Excerpt: ...hired the plaintiff, Mr. Lopez, an experienced licensed roofing contractor, to work on their roof. (Fact Nos. 2, 6; Plaintiffs Fact ["P-Fact"l Nos. 1, 2.) Mr. Lopez brought his own ladder and tools to the premises to perform work on the roof. (Fact No. 7.) Mr. Lopez's typical practice is to place his ladder and test it to make sure it is steady and secure before using it to avoid falls. (Fact No. 8.) Mr. Lopez placed his ladder at the back of the...

Excerpt: ...preliminary settlement class. (Cal. Rules of Court, rule 3.769(d).) "If the court grants preliminary approval, its order must include the time, date, and place of the final approval hearing; the notce to be given to the class; and any other matters deemed necessary for the proper conduct of a settlement hearing. (Cal. Rules of Court, rule 3.769(e).) "If the court has certified the action as a class action, notce of the final approval hearing must...

Excerpt: ...r Family Trust of 2004, ("Plaintiff") seeks an award of attorney fees pursuant to Civil Code section 1717 following judgment after trial, which was entered in favor of Plaintiff against defendants Larry Oakander and Patricia Oakander (collectively "Defendants"). The First Amended Complaint stated one remaining cause of action against Defendants, for breach of installment note. Plaintiff now seeks a fee award of $407,553.60. Statutory Grounds unde...

Excerpt: ... leave to file a Petition for Relief to File Late Claim pursuant to Government Code section 946.6. The Petition shall be filed in Fresno Superior Court Case Number 23CECG02328. Explanation: The function of a demurrer is to test the sufficiency of a plaintiff's pleading by raising questions of law. (Plumlee v. Poag (1984) 150 Cal.App.3d 541, 545.) The test is whether plaintiff has succeeded in stating a cause of action; the court does not concern ...

Excerpt: ...vere water damage which decedent's house sustained after an integrated water supply part located within an upstairs bathroom faucet failed and caused the home to flood. Unfortunately, decedent had suffered a stroke and was not living in her home at the time in question. Decedent stated that she learned of the claim when the water utility contacted her to advise that her water had been shut off following an unusually large spike in water usage. De...

Excerpt: ...nses, without objections, to the first set of form interrogatories, special interrogatories, and requests for production of documents. To deem defendant to have admitted the truth of the matters in the requests for admissions, set one. To grant monetary sanctions against defendant Stine in the amount of $890. To deny the request for sanctions against defendant's attorney. Explanation: Plaintiffs have shown that they are entitled to orders compell...

Excerpt: ... pursuant to the rules and exceptions for psychotherapist-patent communications. (Evid. Code, S 1010 et seq.) Evidence Code section 1012 protects communications between a psychotherapist and a patient, including communications during the scope of treatment and diagnoses made by the therapist. A psychotherapist shall claim the privilege whenever disclosure of such communications is sought. (Evid. Code, S 1015.) The holder of such privilege is the ...

Excerpt: ...) Explanation: "California law like federal law, favors enforcement of valid arbitration agreements." (Armendariz v. Foundation Health Psychcare Services, Inc. (2000) 24 Cal.4th 83, 97.) "When presented with a petition to compel arbitration, the initial issue before the court is whether an agreement has been formed." (Diaz v. Sohnen Enterprises (2019) 34 Cal.App.5th 126, 129.) In addition, arbitration is a " 'matter of consent, not coercion,'" an...

Excerpt: ...ng findings: (1) The party has a substantial interest in the action as a whole. (2) The health of the party is such that a preference is necessary to prevent prejudicing the party s interest in the litigation. (Code Civ. Proc., S 36, subd. "upon the granting of such a motion for preference, the court shall set the matter for trial not more than 120 days from that date and there shall be no contnuance beyond 120 days from the granting of the motio...

Excerpt: ... order. Explanation: As the moving party, defendant bears the initial burden of proof to show that plaintiffs cannot establish one or more elements of the at-issue cause of action or to show that there is a complete defense. (Code Civ. Proc. CCP S 437c, subd. (p)(2).) Only after the moving party has carried this burden of proof does the burden of proof shift to the other party to show that a triable issue of one or more material facts exists — ...

Excerpt: ... to as the American rule, which provides that each party to a lawsuit must ordinarily pay his own attorney fees. (Trope v. Katz (1995) 11 Cal.4th 274, 278.) Code of Civil Procedure section 1021 provides: "Except as attorney's fees are specifically provided for by statute, the measure and mode of compensation of attorneys and counselors at law is left to the agreement, express or implied, of the parties; but parties to actions or proceedings are e...

Excerpt: ...vil Procedure section 430.41and 435.5; specifically, to meet and confer with plaintiff regarding the issues raised by the demurrer and motion to strike. If the parties cannot agree on the purported deficiencies in the first amended complaint, defendant may calendar another hearing date for the demurrer and must comply with Code of Civil Procedure section 430.41 and 435.5 in doing so. If the parties need more time to meet and confer, they may subm...

Excerpt: ...ettlement. Explanation: A prevailing buyer in an action under the Song—Beverly Act "shall be allowed by the court to recover as part of the judgment a sum equal to the aggregate amount of costs and expenses, including attorney's fees based on actual time expended, determined by the court to have been reasonably incurred by the buyer in connecton with the commencement and prosecution of such action." (Civ. Code, S 1794, subd. (d).) The statute "...

Excerpt: ...subd. (e).) Moving parties shall submit to this court, within seven days of service of the minute order, a proposed judgment dismissing the action as to them. Explanation: Plaintiff alleges that she was discriminated against based on her race in her employment with Omni Family Health Organization. She sues Omni and three Omni employees (Joseph Hayes, Aurora Cooper and Gloria Pacleb) for (1) hostile work environment racial harassment; failure to p...

Excerpt: ...ction brought by the government. The act authorizes a representative action only for the purpose of seeking statutory penalties for Labor Code violations (Lab.Code, section 2699, subds. (a), (g)), and an action to recover civil penalties 'is fundamentally a law enforcement action designed to protect the public and not to benefit private parties. Oskanian v. CLS Transportation Los Angeles, LLC (2014) 59 Cal.4th 348, 381.) A PAGA representative act...

Excerpt: ...gant. To order plaintiff to obtain permission from the presiding judge of the court before filing any new actons in pro per. Explanation: Demurrer: Defendant demurs to the entire complaint on the grounds that of "failure to include any causes of action" and "unintelligibility." However, "failure to include any causes of action" and "unintelligibility" are not statutory grounds for a demurrer. It appears that defendant is arguing that the complain...

Excerpt: ...ility issues. (Wershba v. Apple Computer, Inc. (2001) 91 Cal.App.4th 224, 240; see Dunk v. Ford Motor Co. (1996) 48 Cal.App.4th 1794, 1803, fn. 9, 19.a) The trial court has a "fiduciary responsibility" as the guardian of the absentee class members' rights to decide whether to approve a settlement of a class action. (Luckey v. Superior Court (2014) 228 Cal.App.4th 81, 95.) A precertification settlement may stipulate that a defined class be conditi...

Excerpt: ... 3 Cal. 5th 531, 549, citing Labor Code section 2599(1)(2) ["The superior court shall review and approve any settlement of any civil action filed pursuant to this part. The proposed settlement shall be submitted to the agency at the same time that it is submitted to the court."]) The trial court is to "evaluate a PAGA settlement to determine whether it is fair, reasonable, and adequate in view of PAGA's purposes to remediate present labor law vio...

Excerpt: ... proposed judgment dismissing the achon. The trial date set for August 19, 2024, is vacated, as are the related dates for Mandatory Settlement Conference and Trial Readiness. If a timely request for oral argument is made, such argument will be entertained on Wednesday, January 24, 2024, at 3:30 p.m. Explanation: Once a moton to compel a party to comply with a discovery request is granted, continued failure to comply may support a request for more...

Excerpt: ...ibed." (Kacha v. Allstate Ins. Co. (2006) 140 Cal.App.4th 1023, 1031.) It is not the court's role to review the merits of the controversy or to determine whether the evidence is sufficient to support the appraisal award. (Ibid.) The petition identifies the California Arbitration Act, (Code Civ. Proc. S 1280, et seq.) as providing authority for the court to compel California FAIR Plan Association to participate in the Insurance Code 52071 appraisa...

Excerpt: ...cted to submit a proposed judgment. Explanation: Tax Costs On August 29, 2023, judgment was entered in the consolidated matter in favor of defendant Haight Brown & Bonesteel, LLP ("Defendant") and against plaintiff Hallmark Specialty Insurance Company ("Hallmark") following the granting of a motion for nonsuit. Defendant filed a memorandum of costs for $122,662.55. Hallmark seeks to tax those costs. Specifically, Hallmark objects to certain entri...

Excerpt: ... to Enforce Settlement Agreement "Code of Civil Procedure section 664.6 provides a summary procedure to enforce a settlement agreement by entering judgment pursuant to the terms of the settlement.„." (Hines v. Lukes (2008) 167 Cal.App.4th 1174, 1182, internal citations omitted); see also Fiege v. Cooke (2004) 125 Cal.App.4th 1350, 1353-1355 [assent can be established where the parties were present but did not object to settlement termsl.) Furth...

Excerpt: ...proof to show that plaintiff cannot establish one or more elements of their causes of action or to show that there is a complete defense. (Code Civ. Proc„ S 437c, subd. (p)(2).) Only after the moving party has carried this burden of proof does the burden of proof shift to the other party to show that a triable issue of one or more material facts exists — and this must be shown via specific facts and not mere allegations. (ld.) "California cou...

Excerpt: ...court issued an order granting Defendant's motion and stayed all proceedings pending final disposition of the United States District Court, Eastern District of California, Case No. 1:22-cv-00729. Plaintiff now seeks reconsideration of that order of stay. Motions for reconsideration fall under the purview of Code of Civil Procedure section 1008, which states in pertinent part: When an application for an order has been made to a judge, or to a cour...

Excerpt: ...ayra Corina Gonzalez is directed to submit a new proposed order. To set a status conference for Thursday, July 16, 2024, 3:30 p.m. in Department 503. Explanation: 1. Class Certification The court has already granted the motion for preliminary approval and certification of the class and found that the class is sufficiently numerous and ascertainable to warrant certification for the purpose of approving the settlement. There is no reason for the co...