Excerpt: ... “If the buyer prevails in an action under this section, the buyer 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).) Here, it is clear that pla...

Excerpt: ...nation: Code of Civil Procedure sections 435.5 and 430.41 require in‐person or telephonic meet and confer prior to filing a motion to strike or demurrer. Slack's counsel sent a meet and confer letter but did not make any effort to meet and confer in person or by telephone. Ordinarily the court would take the motions off calendar pending compliance with this statutory requirement. In this instance the court will not do so due to the delays in he...

Excerpt: ...ublication that is (2) false, (3) defamatory, (4) unprivileged, and (5) has a natural tendency to injure or causes special damage.” (Issa v. Applegate (2019) 31 Cal.App.5th 689, 702, internal quotes omitted.) Plaintiffs have clearly alleged a publication by defendant, since they allege she, or her agent, posted the picture attached as Exhibit 1 (itself an arrangement of photos and text) to her Facebook account. A person posts something to Faceb...

Excerpt: ... 36, subdivision (a), A party to a civil action who is over 70 years of age may petition the court for a preference, which the court shall grant if the court makes both of the following 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., § 36, subd. (a).) “Upon the granting...

Excerpt: ...may order a separate trial of any cause of action . . . .” (Code Civ. Proc., § 1048, subd. (b).) Also, Code of Civil Procedure section 598 provides: The court may, when the convenience of witnesses, the ends of justice, or the economy and efficiency of handling the litigation would be promoted thereby, on motion of a party, after notice and hearing, make an order, no later than the close of pretrial conference in cases in which such pretrial c...

Excerpt: ...ntiffs are granted 20 days' leave to file a second amended complaint. The time in which the complaint may be amended will run from service of the minute order by the clerk. All new allegations shall be in boldface type. Explanation: Demurrer “[T]he rule governing pleading in this state is that a plaintiff need only ‘set forth the ultimate facts constituting the cause of action, not the evidence by which [the] plaintiff proposes to prove those...

Excerpt: ...ode section 17200, et seq. (the Unfair Competition Law, or “UCL” claim), without leave to amend. To sustain the special demurrer for uncertainty to the UCL claim, with leave to amend. To overrule the general demurrer to the UCL claim, but with defendants being given leave to demur generally to this claim should plaintiff file an amended complaint. To be clear to plaintiff: she is given leave only to file an amended complaint raising a UCL cla...

Excerpt: ...ke or tax costs. (See Cal. Rules of Court, rule 3.1700(b).) If the items appearing in a cost bill appear to be proper charges, the burden is on the party seeking to tax costs to show that they were not reasonable or necessary. On the other hand, if the items are properly objected to, they are put in issue and the burden of proof is on the party claiming them as costs. (Ladas v. California State Auto. Assn. (1993) 19 Cal.App.4th 761, 774.) Item 4 ...

Excerpt: ...s, ascertainable class, (2) of a well‐defined community of interest, and (3) that certification will provide substantial benefits to litigants and the courts, i.e., that proceeding as a class is superior to other methods. In turn, the community of interest requirement embodies three factors: (1) predominant common questions of law or fact; (2) class representatives with claims or defenses typical of the class; and (3) class representatives who ...

Excerpt: ... not sue or defend itself against a lawsuit. (Rev. & Tax Code, § 23301.) Code of Civil Procedure, section 387, subdivision (d) provides that “[t]he court shall, upon timely application, permit a nonparty to intervene in the action or proceeding if either of the following conditions is satisfied … [¶] (B) The person seeking intervention claims an interest relating to the property or transaction that is the subject of the action and that pers...

Excerpt: ...tent with the ruling on this motion. Explanation: Judgment creditor (formerly plaintiff) Maricela Vazquez seeks to add three new names as judgment debtors on the judgment entered against Aimhigh Group, LLC (“Aimhigh”) on October 31, 2019: Manjit Singh, Sukhninder Singh, and R&S Diversified, Inc. (“R&S”). Although the opposition was very late‐filed, the court will consider it. The moving party objected to the lateness, but she nonetheles...

Excerpt: ...t, shall be awarded either to one of the parties or to the prevailing party, then the party who is determined to be the party prevailing on the contract, whether he or she is the party specified in the contract or not, shall be entitled to reasonable attorney's fees in addition to other costs.” (Civ. Code, § 1717, subd. (a).) Also, under Code of Civil Procedure section 1033.5, attorney's fees are allowable as an item of costs when authorized b...

Excerpt: ... (c), “No pretrial discovery by the plaintiff shall be permitted with respect to the evidence [of defendant's financial condition] unless the court enters an order permitting such discovery pursuant to this subdivision.” (Civ. Code, § 3295, subd. (c).) “Upon motion by the plaintiff supported by appropriate affidavits and after a hearing, if the court deems a hearing to be necessary, the court may at any time enter an order permitting the d...

Excerpt: ...5) 39 Cal.3d 290, 296 [courts “bound to apply” policy of great liberality in permitting amendments to complaint at any stage of proceedings, up to and including trial]; Desny v. Wilder (1956) 46 Cal.2d 715, 751 [“Great liberality is indulged in matters of amendment to the end that lawsuits may be determined upon their merits.”]; Dye v. Caterpillar, Inc. (2011) 195 Cal.App.4th 1366, 1380 [leave to amend to be liberally granted]; Landis v. ...

Excerpt: ...g arbitration. However, the court severs the confidentiality provision found in paragraph 6 of the Dispute Resolution Agreement, with the remaining provisions continuing in full force and effect. To overrule all of defendant's evidentiary objections. Explanation: When a petition to compel arbitration is filed and accompanied by prima facie evidence of a written agreement to arbitrate the controversy, the court itself must determine: (1) whether t...

Excerpt: ...ggrieved, be set aside and vacated by the same court, and another and different judgment entered, for either of the following causes, materially affecting the substantial rights of the party and entitling the party to a different judgment: … Incorrect or erroneous legal basis for the decision, not consistent with or not supported by the facts …” A Section 663 motion must be directed at a final judgment. (Remington v. Davis (1951) 108 Cal.Ap...

Excerpt: ...otherwise, the specific issue of the duty in question, as required by California Rules of Court, rule 3.1350(b) (“If summary adjudication is sought, whether separately or as an alternative to the motion for summary judgment, . . . issues of duty must be stated specifically in the notice of motion and be repeated, verbatim, in the separate statement of undisputed material facts.”). Therefore, the court only addresses defendant's motion for sum...

Excerpt: ...g dispossessed from the real property at issue, i.e., the cost of use for other offices and worship space, etc. by October 15, 2020. A brief not to exceed five pages may also be filed and served at that time. Defendants shall file and serve any response (including competent evidence) by October 30, 2020. Any responsive brief may not exceed five pages. Explanation: Code of Civil Procedure1 section 916 provides the general provision which stays all...

Excerpt: ...lanation: Motion to Quash Service of Summons A summons is issued by the clerk upon request by the plaintiff. (Code of Civ. Proc., § 412.10; Maginn v. City of Glendale (1999) 72 Cal.App.4th 1102, 1107.) Proper service of summons is required to establish personal jurisdiction over a party. (In re Jennifer O. (2010) 184 Cal.App.4th 539, 547.) The plaintiff bears the burden to prove effective service where the defendant properly moves to quash servi...

Excerpt: ...itial burden of proof to show that plaintiffs cannot establish one or more elements of their causes of action or to show that there is a complete defense. (Code Civ. Proc., § 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. (Id....

Excerpt: ...th Rules of Court, Rule 3.1350. Weil & Brown, Civil Procedure Before Trial (TRG, 2019) section 10:96 states: “The statement must be a separate document, not part of the notice of motion” and that it “should” have a separate caption. Furthermore, pursuant to California Rules of Court, rule 3.1350(g) “[i]f evidence in support of … a motion exceeds 25 pages, the evidence must be separately bound and must include a table of contents.” D...

Excerpt: ...settled. The motion is confined to the face of the pleading under attack, and all facts alleged in the complaint must be accepted as true. (April Enterprises, Inc. v. KTTV (1983) 147 Cal.App.3d 805, 815; Rangel v. Interinsurance Exchange (1992) 4 Cal.4th 1, 7.) The applicable standards oblige the court to indulge all inferences in favor of the party against whom the motion was made and bars the court from inferring a fact that might defeat the cl...

Excerpt: ...Villalpando, in the amount of $735. (Code Civ. Proc. § 2025.480, subd. (j).) Explanation: If a nonparty disobeys a deposition subpoena, the subpoenaing party may seek a court order compelling the nonparty to comply with the subpoena within 60 days after completion of the deposition record. (Code Civ. Proc., § 2025.480, subd. (b); see Unzipped Apparel, LLC v. Bader (2007) 156 CA4th 123, 127.) A nonparty opposing such motion without substantial j...

Excerpt: ...action for breach of contract are (1) the existence of the contract, (2) plaintiff's performance or excuse for nonperformance, (3) defendant's breach, and (4) the resulting damages to the plaintiff.” (Oasis West Realty, LLC v. Goldman (2011) 51 Cal.4th 811, 820; see also CDF Firefighters v. Maldonado (2008) 158 Cal.App.4th 1226, 1239.) The facts of the complaint, are taken as true, as is plaintiff's interpretation of a contract, if reasonable. ...

Excerpt: ...t certification will provide substantial benefits to litigants and the courts, i.e., that proceeding as a class is superior to other methods. In turn, the community of interest requirement embodies three factors: (1) predominant common questions of law or fact; (2) class representatives with claims or defenses typical of the class; and (3) class representatives who can adequately represent the class.” (In re Tobacco II Cases (2009) 46 Cal. 4th ...