultimately not fully...

Excerpt: ... necessary assistance at meals and that plaintiff would often feed himself. According to plaintiff, defendant was reminded of the risk whenever a family member came to visit. Even so, plaintiff contends, defendant failed to take the appropriate steps. Plaintiff further contends that defendant understaffed even knowing of the risk that presented. On June 5, decedent was found with coffee ground emesis and was in respiratory distress. Plaintiff ass...

Excerpt: ...to use Kings as the auctioneer. Kings has not yet valued the artwork. Generally, before the process begins, Kings (according to its principal) takes physical possession of the art to be sold. Here, however, defendant does not want Kings to have physical possession. At first, that seems like an attempt to delay the auction. But the court is not so sure. Defendant's position is that once Kings has established an estimate, defendant will turn over t...

Excerpt: ...rts that now that trial is fast approaching the need has changed. The information in question consists of updated financial figures. It is updated in that it consists of more current information than the information previously provided. The confidentiality agreement and order states that if a party seeks to challenge a designation, it will notify the producing party and give the specific reasons for the challenge. Plaintiff here notified the defe...

Excerpt: ..., but have no actual ownership of the entity. What it did have was a 28% income interest. That interest was held “in trust” by CVC and Samara. Plaintiff was therefore not an NHH member and did not sign the NHH Operating Agreement. Rather, plaintiff and defendants signed what has been referred to as the “November Agreement,” which governed plaintiff's rights. Eventually, there was a capital call to fund a change in the hotel's flag. (The N...

Excerpt: ...es were served right before the motion was filed. Those supplemental responses are the same: “After an exhaustive search attached is a true and correct copy of all responsive documents in Plaintiff's possession documents are attached as Exhibit 1 and 2.” Plaintiff is correct that this is not code-compliant. The code is quite specific as to the response. The response must be that the production “will be allowed either in whole or in part, an...

Excerpt: ...ciates defendants' candor, that does not change a bad faith response into a good faith response. Further extensions were given but no supplemental responses were filed. Plaintiff has moved to compel. The court has reviewed the requests for production and believes plaintiff has made the requisite showing to justify the discovery as required by CCP section 2031.310(b)(1). The court has reviewed the objections. They are in bad faith and boilerplate....

Excerpt: ...it was here). Generally, only “very slight” evidence is required because the law favors a merits disposition. (Kramer v. Traditional Escrow, Inc. (2020) 56 Cal.App.5th 13.) Of course, that rule does not allow setting aside a default where the decision not to file a timely response was tactical or deliberate rather than negligent. Defendant here has provided a detailed declaration with corroborating evidence demonstrating that there were vario...

Excerpt: ...d sought—on multiple occasions—a preliminary injunction or TRO to allow him to stay on the property. Those motions were denied because the court found that plaintiff had not shown a likelihood of success on the merits. The written contracts all had fee-shifting clauses. Defendant obtained summary judgment and now seeks fees. There is an initial question whether fees are recoverable. Defendant has argued, with force although ultimately not ful...

Excerpt: ...ond procedure, he was told to take antibiotics, but forgot. He told the defendant that he forgot to take the antibiotics (or at least that he did not take the full course) but they went ahead anyway. After the second procedure, plaintiff became infected and was hospitalized for 8 days. During that time, plaintiff contends that the hospital tried to get his medical records from defendant but defendant did not provide them. Defendant now demurs to ...

Excerpt: ...at the responses were not sufficient. The court is taking these two motions out of the many filed. The court had hoped that the parties would be able to work the discovery out amongst themselves, but alas, such is not the case. There were emails exchanged and promises to supplement, but the promises seem empty as the supplements never materialized. That said, due to personal issues, defense counsel promised the supplements by month's end—which ...

Excerpt: ...[Safady] to SOLICIT investments in CYBERLINE.” RFP 2 seeks communications with any “PERSON [Safady] SOLICTED to invest in CYBERLINE regarding a potential or actual investment in CYBERLINE.” RFP 3 seeks documents relating to efforts by Safady “to recommend that any PERSON invest in CYBERLINE.” RFP 4 seeks communications relating to Cyberline “with any person to whom [Safady] recommended investing in CYBERLINE.” The response to each i...

Excerpt: ... of the crime to obtain attorneys' fees in a civil action. Plaintiff, having prevailed against two defendants, asserts $179,729.50 in fees. Lead counsel bills at between $950 and $1050/hour and co- counsel bills at between $605 and $685/hour. Plaintiff elected not to submit billing records, but did submit declarations from counsel going into some detail as to the work done. Plaintiff is willing to submit records for in camera review. Defendant op...

Excerpt: ...otice of those actions is GRANTED. Defendant Greyhound seeks to change venue to Tulare. (The other defendant has not joined that motion, but has not opposed it either.) Plaintiff opposes. CCP section 395 states that in a personal injury case involving negligence, venue is proper where any defendant resides or where the event took place. Plaintiff contends that none of the defendants reside in Tulare County, although Tulare is proper because that ...

Excerpt: ...filed on December 8, 2023. The case is set to go to trial on February 20, 2024. Plaintiff's discovery (which might be the first written discovery plaintiff propounded) was served on October 12, 2023, about two months before the last day to serve. The discovery was wide-ranging, consisting of RFPs, SIs, and Fis. Responses were due in November, but were not served until December 8, 2023. Defendant's counsel states that he learned of his brother's p...

Excerpt: ... the background of this case, which can be found in the court's Statement of Decision. Suffice it to say that the court found in favor of defendant Rock (owned by the Kayas) and against defendant Marmara. Perhaps fearing that Marmara is not going to be able to stand the judgment, plaintiff seeks to add Marmara's sole owner, Aghnami, as a judgment debtor on an alter ego theory. Alter ego is one theory by which a judgment can be amended even after ...

Excerpt: ...held the security deposit claiming that there was damage to the apartment. Plaintiff says that a neighbor claims that this was the landlord's pattern: not to hold a walk-through but to withhold the security deposit. On that basis, plaintiff alleges fraud and the landlord demurs. It is plaintiff's burden to establish a false representation by the landlord upon which plaintiff reasonably relied to his detriment. The allegation must be specific. Tha...

Excerpt: ...nveyance, not regular fraud. There is a difference. In traditional fraud, the plaintiff claims that the defendant made some knowingly false representation to the plaintiff upon which plaintiff reasonably relied to its detriment. In a fraudulent conveyance lawsuit it is different. There, the allegation is that the defendant transferred an asset to another for inadequate consideration at a time that defendant was insolvent or became insolvent due t...

Excerpt: ... September 28, 2023, by electronic mail. They claim responses were due on October 31, 2023 (although it might really be November 1, 2023). Plaintiff did not respond to the discovery. Defendants then insisted on responses the next day (November 1, 2023). Plaintiff asserted that it did not get the discovery, which turns out (according to defendants) to be untrue. Plaintiff eventually said it would provide responses. Plaintiff allegedly “dumped”...

Excerpt: ... does, however, set forth a few things that apply to both motions. A SMS has two prongs. The first goes to whether the complaint alleges liability based on defendants' exercise of certain constitutional rights. The burden on this prong is on the moving party. It is generally resolved by the pleadings, but the court can look beyond the pleadings primarily for context and understanding. If the first prong is met, then plaintiffs must address the se...

Excerpt: ...er, she would (allegedly) insist that defendants' response was adequate and then say she would discuss the matter with “the team.” The court's guidelines suggest (strongly) that the person at the meet and confer be authorized to make a deal then and there. It appears that Armenta was not. That is a problem. More of a problem, though, is plaintiff's counsel tenor and tone in some of the written communications. The tone is uncivil, contemptuous...

Excerpt: ...aintiff's income from being a FINRA arbitrator both before and after the allegedly wrongful conduct. Plaintiff provided none, claiming that he had no pertinent documents because his practice was to shred them. Plaintiff shredded documents from not only the period pre- dating the conflict, but also after the conflict arose, after he contemplated suing defendants, after he brought suit, and to this day. Defendants contend that plaintiff's conduct w...

Excerpt: ...in apparent charge” of the premises according to the POS. According to defendant, though, Manvel is not even an employee, let alone in charge of the location. Rather, defendant states that Manvel is a contractor who is called upon from time to time when needed. He was not authorized to accept service and was not in “apparent charge” of anything. While defendant admits to getting “numerous legal documents,” he did not know he was being s...

Excerpt: ...ity to agree to anything or did. In the former case, the meet and confer was improper. There is no proper meet and confer where one side has no ability to reach an agreement. That is bad faith. In the latter case, the meet and confer was improper. It is concerning that a paralegal would have the ability to make binding legal decisions. Making binding legal decisions is something that the Code envisions only a licensed attorney can do. (Code Civ. ...

Excerpt: ...erved on May 11, 2022. But the deposition was set to take place on June 27, 2023—over a year later. That fact was lost on the defense, which (not unreasonably) thought that the deposition was set for June 27, 2022. There was email correspondence concerning the date and appearance and the location of the deposition, all of which made it clear that the defense thought the deposition was going forward in 2022, not 2023. The deposition did not go f...

Excerpt: ... The release was relatively broad form and everyone released everyone from everything, at least that could have been brought in the prior UD action. That includes any claims that plaintiff may have had and any defenses defendant may have had. It also included a representation that neither side was aware of any unsettled claim against the other. Of course, that settlement will not bar defendant from raising any alleged misconduct that occurred aft...

Excerpt: .... The seller is an LLC. Shiri is one of the LLC's owners. He is also the LLC's manager. He is sued in his individual capacity for, among other things, interference with contract. Shiri demurred before, claiming that he cannot be sued individually because he was acting in his capacity as the LLC's agent and manager. The court sustained the demurrer but gave plaintiff leave to amend. Plaintiff did so and this demurrer follows. The court in its prio...

Excerpt: ...solution. Although plaintiff asked defendant to respond to plaintiff's concerns in writing, defendant did not do so. On July 14, 2023, defendant sent plaintiff 256 pages of documents, uncategorized, but no supplemental discovery responses. Defendant allegedly said that they did not know how to categorize the documents. Plaintiff moves to compel and seeks sanctions. Defendant asserts that it is not the bad guy here because the document demands wer...

Excerpt: ...matter and also a cross-defendant. All cross-defendants were represented by Ervin Cohen & Jessup LLP (ECJ). All of the individual attorney cross-defendants other than Lerner-Hill were a part of ECJ, and ECJ was also a cross-defendant. Lerner-Hill seeks to recover her fees in full; that is, she has not reduced or apportioned them in any way to account for the fact that none, or virtually none, of the hours worked were unique to her case as opposed...

Excerpt: ... potentially recoverable under each theory. At the hearing, the court stated that it was going to rule on the viability of particular theories, but not as to any particular number that could be awarded under any viable theory. The court believed that the specific number would not be the proper function of a motion for summary adjudication, which, after all, still required that the moving party demonstrate no triable issue of fact. The court specu...

Excerpt: ...led this sexual harassment and discrimination action against defendants. Defendants have moved to compel arbitration, claiming that plaintiff so agreed as part of her employment contract. Plaintiff opposes. A party seeking to enforce an arbitration agreement has the initial burden of proving that such an agreement exists. (Giuliano v. Inland Empire Personnel, Inc. (2007) 149 Cal.App.4th 1276.) No matter how broad the alleged arbitration clause an...

Excerpt: ...ts demur on the ground that the complaint is barred by res judicata. Plaintiff opposes. Defendants' request for judicial notice is GRANTED. Although plaintiff objects, the objections were not timely. Even were they timely, though, the documents may be judicially noticed. The request is for an October 12, 2021 minute order issued by the court, the judgment in the earlier case, the notice of entry of that judgment, and various other pleadings filed...

Excerpt: ...erald Dairy. (For convenience, the court refers to defendants collectively because the differentiation does not really matter for purposes of this motion. The court recognizes, of course, that the defendants are different and that in some respects that distinction is important.) The agreement provided that defendants would purchase promissory notes in the amount of $1.75 million and would obtain warrants to purchase a number of shares of common s...

Excerpt: ...100% clear. However, the motion was not in proper format and was difficult (bordering on impossible) to read or understand. On May 3, 2023, the court continued the matter to June 7, 2023 and ordered USCL to submit a new brief that was no longer than 15 pages, and was double- spaced including quotes and footnotes. (The latter because USCL had an unusual number of lines and pages devoted to single-spaced things such that the brief was actually very...

Excerpt: ...s only to the easement; the court recognizes that an easement and an equitable servitude are different things, but the analysis below is the same either way) requiring that the property remain in its natural state. Defendants demur primarily on statute of limitations grounds. They claim that plaintiff was put on inquiry notice way back in 2016 by virtue of a letter sent by the California Coastal Commission that was copied to plaintiff. More on th...

Excerpt: ...ation is set forth (or appears to be set forth) in either the operative complaint or cross-complaint. There is no question but that there is a privacy interest here. Plaintiff is seeking financial records from defendant's financial institution. Those records not only show deposits from various sources, but also payments including the payees. It is private stuff, and there is really no doubt about it. Having successfully articulated a privacy inte...

Excerpt: ...lien-holders who had perfected liens relating to the injury. Plaintiff's counsel asked defense counsel to re-issue the check made out only to plaintiff or plaintiff and her counsel and not the lienholders because the check that had been issued could not be cashed without the lienholders' endorsements. Defendant refused, at least absent a statement from plaintiff's counsel that all the liens had been satisfied. The dispute is this. Defendant conte...

Excerpt: ...default, the default interest rate was to be 4%/month (or 48% per annum). Defendant did not repay the note when due. Plaintiffs (Nuguid) sued on the note and cross-complainant (Sokol) brought the cross-complaint alleging that the note was usurious and sought remedies therefor. Cross- defendants demur, alleging that the note is not usurious under New Jersey law, and that under California's choice of law rules, New Jersey law in fact governs. Sokol...

Excerpt: ...nt on Monday or Tuesday of next week. As a preliminary matter, the court is aware of the supplemental declaration filed in support of the motion for a preliminary injunction filed yesterday but only available to the court this morning. The declaration consists of attachments only (that is, the declaration was authenticating only; it was not substantive in any other way). The court does not see how that document is particularly germane to the disc...

Excerpt: ...ruary 3, 2023, while their application for a writ of attachment (later granted) was pending. Specifically, plaintiffs sought an order enjoining Knibb from further transferring the proceeds from the loan until plaintiffs have been able to levy on the assets and requiring Knibb to disclose within a day all of the accounts in Knibb's name and to require Knibb to disclose within a day all the accounts into which the $200,000 had been deposited, and t...

Excerpt: ...s from Hewitt's personal bank account. Hewitt moved to quash the subpoena. That issue was resolved by way of an IDC before Judge Karlan that resulting in a stipulation signed by the parties and ordered by the court. The order required the production. Plaintiff served the order on Bank of America, which then produced certain records. Plaintiffs contend that as they went through the records, they realized that some were missing. Plaintiffs wrote to...

Excerpt: ...the court does not believe that the flaw is jurisdictional. The major point defendant makes is that in the early meet and confer process, these RFP's were not mentioned. However, defendant agrees that the matter was brought to defendant's attention during the process. Defendant repeatedly agreed to respond, but in fact never did. Defendant claims that the response was tied to the IDC date. That makes no sense to the court at all, although the cou...

Excerpt: ...ly, but the parties are ordered to meet and confer to reach acceptable search term parameters. Plamtiffs Media Rights Capital II, LLC (f/k/a Media Rights Capital II, LP), Knight Takes King Productions, LLC, and MRC II Distribution Company LP (collectively "plaintiffs") filed this insurance coverage action agamst defendants Certain Underwriters at Lloyd's, London Subscribing to Policy No. DRI 701899/243 (the Undenvnters Policy) and Fireman's Fund ...

Excerpt: ...ners is the developer of a project that aimed to redevelop the iconic Century Plaza Hotel together unth the construction of t'.vo condominium towers. (Compl„ 147.) In 2016, NCP secured 51.016 billion in private construction financing for the project (ld. at 155.) Plaintiffs allege that the senior construction loan of $446 million was from JP Morgan, the senior mezzanine financing of $120 million from CDCF IV, and $450 million in junior mezzanme...

Excerpt: ...mmed that he is not competent to stand trial. Even so, it was also determined that he could not be held involuntarily as a dangerto himself or others, and therefore he is (or was) being released. Plamtiffs allege that they are concerned that Arturo will return to his parents' home and continue to put plaintiffs and their property in jeopardy. Plamtiffs moved for a preliminary injunction to bar defendants from allowing Arturo to move back into the...

Excerpt: ... This is a very interesting discovery motion involving the attorney work product doctrine. (Although sometimes the patties throw in the attorney/client privilege, the work product doctrine seems more apt) At issue here are the notes and drafts of tvvo doctors who provided an opinion that Spacey had a sickness or Illness that was covered under the terms of the policies at issue. A bit of background. Kevin Spacey was mvolved in the production of th...

Excerpt: ...plaintiff. Plaintiff agreed to dismiss the instant case without prejudice, but if the agreed sum was not paid by a date certain, the dismissal would be with prejudice, meaning that plaintiff would no longer stand in the way of a foreclosure sale. Accordmg to plaintiff, the talks hit a glitch because (according to plamtim an unauthorized tenant was living in the home and plaintiff could not realistically sell it with the tenant in place. That mean...

Excerpt: ... 17, about a week and a half before the FSC materials were due. There is no indication that anything had been sent while defendant had counsel. Butbe that as it may, going forward withoutreal FSC materials in a jury trial is a recipe for disaster. Even with that, the court is notternbly sympatheticto defendants predicament The motion to be relieved as counsel was filed on March 10, 2023. There is no indication that defendant did much of anything ...

Excerpt: ...d stand or fall on what defendants knew and when they knew it In other words, ifthe defendants (or either of them) were on notice of this potential danger before plaintiff bought the product but yet kept it on the market, punitive damages was an issue that could well go the jury. On the other hand, if defendants were not on notice of this risk, then continuing to sell the product would not warrant punitive damages as there would be no fraud, oppr...

Excerpt: ... all cases. Rather, they are guidelines as to the court's general views. Each case, of course, will be decided on Its own facts and circumstances, and some of the guidelines below may not apply to particular circumstances. That said, the court does take these views seriously. Discovery Responses The Court provides the following guidance concerning Its general views on some common issues regarding responses to written objections. The Court has not...

Excerpt: ...sert that Honda knew of the defect due to several Techmcal Service Bulletins (TSB) issued as well as from consumer complaints, but that Honda failed to disclose the defectto plaintiffs before the carwaspurchased. (ld., at "21-42.) Plaintiffs' car had this defect Plaintiffs sue for fraud, claiming that Honda had a duty to disclose the problem, but failed to do so. Honda demurs to that cause of action. The parties' requests for judicial notice are ...

Excerpt: ...fers from InterGroup to Doyle during a four month period. Defendant claims that the SI is overbroad but the court disagrees. Whether InterGoup is sending money to Doyle is pertinent to the case. Defendant contends that there is no allegation that Doyle stole money or obtained it wrongfully. But plaintiff need not allege or so prove. The point is that if money is headed Doyle's way, it could support the theory that the investment was a fraud. It a...

Excerpt: ...trial subpoenae are narrower. They must set forth what is being sought with particularity and they must be targeted. They must be necessary to the trial, meaning that they are not available simply because they might lead to the discovery of admissible evidence. The subpoena here is overbroad and invades Pomerantz's privacy without cause. While Buckley adverts to federal law concerning what is private, California law is broader. To get private inf...

Excerpt: ...y of a charging order. Such an order constitutes a lien on the judgment debtor's transferable interest and requires the entity to pay over to the judgment creditor any money that would otherwise have been paid to the judgment debtor. Here, Harari seeks a charging order for Marmon's alleged membership in Joshua Tree 1, LLC. Harari has presented evidence suggesting that Marmon attempted to transfer his interest to his wife as her sole and separate ...

Excerpt: ...19, 2022. That motion was denied as untimely and it did not comply with California Rule of Court 3.1324. As to re-opening discovery, the court stated that it was not clear that re-opening was needed to the extent that the new causes of action were based on the same facts. Further, in that motion, plaintiffs' counsel admitted that he was not sure what discovery was done by prior counsel. In the instant motion, plaintiffs seek to add causes of acti...

Excerpt: ...lopment Corporation, Sweetwater Holdings LLC, and FASP as DOE defendants. Currently before the court is defendants Matthew Dugally, The Dugally Group, LLC, Oberfeld Development Corporation, and Sweetwater Holdings LLC (collectively “DOE defendants”) motion to dismiss and demurrer to the SAC. FASP is a DOE defendant but not a moving party. Hakim opposes. This matter previously came on before the court in September 2022. (9/2/22 MO.) At that po...

Excerpt: ...rm interrogatories. Turning to the RFAs, plaintiff initially sought to compel further responses as to eight of them. Plaintiff withdrew the motion as to three of four as to Kosova. The remaining RFA asks defendant to admit that it “did not disclose to Plaintiff any pre-existing issues” with the car before leasing. The response was that defendant denied “that the subject vehicle had pre-existing issues prior to Plaintiff's lease.” Plaintif...

Excerpt: ...y urges the parties to get this done. Illulian lost the underlying case and he has been ordered to do certain things. His seeming refusal to do them is not a good strategy. While the court does not enjoy contempt proceedings, so long as Illulian faces no more then 180 days in jail the proceeding is a bench trial and the court will reluctantly conduct it. The court hardly relishes such a trial, but if it is needed, Illulian and his wife both face ...

Excerpt: ...aintiff's responses are not sufficient. First, even though not always stated in the form of an objection, some of the introductory text suggesting that plaintiff is not going to produce all documents as requested operates in the same manner as an objection, and that is not sufficient. For example, in the response to request number 1, plaintiff states he will produce all documents as they pertain to the defendant. That is in effect an objection th...

Excerpt: ...ff's employees. One such employee, Venegas, was a bad actor and stole money by creating false documents and submitting them to defendant. Defendant processed the false documents and supposed wages were paid to a non-existent person for the benefit of the erstwhile employee (who had previously been defendant's employee before working directly for plaintiff). Plaintiff contends that defendant breached its contract and committed various torts by not...

Excerpt: ...Plaintiff contends that defendants owe her money. Defendants contend that legally, they do not. At issue here is a motion to compel further responses to certain special interrogatories and requests for production brought by defendants. Preliminarily, plaintiff contends that the meet and confer process was inadequate and she reiterates her request for a discovery referee. (Defendants have no objection to a referee, but they state that they do oppo...

Excerpt: ...formed the procedure so that he could refer plaintiff to PTS for physical therapy. PTS is owned by defendant's wife. Plaintiff has moved to amend the complaint to assert punitive damages and defendant has opposed. The court has continued the motion to allow plaintiff to try and obtain sufficient evidence to warrant the amendment. One avenue plaintiff wants to pursue is PTS's economic interest in plaintiff's referral or the referrals of others by ...

Excerpt: ...ng that the landlord is 93 years old and in very poor health. According to the defense, well before the events leading up to this case she turned management of the property over to her daughter, who is the person with whom plaintiff actually interacted. Defense counsel claims that the defendant actually knows nothing pertinent here and that a deposition will put her in physical jeopardy. Normally, the court would side with plaintiff. While it cou...

Excerpt: ...ere based on the original August 17, 2022 trial date. While the discovery was timely served, the motion was not filed for a timely hearing (even based on the original motion papers). To obtain a ruling, defendant must seek relief from CCP section 2024.020, which requires that discovery motions be set for hearing no less than 15 days before the initial trial date. This is a question of power; the court cannot ignore this deadline. (Pelton‐Shephe...

Excerpt: ...unsigned. Plaintiff also complains that the description was too vague. And plaintiff argues that the motion is improper because it should be a motion for leave to conduct a second examination rather than a motion to compel. Frankly, many of those objections are not ill-taken. But the court is nonetheless inclined to overlook them and construe the motion as one for leave rather than one to compel. The trial is currently set for March 6, 2023. If d...

Excerpt: ...iction proceedings. On August 23, 2022, a notice to pay or quit was served. In October 2022, the parties reached an agreement, confirmed in writing, whereby defendant would make four weekly payments of $26,501.81 each, in return for which plaintiff would dismiss then then-pending UD action. Defendant made the first payment and was late on the next two. The fourth payment was not made. According to plaintiff, there was never an agreement that the ...

Excerpt: ...y McCarty's expert as well as an expert appointed by the court, and the conclusion has been adopted by the criminal court. McCarty has a Guardian ad Litem in this case. Plaintiff here seeks to depose McCarty. McCarty objects based on his mental health issues. McCarty does not object based upon the right against self-incrimination (although McCarty would reserve the right to assert that privilege at any deposition) or on the ground that a depositi...

Excerpt: ... to tax the cost bill submitted on October 6, 2022, by defendants Valley Surgical Center, LLC, Cindy Omidi, Julian Omidi, and Michael Omidi. No hearing is requested at this time.” Not only was there no hearing date in the actual motion, no hearing date was set forth in the caption (likely because, as was stated, no hearing date was requested) and the notice was phrased in the future tense. On November 8, 2022, plaintiff filed a “Renewed Notic...

Excerpt: ...ry low bar. Here, on the day that the opposition was due, defendant sought, ex parte, a continuance under 437c(h). The theory was that defendant suspected that plaintiff had received government assistance to cover lost rents, the implication being that the assistance was in the form of a grant, not a loan, and that recovering the rent as well as the assistance would be a double recovery and windfall. Plaintiff did not make her showing that day ba...

Excerpt: ...f mold in her apartment. (Id. at ¶29.) Plaintiff purportedly contacted management, which sprayed the apartment for treatment and this temporarily alleviated the issue. (Id. at ¶30.) Plaintiff asserts that from 2016 to 2022, she was bitten again and asked management to fumigate again. (Id. at ¶¶31-37.) Management allegedly did not comply with this request. (Ibid.) Plaintiff claims she received a tetanus shot for these bites and the doctor conf...

Excerpt: ... here, but there are also additional motions to compel. Frankly, this case is turning into a procedural quagmire. And it is almost impossible to have a motion without some form of dispute about what was served and when. The Court has addressed these service issues in the past, but apparently to little avail. There is also a history to this case. Last year, there was another discovery dispute. In the course of resolving that dispute, the Court con...

Excerpt: ...vil Procedure section 36. That statute states that a cause of action to recover damages for wrongful death is entitled to preference on motion of a party under 14 years of age unless the Court finds that the moving party does not have a substantial interest in the case as a whole. No one really disputes that this is a wrongful death case or that the children are under 14. The Smuckler defendants seem to contest the age issue, but the Court is not...

Excerpt: ...nding party has the expertise to answer. These are not requests where plaintiff is seeking to force defendant to an early expert witness disclosure; they are requests for information within the responding party's knowledge. The Court also notes that a response to a document request stating that there are no documents to produce must include the information set forth in Code of Civil Procedure section 2031.230. The Court also notes that the assert...

Excerpt: ... conclude that it will survive demurrer. Cross‐defendants also claim that they are not liable because the cross‐complaint does not sufficiently allege precisely who is at fault for what. But the cross‐complaint has alleged enough for the pleading stage. Who bears specific responsibility for what, and what (if any) actions were ratified by whom is better tested by summary judgment than demurrer. As to the 789.3 claim, it, too, is a close que...