Excerpt: ...dant and cross -co mplainant Mighty Mart, Inc. (“Mighty Mart”) (collectively, “defendants”), for a total fee award of $188,188.00 against plaintiff and cross -defendant Morteza Javaherie (“plaintiff”). To deny an award of costs, without prejudice. Explanation: Defendants joi ntly seek an award of attorney fees pursuant to Civil Code section 1717 following a court trial on plaintiff's first amended complaint and defendants' cross -com...

Excerpt: ...mplaint to allege that defendant Mostafa Heidari ("defendant Heidari"), his attorney Henry Nunez, and "others" misrepresented to plaintiff that he could not qualify to become an ARCO dealer because he did not have two years' experience, and, as a result, defendant Heidari needed to remain on title to both the staton and the land and plaintiff would have to work at the staton for two years to gain the requisite experience. Plaintiff seeks to alleg...

Excerpt: ...ode of Civil Procedure section 425.16, on the ground it is a strategic lawsuit against public participation (SLAPP) action. To grant defendant's request for attorney's fees and costs, in the amount of $1,800 in fees and $503 in costs. (Code Civ. Proc. § 425.16, subd. (c)(1).) Plaintiff shall pay fees and costs to defendant within 30 days of the date of service of this order. To overrule defendant's demurrer as moot in light of the ruling on the ...

Excerpt: ...tween the parties. (Code Civ. Proc., § 452.) The allegations in the complaint are considered in context and presumed to be true. (Clauson v. Superior Court (1998) 67 Cal.App.4th 1253, 1255.) As an initial matter, the court notes that, notwithstanding the breadth of the request stated in the Notice of Motion, defendant's memorandum of points and authorities only actually makes arguments regarding the request to strike the prayer for punitive dama...

Excerpt: ...n to quash a subpoena requiring production of documents. If a subpoena requires … the production of books, documents, or other things … at the taking of a deposition, the court, upon motion … may make an order quashing the subpoena entirely, modifying it, or directing compliance with it upon those terms or conditions as the court shall declare, including protective orders. In addition, the court may make any other order as may be appropriat...

Excerpt: ... has succeeded in stating a cause of action – the court does not concern itself with the issue of the plaintiff's possible difficulty or inability in proving the allegations of their complaint. (Gruenberg v. Aetna Ins. Co. (1973) 9 Cal.3d 566, 572; Highlanders, Inc. v. Olsan (1978) 77 Cal.App.3d 690, 697.) The complaint is liberally construed, which “means that the reviewing court draws inferences favorable to the plaintiff, not the defendant...

Excerpt: ...h respect to the second cause of action, this motion addresses the sufficiency of the first cause of action for intentional infliction of emotional distress. The elements of a cause of action for intentional infliction of emotional distress (“IIED”) are: (1) extreme and outrageous conduct by the defendant with the intention of causing, or reckless disregard of the probability of causing, emotional distress; (2) the plaintiff's suffering sever...

Excerpt: ... and $285 against defendant Surinder Kaur Sandhu, payable within 30 days of the date of service of this order. The matters specified in plaintiff's Requests to Admit (Set Two) propounded on defendant Devinder Sihota and defendant Surinder Kaur Sandhu, are deemed admitted, unless defendants serve, before the hearing, proposed responses to the requests that are in substantial compliance with Code of Civil Procedure section 2033.220. Explanation: Fa...

Excerpt: ...the date of service of this order. All new allegations shall be in boldface. Explanation: “ ‘Code of Civil Procedure 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 where there is unwarranted delay in presenting it.... On the other hand, whe...

Excerpt: ...uit against public participation (SLAPP) action, and dismiss the complaint with prejudice. (Code Civ. Proc., § 425.16.) Explanation: Under Code of 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 right of petition or free speech under the United States Constitution or the California Constitution in connection with a public issue shall be subject to a specia...

Excerpt: ...are subject to trial court review and approval, ensuring that any negotiated resolution is fair to those affected.” (Williams v. Superior Court (2017) 3 Cal.5th 531, 549, citing Lab. Code, § 2699, subd. (l)(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 ...

Excerpt: ...the court's order within 10 days of the date of service of this order. Explanation: CVSH moves for summary judgment or adjudication of plaintiff's medical malpractice/wrongful death claim on the ground that it did not breach the standard of care. CVSH has presented the declaration of its expert, Dr. Errol Omaar Ozdalga, M.D., who opines that CVSH's care and treatment of decedent did not fall below the standard of care. Since CVSH did not breach t...

Excerpt: ... of judgment, is in proper form, and is accompanied by an attorney's sworn affidavit attesting to his or her mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or neglect, vacate any … resulting … dismissal entered against his or her client, unless the court finds that the default or dismissal was not in fact caused by the attorney's mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or neglect.” (Code Civ. Proc., § 473, subd. (b).) Relief pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure...

Excerpt: ...date of this order. Explanation: Plaintiff has alleged that defendants are liable because they failed to take reasonable steps to prevent her son, decedent Matthew Gonzalez, from committing suicide while he was in custody at the Fresno County Jail. She alleges that defendants should have realized that decedent was depressed and suicidal because he asked for a spiritual advisor to absolve him of his sins before he died, that he made statements in ...

Excerpt: ... judgment. To deny summary adjudication of issues one, three and four. To grant summary adjudication of issue five. To grant summary adjudication of issue two, which results in the summary adjudication of the second cause of action in favor of cross‐defendants. (Code of Civ. Proc., § 437c, subd. (f).) Explanation: A trial court shall grant summary judgment where there are no triable issues of material fact and the moving party is entitled to j...

Excerpt: ...ntal declaration by his attorney to challenge certain procedural aspects of the motion, arguing as follows: (1) the motion was untimely served under Code of Civil Procedure section 1005, subdivision (b); (2) the motion was untimely filed pursuant to California Rules of Court, rule 3.1702(b)(1); (3) the motion should not be heard as the parties are involved in an arbitration that was set to commence on December 5, 2022; (4) the moving papers are d...

Excerpt: ...Brandi Marie Smith to Request for Admissions, Set One, and Request for Sanctions By Plaintiffs for an Order Compelling Initial Responses from Defendant Raquel Morelos to Form Interrogatories, Set One; Special Interrogatories, Set One; and Request for Production of Documents, Set One; and Request for Sanctions By Plaintiffs for an Order Deeming Admissions of Defendant Raquel Morelos to Request for Admissions, Set One, and Request for Sanctions Ten...

Excerpt: ... Northrop Grumman Corp. (1998) 67 Cal.App.4th 995, 999.) As in demurrers, grounds for the motion must appear on the face of the challenged pleading or on facts which the court may judicially notice. (Saltarelli & Steponovich v. Douglas (1995) 40 Cal.App.4th 1, 5.) When reviewing a pleading, a demurrer or motion for judgment on the pleadings admits the truth of all material allegations and a court will “give the complaint a reasonable interpreta...

Excerpt: ...the motion as to Request Nos. 3, 5, and 6‐9. Defendant shall provide further verified responses, and produce all relevant documents and a privilege log if necessary, within 30 days of the date of service of the order by the clerk. Explanation: Plaintiffs move to compel further responses to their Request for Production of Documents, Set Two, which are broadly divisible into the following three categories: (1) all documents relating to the subjec...

Excerpt: ...dure authorizes a class action when ‘the question is one of a common or general interest, of many persons, or when the parties are numerous, and it is impracticable to bring them all before the court.' ‘[W]e have articulated clear requirements for the certification of a class' under this statute. ‘The party advocating class treatment must demonstrate the existence of an ascertainable and sufficiently numerous class, a well‐defined communi...

Excerpt: ...within 10 days of the date of service of this order. Explanation: This action stems from a fire that occurred at plaintiffs' home on July 4, 2018. Plaintiffs' original complaint, filed August 13, 2019, alleged the following causes of action against the moving parties: fifth cause action against defendant Nutting Enterprises, Inc. dba CPR Carpet and Restoration (“CPR”) for negligence; and seventh cause of action against CPR's surety, defendant...

Excerpt: ...ts the requirements for certification before it can grant preliminary approval of the proposed settlement. An agreement of the parties is not sufficient to 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.App.4th 81, 93‐95.) “Confronted with a request for settlement‐only class certification, a dist...

Excerpt: ...ggregate 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 determination of the actual time expended; and then to ascertain whether under all the circumstances of the case the amou...

Excerpt: ...ch the answer can be filed will run from service by the clerk of the minute order. To grant defendants' motion to strike the prayer for punitive damages and the allegations at paragraph 29 and 36 as to defendant Anderson only, that his conduct was “malicious and oppressive and warrants the imposition of punitive damages.” (Code Civ. Proc., §§ 436, 425.13.) The striking of the punitive damages allegations is without prejudice to plaintiffs f...

Excerpt: ...on to Strike Portions of the Second Amended Complaint Tentative Ruling: To sustain all defendants' demurrers to the first cause of action for failure to state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action, with leave to amend. (Code Civ. Proc., § 430.10, subd. (e).) To grant the motion to strike, in part, and deny, in part. The allegations pertaining to a physician or surgeon's statutory duty to report a patient diagnosed with a condition cha...