Excerpt: ... v. Woodward -Clyde & Assocs. (1985) 38 Cal.3d 488, 499 (Tech -BIlt)) include “a rough approximation of plaintiffs' total recovery and the settlor's proportionate liability, the amount paid in settlement, the allocation of settlement proceeds among plaintiffs, a nd a recognition that a settlor should pay less in settlement than he would if he were found liable after a trial. Other relevant considerations include the financial condition...

Excerpt: ...Explanation: Demurrer 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 itself with the issue of plaintiff's possible difficulty or inability in proving the allegations of his complaint. (Highlanders, Inc. v. Olsan (1978) 77 Cal.App.3d 690,...

Excerpt: ...30.10, subd. (e), (f).) To overrule the demurrers to the first and second causes of action. The time in which the complaint may be amended will run from service of the order by the clerk. All new allegations shall be in boldface type. Explanation: This is an elder abuse action brought on behalf of Dorothy Magee (“Decedent”), through her successor -in -interest Lydell Magee. Decedent's children, Lydell Magee and Marcel Smith, also assert a wr...

Excerpt: ... for relief.” However, this misstates the holding of Gribin Von Dyl & Associates, Inc. v. Kovalsky (1986) 185 Cal.App.3d 653. There, the court said a party seeking relief “under a court's equity power must make a stronger showing than is necessary to obtain relief under section 473.” (Id. at p. 660, emphasis added.) It did not find that the showing for a request for relief based on “mistake, inadvertence, or excusable neglect” unde...

Excerpt: ...dure section 473.5 in their arguments. Cross- Complainant JD Properties, Inc. addressed both grounds. Accordingly, the court proceeds on both grounds. Code of Civil Procedure section 473, subdivision (b) provides, in pertinent part: The court may, upon any te rms as may be just, relieve a party or his or her legal representative from a judgment, dismissal, order, or other proceeding taken against him or her through his or her mistake, inadvertenc...

Excerpt: ...ment order. If oral argument is timely requested, such argument will be entertained in Department 501 at 3:30 p.m. on February 27, 2024. Explanation: The Material Undisputed Facts The plaintiffs in this action, Stephanie Norgard and Edward Priest, are the parents of Varonica Priest ("Decedent"). On January 31, 2021, Decedent presented to the hospital emergency department for respiratory dyspnea. She was 35 years old with a history of mito...

Excerpt: ... others, for failure to properly maintain the lock on the door through which Mr. Roy gained entry to the building. Cosco now moves for summary judgment, relying solely on the firefighter's rule. Cosco contends that the firefighter's rule applies because Mr. D iaz was working as a law enforcement officer in his office at the time of the attack, “and the injuries arose from an activity that was anticipated or expected in the line of duty.” ...

Excerpt: ...timely. Additionally, a meet and confer declaration is not filed in support of the motion. Plaintiff's request to set a hearing on an order to show cause regarding contempt against LP's counsel, Jeremy Freedman, for filing untimely documents, is denied. Explanation: Evidentiary Objections and Requests for Judicial Notice The court overrules each of defendant Latchkey Pioneers, LLC's (“LP”) objections, as LP failed to comply with California ...

Excerpt: ... Center (“Villagio”) and Manco Abbott, Inc., collectively “Settling Defendants,” have agreed to settle with plaintiffs for a total of $5,000,000.00, with offsets taken for settlements reached with defendants Cirks Construction, Inc. in the amount of $125,000 and Miller Clark Landscape and Nursery in the amount of $130,000. The final amount of the settlement is $4,745,000 with Lazy Dog contributing $949,000.00, Villagio contributing $2,37...

Excerpt: ...to file such pleading will run from service by the clerk of the minute order. New allegations/language must be set in boldface type. To deny plaintiff's motion to strike. If oral argument is timely requested, such argument will be entertained at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, February 22, 2024, in Department 502. Explanation: Demurrer Code of Civil Procedure section 430.40 provides that a person may demur to an answer within 10 days after service of the...

Excerpt: ...ocedur e section 473, which gives the courts power to permit amendments in furtherance of justice, has received a very liberal interpretation by the courts of this state.... In spite of this policy of liberality, a court may deny a good amendment in proper form w here there is unwarranted delay in presenting it.... On the other hand, where there is no prejudice to the adverse party, it may be an abuse of discretion to deny leave to amend.' [Citat...

Excerpt: ...beer bottles on plaintiff's property. Second, on June 4, 2023, the entrance gate was left open. Third, on January 22, 2024, the entrance gate was closed, but not securely latched. Fourth, and primarily, defendants are driving on the dirt road, and the Behrens improved the roadway by paving and grading (though plaintiff only seeks to have defendants stick to the easement boundaries). An injunction may be granted “[w]hen it appears by the complai...

Excerpt: ...defendants Sergio Franco and Vantage Point Finance, LLC in its entirety. If oral argument is timely requested, such argument will be entertained at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, February 22, 2024, in Department 502. Explanation: Several parties move for summary judgment of the Second Amended Complaint (“SAC”) by plaintiff Cameron Arballo (“Plaintiff”). The SAC states eight causes of action: (1) breach of contract/specific performance; (2) quiet...

Excerpt: ...f ser vice of the minute order, a proposed judgment consistent with the court's summary judgment order. Explanation: Admiral moves for summary judgment or in the alternative, for summary adjudication as to the first and second causes of action in the Fourth A mended Complaint for breach of contract and breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing. Evidentiary Objections and Requests for Judicial Notice Admiral's evidentiary objectio...

Excerpt: ... the special interrogatories. However, the court will grant sanctions against HTV for its unjustified failure to serve timely responses to the discovery, in the amount of $585. HTV shall pay sanctions to Varo within 30 days of the date of ser vice of this order. HTV's request for sanctions against Varo is denied. Explanation: The court intends to deny Varo's motion to compel initial responses to special interrogatories, as HTV has now served ver...

Excerpt: ...s the date documents were mailed and where they were mailed from, but the section where the documents served should be listed reads “Post office on Alluvial, Fresno CA” and does not state what was served. Assuming that defendant can provide a sa tisfactory proof of service, defendant also has not met the requirements necessary to set aside a default judgment. Code of Civil Procedure section 473, subdivision (b), provides for relief from a jud...

Excerpt: ...Civil Procedure section 425.16, "[a] cause of action against a person arising from any act of that person in furtherance of the person 's rightof petition or free speech under the United States Constitution or the California Constitution in connection with a public issue shall be subject to a special motion to strike, unless the court determines that the plaintiff has established that there is a probability that the plaintiff will prevail on the ...

Excerpt: ...tion: Defendants timely filed their Memorandum of Costs, and plaintiff timely filed his motion to tax those costs. Defendants are entitled to claim costs as prevailing parties, since a dismissed defendant is deemed the prevailing party. (Code Civ. P roc., § 1032, subd. (a)(4); City of Long Beach v. Stevedoring Services of America (2007) 157 Cal.App.4th 672, 678.) This is so whether the dismissal was voluntary or (as here) involuntary. (Crib Re...

Excerpt: ... any action or proceeding." (Code Civ. Proc., 1032, (subd. (b).) "Prevailing party' includes the party with a net monetary recovery, a defendant in whose favor a dismissal is entered, a defendant where neither plaintiff nor defendant obtans any relief, and a defendant as against those plaintiffs who do not recover any relief against that defendant." (Code Civ. Proc., S 1032, subd. (a)(4).) Here, defendant Saint Agnes Medical Center was clearly th...

Excerpt: ...a public entity defendant. Specifically, the allegations on paragraph 93, pages 16:23 – 17:5, paragraph 102, pages 17:24 - 18:5, paragraph 111, pages 18:24 – 19:6, paragraph 120, pages 19:23 – 20:5, paragraph 129, pages 20:23 – 21:4, and Prayer for Relief, paragraphs 3, page 32:10 -11 and 12, page 33:23 are stricken from the First Amended Complaint. The court also intends to deny leave to amend. If oral argument is timely requested, such...

Excerpt: ... a First Amended Complaint. The time in which such pleading may be filed will run from service by the clerk of the minute order. All new allegations in the First Amended Complaint are to be set in boldface type. If oral argument is timely requested, su ch argument will be entertained at 9:00 a.m. on Friday, February 23, 2024, in Department 501. Explanation: A motion to strike can be used to cut out any “irrelevant, false or improper” matters...

Excerpt: ...eek relief under Code of Civil Procedure sections 2023.040, 2023.030, 2023.030, and 2023.050 on the basis that defendant's “responses are evasive and incomplete and the objections are without merit or too general.” (Notice of Motions, at p. 2:1 -2 .) Plaintiff's separate statements, however, shows that defendant responded to most of the subject interrogatories and requests for admissions with straight forward denials and factual replies. In p...

Excerpt: ...r co unsel of record, Brian N. Folland, jointly and severally, payable no later than 20 days from the date of this order, with time to run from the service of this minute order by the clerk. If oral argument is timely requested, such argument will be entertain ed at 9:00 a.m. on Friday, February 23, 2024. Explanation: Code of Civil Procedure section 2023.010, subdivision (g), makes “[d]isobeying a court order to provide discovery” a “misuse...

Excerpt: .... Class Certification a. Standards First, the court must determine whether the proposed class meets the requirements for certification before it can grant preliminary approval of the proposed settlement. An agreement of the parties is not sufficient t o establish a class for settlement purposes. There must be an independent assessment by a neutral court of evidence showing that a class action is proper. (Luckey v. Superior Court (2014) 228 Cal....

Excerpt: ...section 3287, subdivisions (a) and (b). Under section 3287, subdivision (a), “[a] person who is entitled to recover damages certain, or capable of being made certain by calculation, and the right to recover which is vested in the person upon a particular day, is entitled also to recover interest thereon from that day...” (Civil Code, § 3287, subd. (a).) “‘The purpose of prejudgment interest is to compensate plaintiff for loss of use of h...