Excerpt: ...ch 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. On September 15, 202 3, Plaintiff timely lodged a Memorandum of Costs. On October 2, 2023, Defendants timely filed the instant motion to tax costs. Defendants object to each entry, in part, due to a lack of...

Excerpt: ...laration is ruled upon as follows: Objection No. 4 is sustained for improper legal conclusion. Objection Nos. 5 and 8 are sustained for irrelevance and lack of foundation. Objection Nos. 9, 14 -16 are sustained for improper legal conclusion. Objection Nos. 10 -12 are su stained for lack of personal knowledge. Objection No. 17 is sustained for lack of foundation. Objection No. 18- 20 are sustained for lack of personal knowledge. Objection No. 21 i...

Excerpt: ..., with leave to amend. Plaintiff shall serve and file his first amended complaint within 10 days of the date of service of this order. All new allegations shall be in boldface. Explanation: Demurrer First, to the extent that plaintiff seeks to state a clai m against defendant William Smittcamp, he has not alleged any facts showing that he was employed by Mr. Smittcamp, had a contractual or other relationship with him, or that Mr. Smittcamp did ...

Excerpt: ...e “tantamoun t to no responses at all[]” (Appleton v. Superior Court (1988) 206 Cal.App.3d 632, 636), plaintiff's oppositions to the subject discovery motions notes that the verifications were served with the attendant oppositions – a representation not challenged in t he replies. Monetary sanctions are typically awardable under such circumstances. (See Cal. Rules of Court, rule 3.1348(a); Sinaiko Healthcare Consulting, Inc. v. Pacific He...

Excerpt: ...t 17, 2023, the court sustains the objections to Exhibit A and the reference to the same in paragraph 6. The court overrules the objection to paragraph 5. Regarding the Declaration of Martin Martin filed February 7, 2024, the court overrules the objections to p aragraphs 3 and 7, but sustains the objections to paragraphs 4 -6 and Exhibit A. Arbitration Agreement Under the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”), A written provision in … a contract...

Excerpt: ...Custom Chopping, LLC for an Order Deeming Admissions by Plaintiff Telmo Coelho to Request for Admissions, Set One, and Request for Sanctions (3) By Defendant Kyle Brock for an Order Compelling Initial Responses from Plaintiff Telmo Coelho to Form Interrogatories – General, Set One, Form Interrogatories – Employment, Set One, Special Interrogatories, Set One, and Request for Production of Documents, Set One, and Request for Sanctions (4) By De...

Excerpt: ...nty Superior Co urt. Horizon Nut, LLC, Horizon Growers Cooperative, Inc., and Joel Perkins filed a demurrer challenging the first cause of action for equitable indemnity on the grounds that it seeks equitable indemnity for an alleged third- party breach of contract and violates public policy. The court agrees with the latter ground and intends to sustain the demurrer. In the first cause of action for equitable indemnity, Nutrien alleges that H...

Excerpt: ...aid on thei r behalf, DHCS may assert a lien on a personal injury settlement. However, where the Medi -Cal beneficiary's injury case settles for less than the full amount of damages, any Medi -Cal lien must be reduced based on a reasonable apportionment of the amount o f Medi-Cal benefits provided in comparison to the full amount of the beneficiary's damages. DHCS may only recover “that portion of a settlement that represents payments for me...

Excerpt: ...aid progra m, administered by the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS or Department). (42 U.S.C., § 1396a.) When a Medi -Cal beneficiary is injured and medical expenses are paid on their behalf, DHCS may assert a lien on a personal injury settlement. However, w here the Medi -Cal beneficiary's injury case settles for less than the full amount of damages, any Medi -Cal lien must be reduced based on a reasonable apportionment of the amount ...

Excerpt: ...n 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 reas onably 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 mak...

Excerpt: ...ff in this case, Jose Rios Garcia, alleges a single cause of action against the County of Fresno (the "County") for premises liability arising from an accident that occurred when he bumped into a glass window and cut his eye after previously undergoing eye s urgery. Grounds for Demurrer The County demurs generally on the ground that the plaintiff fails to state a cause of action because: (1) under Government Code section 945.6, he failed ...

Excerpt: ...f the second amended complaint with leave to amend. The plaintiff is granted leave of 10 days to file his first amended complaint, which will run from service by the clerk of the minute order. New language must be set in boldface type. Explanation: The plaintiff, Joshua Spengeman, filed his complaint in this action on September 6, 2022, to recover for harassment, discrimination, retaliation, and assault he experienced on his job as an employee...

Excerpt: ...er second amended complaint within 10 days of 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 r eceived 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 de...

Excerpt: ...oes not dispute that there exists an agreement to arbitrate, and that its cross- claims fall within the scope of the agreement. (Clark Decl., Exh. 1, ¶ 23.) In fact, the cross- claims were previously asserted by Joesclub in arbitration before LMI filed the C omplaint in this unlimited civil action. The arbitration proceeding was closed for lack of payment of on the retainer fee by Joesclub. (Clark Decl., Exh. 4.) Accordingly, the basic criteria...

Excerpt: ... cause of action with leave to amend; and to deny the defendant's motion to strike. The plaintiff is granted leave of 10 days to file her fourth amended complaint, which will run from service by the clerk of the minute order. New language must be set in boldface type. Explanation: Eleven plaintiffs, not including plaintiff Gina Beckman, filed the original complaint in this action on September 7, 2022, against a single named defendant, Saint Agnes...

Excerpt: ...il Procedure section 1281.2 states that, “[o]n petition of a party to an arbitration agreement alleging the existence of a written agreement to arbitrate a controversy and that a party thereto refuses to arbitrate such 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, unless it determines that: (a) The right to compel arbitra...

Excerpt: ... defendant is likely to suffer if the preliminary injunction were issued.” (IT Corp. v. County of Imperial (1983) 35 Cal.3d 63, 69 -70; see also Code Civ. Proc., § 526, subd. (d)(2) [Injunctive relief appropriate “[w]hen it appears by the complaint or aff idavits that the commission or continuance of some act during the litigation would produce waste, or great or irreparable injury, to a party to the action.”].) The Code of Civil Procedure...

Excerpt: ...ause of action. To grant leave to amend as to the ninth and seventeenth causes of action, and to deny leave to amend as to the sixteenth cause of action. To deny defendants' motion to strike portions of the complaint, in its entirety. Pla intiffs shall serve and file their first amended complaint within 10 days of the date of service of this order. All new allegations shall be in boldface. Explanation: Demurrer to Sixth Cause of Action: With re...

Excerpt: ...nder Labor Code section 2699, “[t]he superior court shall review and approve any settlement of any civil action filed pursuant to [PAGA]. The proposed settlement shall be submitted to the agency at the same time that it is submitted to the cou rt.” (Lab. Code, § 2699, subd. (i)(2).) ‘“‘A representative action under PAGA is not a class action'”', and is instead a ‘type of qui tam action', a standard requiring the trial court to det...

Excerpt: ...ntinue the hearing on the motion to Tuesday, April 30, 2024 at 3:30 p.m. in Department 502, to afford plaintiff one final opportunity to comply with the court's order dated 11/7/2023. Defendant shall file with this court an update on the status of the discov ery nine court days before the continued hearing. Explanation: On 5/5/23 defendant propounded on plaintiff Form Interrogatories, Special Interrogatories and Request for Production of Docume...

Excerpt: ... to this court, within seven days of the date of service by the clerk of this order, a proposed judgment dismissing this action as to defendant. The court denies defendant's additional request for monetary sanctions. Explanation: Once a motion to compel discovery is granted, continued failure to comply may support a request for more severe sanctions. Code of Civil Procedure section 2023.010, subdivision (g), makes “[d]isobeying a court order to...

Excerpt: ...ion: “The ethical obligation to warn opposing counsel of an intent to take a default is now reinforced by a statutory policy that all parties ‘cooperate in bringing the action to trial or other disposition.' Quiet speed and unreasonable deadlines do no t qualify as ‘cooperation' and cannot be accepted by the courts.” (Lasalle v. Vogel (2019) 36 Cal.App.5th 127, 137, emphasis added, citations omitted.) In addition, “[t]he law favors judg...

Excerpt: ...nation: The purpose of consolidation is to enhance trial court efficiency by avoiding unnecessary duplication of evidence and procedures, and to avoid the substantial danger of inconsistent adjudications. (Todd -Stenberg v. Dalkon Shield Claimants Trust (1996) 48 Cal.App.4th 976, 978.) And where the issue is consolidating an unlawful detainer action with a civil action making a claim of ownership of the subject property, the additional issue is o...

Excerpt: ...r by the clerk, defendants shall submit a proposed Judgment dismissing the action. If oral argument is timely requested, such argument will be entertained in Department 403 at 3:30 p.m. on March 7, 2024. Explanation: In the FAC filed on 8/15/23, plaintiff Stacy Hu ber alleges she was falsely accused of misconduct at a termination meeting, terminated, and not given any reason for the termination. Based on these bare allegations, plaintiff alleges...

Excerpt: ..., to allow time for: (1) ESIS, Inc. to serve all appearing parties to the action with the moving papers and to file a corrected proof of service; and (2) the proposed successor in interest to substitute as a party to this action for the deceased plaint iff. The proposed successor in interest may file an ex parte application and reserve an ex parte hearing date for the substitution. The proposed successor in interest may re -file her opposition...