Excerpt: ... further responses. Plaintiff shall provide further responses to defendants' Requests for Admissions, Set No. One, Nos. 5, 10, 11, 16, 21, 22, 27, 32 and 33, and to Form Interrogatory, Set No. 1, Interrogatory No. 326.1, related to the Requests for Admission. These further responses shall be served within 20 calendar days of this order, with the time to run from the date of service of this minute order by the clerk, To grant monetary sanctions ag...

Excerpt: ...sotti, A Professional Law Corporation within 30 days of the clerk's service of this minute order. Explanation: In a FEHA action “a prevailing plaintiff should ordinarily receive his or her costs and attorney fees unless special circumstances would render such an award unjust.” (Gov. Code, § 12965, subd. (b); Williams v. Chino Valley Independent Fire Dist. (2015) 61 Cal.4th 97, 115 [in].) “In enacting the FEHA, the Legislature sought to saf...

Excerpt: ...e in a medical malpractice case requires that physicians exercise in diagnosis and treatment that reasonable degree of skill, knowledge and care ordinarily possessed and exercised by members of the medical profession under similar circumstances. ‘ “The standard of care against which the acts of a physician are to be measured is a matter peculiarly within the knowledge of experts; it presents the basic issue in a malpractice action and can onl...

Excerpt: ...le issue of material fact exist are to be resolved in favor of the party opposing summary judgment/adjudication. (Barber v. Marina Sailing, Inc. (1995) 36 Cal.App.4th 558, 562; see also See's Candy Shops, Inc. v. Superior Court (2012) 210 Cal.App.4th 889, 900 [“Summary adjudication is a drastic remedy and any doubts about the propriety of summary adjudication must be resolved in favor of the party opposing the motion.”].) Accordingly, “[t]h...

Excerpt: ...of this order. Explanation: Under Code of Civil Procedure section 473.5, “When service of a summons has not resulted in actual notice to a party in time to defend the action and a default or default judgment has been entered against him or her in the action, he or she may serve and file a notice of motion to set aside the default or default judgment and for leave to defend the action.” (Code Civ. Proc., § 473.5, subd. (a).) “The notice of ...

Excerpt: ...eement refuses to arbitrate that controversy, the court shall order the petitioner and the respondent to arbitrate the controversy if it determines that an agreement to arbitrate the controversy exists . . . .” (Code of Civ. Proc., § 1281.2.) “Under this provision, a party to an agreement to arbitrate may not bring an action to compel specific performance of the arbitration provision until he or she can allege not only the existence of the a...

Excerpt: ...ke the Supplemental Declaration of Abigail R. Leaf, filed on October 30, 2020. Explanation: The problems with the signatures of Dr. Peter Leeson and defense attorney Abigail Leaf's declaration, both of which were corrected with later‐filed errata, were minor and have been treated as such in ruling on plaintiffs' objections. The missing signature page on Dr. Leeson's declaration was corrected three days after the moving papers were filed. As for...

Excerpt: ...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 connection with the commencement and prosecution of such action.” (Civ. Code, § 1794, subd. (d).) The statute “requires the trial court to make an initial dete...

Excerpt: ...es shall hold a telephonic or inperson conference pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure section 430.41, subdivision (c). With the amended complaint, plaintiff shall file a declaration detailing compliance with this requirement. Explanation: In this action, plaintiff asserts various claims arising from defendant Don Milligan's refusal to sell his tax and financial planning business to plaintiff pursuant to an oral and written agreement. Plaintiff al...

Excerpt: ...ted 10 days' leave to file the First Amended Complaint. The time in which the complaint can be amended will run from service by the clerk of the minute order. New allegations in the First Amended Complaint are to be set in boldface type. If oral argument is requested, it will be set for December 22, 2020, at 1:30 p.m. in Dept. 502. Explanation: Demurrer General Standard of Ruling The function of a demurrer is to test the sufficiency of a plaintif...

Excerpt: ...in bold. The time in which an amendment may be filed will run from service by the clerk of the minute order. Explanation: A demurrer is appropriate “[w]hen any ground for an objection to a complaint . . . appears on the face thereof, or from any matter of which the court is required to or may take judicial notice . . . .” (Code Civ. Proc., § 430.30, subd. (a).) A court should sustain a demurrer where a complaint fails to state “facts suffi...

Excerpt: ...ent was within the “good faith ballpark” is to be evaluated on the basis of information available at the time of settlement, including: 1) A rough approximation of plaintiffs' total recovery and the settlor's proportionate liability; 2) The amount paid in settlement; 3) A recognition that a settlor should pay less in settlement than if found liable after a trial; 4) The allocation of the settlement proceeds among plaintiffs; 5) The settlor's ...

Excerpt: ...osts in the amount of $6,041.77. Explanation: A party's right to recover costs is governed entirely by statute, and a prevailing party is entitled as a matter of right to recover his or her allowable costs. (Code Civ. Proc. §1032, subd. (b); Perko's Enterprises, Inc. v. RRNS Enterprises (1992) 4 Cal.App.4th 238, 241.) “Allowable” costs awarded to a prevailing party must be (1) incurred by that party; (2) reasonably necessary to the conduct o...

Excerpt: ...fter “Defendant”) shall provide further verified responses to Demand for Production of Documents nos. 1‐ 27, Form Interrogatory nos. 1.1, 2.2, 2.5‐2.13, 3.1, 3.5‐3.7, 4.1, 4.2, 12.1‐ 12.7, 13.1, 13.2, 14.1, 14.2, 15.1, 16.1, 16.2, 16.7, 16.8, 17.1 and 50.1‐50.6, Special Interrogatory nos. 1‐21, and Requests for Admissions nos. 1‐22. The motion is denied as to Form Interrogatory no. 1.1. All documents responsive to the Demand for...

Excerpt: ...ing: To deny the motion, without prejudice. Explanation: Effect of Prior Settlement in Meza v. Verizon California, Inc. Plaintiffs' present motion does not discuss whether the prior settlement in Meza v. Verizon California, Inc. affects the settlement of the other related actions that plaintiffs are now seeking to settle. The court has already granted final approval of the class settlement in the Meza action on August 1, 2019, in the amount of $8...

Excerpt: ...“serious questions” as to whether plaintiffs' expert's declaration was factually incorrect, at least as to the defendant who was not involved with the procedures addressed in the declaration. (Id. at p. 1540.) Particularly, the court noted, “it is possible that upon deposition of [the plaintiffs' expert], confronted with proof that he may have been mistaken in his belief that [the defendant] was involved in the procedure, he may concede his...

Excerpt: ...rt may separately try one or more issues before trial of the other issues if resolution of the bifurcated issue is likely to simplify the determination of the other issues." (Cal. R. Ct., R. 5.390(b).) "The court, in furtherance of convenience or to avoid prejudice, or when separate trials will be conducive to expedition and economy, may order a separate trial of any cause of action, including a cause of action asserted in a cross- complaint, or ...

Excerpt: ...ntos Marquez, and for sanctions; Defendant's motions to compel production of documents, set one, from plaintiffs Angel Santos Cortes, Adaneidy Marquez Del Angel, and George Aldahir Santos Marquez, and for sanctions; and Defendant's motions to compel plaintiffs' appearance at deposition, directed at plaintiffs Angel Santos Cortes, Adaneidy Marquez Del Angel, and George Aldahir Santos Marquez, and for sanctions Tentative Ruling: To grant all motion...

Excerpt: ...erent order may be entered, if the motion is based on “new or different facts, circumstances, or law.” (Id., subd. (a).) First, plaintiff's counsel's declaration filed with the opening brief indicated that the court's original ruling had been “contrary to applicable law.” However, a claim that the court misinterpreted the law in its initial ruling is not a “new” or “different” matter under section 1008. (Gilberd v. AC Transit (199...

Excerpt: ... this court, within seven days of service of the minute order, an ex parte request (without hearing) dismissing the action as to the demurring defendants. Explanation: “Although California courts take a liberal view of inartfully drawn complaints, it remains essential that a complaint set forth the actionable facts relied upon with sufficient precision to inform the defendant of what plaintiff is complaining, and what remedies are being sought....

Excerpt: ...ation: In this action plaintiff California Statewide Communities Development Authority seeks judicial foreclosure of an assessment lien. Plaintiff alleges that defendants took out a loan against their property to pay for solar panels. The loan was tied to the property taxes. Defendants then failed to make the property tax payments. The undisputed facts show on January 27, 2010, plaintiff adopted a resolution pursuant to the Improvement Bond Act o...

Excerpt: ...‐13:27) without leave to amend. To deny the remainder of the motion. (Code Civ. Proc., § 436.) Defendant Golden State shall file its answer to the Second Amended Complaint (“SAC”) within 10 days of service of the order by the clerk. Explanation: Demurrer Golden State's demurrer to the First Amended Complaint's (“FAC”) second cause of action was overruled. It's demurrer to the FAC's fifth cause of action was sustained solely on statute ...

Excerpt: ... to a purported forum selection clause in a Solar Representative Agreement. Defendant argues that because plaintiff failed to assert his claims in an action between the parties in Utah, he is now barred raising them here. The court does not find defendant's arguments compelling. Code of Civil Procedure section 426.30, subdivision (a), provides: Except as otherwise provided by statute, if a party against whom a complaint has been filed and served ...

Excerpt: ...iles, Sears & Eanni, within 30 days of the clerk's mailing of the minute order. Explanation: Anti‐SLAPP Attorney Fees and Costs “Any SLAPP defendant who brings a successful motion to strike is entitled to mandatory attorney fees.” (Ketchum v. Moses (2001) 24 Cal.4th 1122, 1131.) The fee award is directed to the party, not the attorney. (Moore v. Kaufman (2010) 189 Cal.App.4th 604, 614.) Although attorney fees may be mandatory, “a partiall...

Excerpt: ...punitive damages, and a prayer for such damages. All new allegations are to be set in boldface type. Any amended pleading shall be filed on or before January 12, 2021. Explanation: I. Punitive Damages The moving parties, defendants Ramon R. Romero and Ana Maria Romero,2 are alleged to be individuals who are also owners of the physical premises at issue, as well as members and managers of the limited liability company defendant. It is their relati...