Excerpt: ...d Fred Avalli. (Code Civ. Proc. § 437c.) Explanation: With regard to the first cause of action for breach of contract, plaintiff has met its burden of producing evidence showing that defendants breached their agreement with plaintiff, and that plaintiff was damaged as a result. The elements of a breach of contract claim are (1) the existence of a contract between the parties, (2) plaintiff's performance or excuse for nonperformance, (3) defendan...

Excerpt: ...efault judgment form in conjunction with its application. In addition, plaintiff has not submitted a proposed default judgment for the court's signature. Furthermore, plaintiff has not dismissed the Doe defendants against whom it is not seeking a default judgment. There is also some ambiguity about the requested default judgment. Plaintiff seeks a declaration that its first deed of trust has priority over other claims against the property, based ...

Excerpt: ...for discovery over trial by surprise, must construe the facts before it liberally in favor of discovery, may not use its discretion to extend the limits on discovery beyond those authorized by the Legislature, and should prefer partial to outright denials of discovery. [Citation.]” (Williams v. Superior Court (2017) 3 Cal.5th 531, 540; see Code Civ. Proc. §2017.010.) “Unless otherwise limited by order of the court in accordance with this tit...

Excerpt: ...dure section 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).) “U...

Excerpt: ...There are two categories of evidence plaintiff Jane Doe (“plaintiff”) claims she cannot obtain while the criminal case of defendant Francisco Peña (“Peña”) is pending: (1) answers to deposition questions to which Peña asserted his Fifth Amendment privilege during his November 2018 deposition, and (2) the contents of plaintiff's cell phone which has been in the custody of the Fresno County District Attorney since shortly after Peña was...

Excerpt: ...can attached to Debbie Raven's declaration, except that the submissions need also provide values for each item listed. If such evidence shows any party to this case taking a loss on their one‐third share of the assets, or obtaining a higher percentage than one‐third, briefs explaining why such loss or gain is justified need also be filed. Any such briefing shall be filed by October 10, 2019, and a further hearing will be held on October 24, 2...

Excerpt: ...mend. Defendant Taja Investments, LLC, is granted 10 days' leave to file its answer to the complaint, with the time to run from service by the clerk of the minute order. Explanation: Standing to Sue Defendant begins by arguing that plaintiff does not have legal capacity to sue, and refers to Code of Civil Procedure section 430.10, subdivision (b), but then it argues that plaintiff is not a real party in interest and therefore lacks standing, with...

Excerpt: ...0 days of the date of service of this order. All new allegations shall be in boldface. 3 Explanation: First, to the extent that plaintiff has objected that defendant's demurrer contains a number of typographical errors that render the demurrer overly confusing with regard to which causes of action and parties are at issue, defendant has now filed notices of errata that clarify that the demurrer relates to the first and fifth causes of action for ...

Excerpt: ...ducement), and fourth (intentional infliction of emotional distress) causes of action, and without leave to amend as to fifth (slander of title) and sixth (declaratory relief) causes of action. Plaintiffs are granted 30 days' leave to file the Fourth Amended Complaint, which will run from service by the clerk of the minute order. Explanation:  First Cause of Action: Standing In ruling on a demurrer, the trial court is obligated to look past th...

Excerpt: ...breach as the proximate or legal cause of the resulting injury.” (Ladd v. County of San Mateo (1996) 12 Cal.4th 913, 917, internal citation and quotation marks omitted.) In the instant action, Plaintiff alleges that he was employed by the State as an inhome caregiver; was a member of the union; was told that when he began work, he would be provided with medical insurance within a few months; and that medical insurance was not provided for over ...

Excerpt: ...t briefing on the issue of a stay. The parties were advised that the court would consider the following factors: the status of the foreign action; the convenience of the parties; the seriousness of the threat of multiple litigation; and the competing interests of the two forums. (Wong v. Tenneco, Inc. (1985) 39 Cal.3d 126; Leadford v. Leadford (1992) 6 Cal.App.4th 571, 575; see Minute Order, filed August 7, 2019, p. 2.) The parties submitted supp...

Excerpt: ...dants/petitioners are correct that Code of Civil Procedure section 1290.6 requires a party responding to a petition to compel arbitration to serve and file its response within 10 days after service, the Court will consider plaintiffs/respondents' opposition on its merits, as no prejudice to defendants/petitioners is apparent. (Ruiz v. Moss Bros. Auto Group, Inc. (2014) 232 Cal.App.4th 836, 847; see also Hoover Community Hotel Development Corp. v....

Excerpt: ...mmary judgment order. Explanation: As the moving parties, defendants bear the initial burden of proof to show that plaintiff cannot establish one or more elements of his causes of action or to show that there is a complete defense. (Code Civ. Proc. § 437c(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 ...

Excerpt: ...tive, summary adjudication on the Complaint filed by Plaintiff Felix Rocha. Mr. Rocha filed a complaint on January 16, 2018 alleging injuries from a motor vehicle accident and general negligence. The injuries were alleged to have occurred on January 18, 2016 and stemmed from the negligent operation of one of Defendant Mid Valley Disposal's fork lift trucks by co‐Defendant Toby Taylor. To obtain summary judgment, “all a defendant needs to do i...

Excerpt: ...n of bullying, harassment and discrimination based on race by coworker Joyce Kennedy and supervisor Sharon Murphy. Plaintiff was terminated following an investigation into a potential threatening or harassing email sent by plaintiff to Murphy. Plaintiff contends that the termination was pretextual. Defendants move for summary adjudication of plaintiff's fifth cause of action for wrongful termination in violation of public policy. When a plaintiff...

Excerpt: ...), (f).) To grant the motion to strike the allegations and prayer regarding punitive damages from the cross‐complaint. (Code Civ. Proc. §§ 435, 436.) To grant the motion to strike the conspiracy claim against plaintiff's counsel and her law firm, for failure to comply with Civil Code section 1714.10 before filing the claim. To grant leave to amend. To deny both parties' requests for sanctions against each other. (Code Civ. Proc. §§ 128.5, 1...

Excerpt: ...fendant Richard Greene has moved to vacate and set aside the default entered in this case on February 15, 2019. Defaults are disfavored and any doubts existing as to setting aside a default should be resolved in favor of a hearing on the merits. (Berman v. Klassman (1971) 17 Cal.App.3d 900, 910.) Reversal is particularly appropriate where relieving the default will not seriously prejudice the opposing party. (Elston v. City of Turlock (1985) 38 C...

Excerpt: .... (1953) 38 Cal.2d 273. There, a couple was photographed by an employee in an affectionate pose at the LA Farmer's Market, and the photograph was published with an accompanying article in Ladies Home Journal, without their permission. [T]he caption under the picture describes it as “love at first sight” and the article says such love is based on 100 per cent sex. It is not unreasonable to believe such would be seriously humiliating and distur...

Excerpt: ...spect to causes of action: four (breach of oral contract), five (breach of implied‐infact), and six (promissory estoppel). To deny defendant's motion to strike plaintiff's prayer for costs. To deny defendant's motion to strike plaintiff's prayer for restitution. Plaintiff is granted ten days' leave to amend. All changes must be in bold. The time in which an amendment may be filed will run from service by the clerk of the minute order. Explanati...

Excerpt: ...y September 13, 2019. To set a return date of Thursday, May 21, 2020 for a report to the Court of the final distribution and amendment of the judgment pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure section 384(b). Explanation: 1. Final Approval of Settlement California Rules of Court, Rule 3.769(g) states: “Before final approval, the court must conduct an inquiry into the fairness of the proposed settlement.” Subsection (h) states: “If the court appro...

Excerpt: ...s motion and all other proceedings in the trial court upon the judgment or order appealed from or upon the matters embraced therein or affected thereby. (Code Civ. Proc., § 916, subd. (a).) By operation of law, this Court lacks jurisdiction to hear the motion and therefore vacates the hearing. Once the appeal is no longer pending, the moving party may contact the law and motion clerk to reschedule the hearing on the motion. Explanation: On April...

Excerpt: ...the completion of arbitration. Explanation: The parties have agreed to submit plaintiff's claims to arbitration pursuant to a Dispute Resolution Agreement. The parties are in disagreement as to the interpretation of paragraph 5 of the Agreement, and have stipulated to have the court resolve the issue. Paragraph 5 provides: Arbitration will be conducted within the county in which the employee works for CMC or last worked for CMC unless all parties...

Excerpt: ... by the parties and submitted to the court for signature. Explanation: Plaintiffs originally moved to compel nonparty Fresno County Public Defender (“FCPD”) to produce documents responsive to seven requests for production of documents contained in a deposition subpoena. Following a continuance so that the parties could file a joint separate statement of items in dispute, the discovery dispute has been narrowed to four categories of documents ...

Excerpt: ...Costs are taxed by $53,855.58. Costs awarded to Triangle Truck against the Srabians therefore total $7,278.83. Explanation: The parties to this case filed cross‐motions to strike and/or tax costs and for attorney's fees after a jury trial. By order dated July 31, 2019, the Court ruled on all the motions except for the Srabians' motion to strike and/or tax the costs of Triangle Truck. In its order, the Court noted that “[w]here co‐parties jo...

Excerpt: ...any generally applicable venue statutes, but relies, in principle part, on Welfare and Institutions Code §§6600, et seq. and, specifically, section 6601, subdivision (i) (effective January 1, 2019). A plaintiff's (or, in this case, a Petitioner's) choice of venue is presumptively valid, and a party moving to transfer venue bears the burden of demonstrating that the plaintiff's chosen venue is improper. (Battaglia Enterprises, Inc. v. Superior C...

Excerpt: ...which states, in the pertinent part: “The court may likewise, in its discretion, after notice to the adverse party, allow, upon any terms as may be just, an amendment to any pleading or proceeding in other particulars; and may upon like terms allow an answer to be made after the time limited by this code.” The parties can stipulate to permit an amendment, but they still need a Court order before an amended pleading may be validly filed. Shoul...

Excerpt: ... days of the date of service of this order. Explanation: Defendants argue that plaintiff expressly assumed the risk of being hit by a foul ball when he purchased his ticket for the game. The ticket contained an express release which stated, “Holder of this ticket assumes all risks incidental to the game of baseball, including specifically (but not exclusively) the danger of being injured by thrown or batted balls. Holder agrees that the Fresno ...

Excerpt: ...rtions of the First Amended Complaint Tentative Ruling: To sustain the demurrer of the City of Coalinga (“City”) in its entirety, with leave to amend as to the second cause of action, only. To grant City's motion to strike, without leave to amend. To sustain the demurrer of defendants Marissa Trejo, Shannon Jensen, Vivian Sauceda, and Jasmin Bains (“individual defendants”) in its entirety, with leave to amend. To grant the individual defe...

Excerpt: ...�The court may, in its discretion, after notice to the adverse party, allow, upon any terms as may be just, an amendment to any pleading[.]” (Code Civ. Proc. §473(a)(1).) “[L]eave to amend a pleading should be liberally granted as long as there is no timeliness problem under a statute of limitations or prejudice to the opposing party. [Citations.]” (Harris v. City of Santa Monica (2013) 56 Cal.4th 203, 240; Glaser v. Meyers (1982) 137 Cal....

Excerpt: ... court days of service of this order. A final proposed judgment is to be presented to the Court within ten (10) court days of service of this order. Explanation: Pursuant to the Stipulation and Order filed June 20, 2019, this case is set for several matters pending from previous hearings before this Court. For the reasons stated below, only the Order to Show Cause re: Dismissal for Failure to Join Indispensable Parties (and the Order to Show Caus...

Excerpt: ...ken against him or her through his or her mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect.” (Code Civ. Proc., § 473, subd. (b); Lorenz v. Commercial Accept. Ins. Co. (1995) 40 Cal.App.4th 981, 989.) In other words, to secure relief, the moving party must present a reasonable excuse as to why she was prevented from presenting her case to the court. (See Wilcox v. Ford (1988) 206 Cal.App.3d 1170, 1176; Guenter v. Lomas & Nettleton Co. (198...

Excerpt: ...iff to call for oral argument. If defendant does not call for oral argument, this Tentative Ruling will be adopted without continuance. Explanation: Proof of Service Issue: One of the arguments plaintiff made was that the motion was not timely served. The original proof of service attached to the Notice of Motion attempts to indicate personal service of the papers on May 28, 2019 – which would be two days before the 75‐day deadline given in C...

Excerpt: ...ule is codified at Code of Civil Procedure section 1856. It is a rule of evidence, not of pleading, and requires evidence before it can apply—that there be proof that a writing was intended to be the final expression of an agreement. The Cross‐Complaint states that it was not and that there were oral and written parts of the “Joint Venture” agreement. (Cross‐Complaint, ¶ 13). There are also several exceptions or situations where the do...

Excerpt: ...scovery Act provides that a personal service of a deposition subpoena may command a third party deponent to produce business records on request. (Code Civ. Proc., § 2020.020, subd. (c).) Code of Civil Procedure section 1987.1 provides, in relevant part: “If a subpoena requires the attendance of a witness or the production of books, documents, electronically stored information, or other things . . . at the taking of a deposition, the court, upo...

Excerpt: ...Peel | Garcia within 30 days of the clerk's service of this minute order. Explanation: Disobeying a court order to provide discovery is a misuse of the discovery process. (Code Civ. Proc., § 2023.010.) And courts may impose a terminating sanction for misuse of the discovery process. (Code Civ. Proc., § 2023.030.) But before imposing a terminating sanction, courts should usually grant lesser sanctions: e.g., orders staying the action until defen...

Excerpt: ...ts in a string as to why the Fifth Cause of Action in the First Amended Complaint is improper. To the extent possible, the Court addresses the grounds listed in the notice, but notes that the manner of presentation creates confusion. 2. Statute of Limitations This is a basis for a general demurrer, as where the bar of the statute of limitations appears from the face of the pleading, it fails to state facts sufficient to allege a valid cause of ac...

Excerpt: ... of a hearing on the merits. (Berman v. Klassman (1971) 17 Cal.App.3d 900, 910.) Reversal is particularly appropriate where relieving the default will not seriously prejudice the opposing party. (Elston v. City of Turlock (1985) 38 Cal.3d 227, 235 (superseded by statute on other grounds as stated in Tackett v. City of Huntington Beach (1994) 22 Cal.App.4th 60, 64).) Defendants make their motion under Code of Civil Procedure §473, subdivision (b)...

Excerpt: ...filed motions to quash service of summons on the grounds that the manner of service actually performed was not “personal service” in accordance with Code of Civil Procedure §415.10, et seq. According to the representations by Plaintiff in her opposition, the summons and complaint were left in envelopes with the secretary at the office of Defendant School District. Defendants claim the envelopes were unmarked, but Plaintiff has provided photo...

Excerpt: ...s asserted against Nakidi in this lawsuit and that Plaintiff has not made a sufficient showing that Nakidi waived the right to arbitrate the agreement or that "there is a possibility of conflicting rulings on a common issue of law or fact" if the court orders arbitration of the claims against Nakidi but not the claims against Defendant Teamsoft Technologies, LLC ("Teamsoft") in this action. (See C.C.P. § 1281.2; 9 U.S.C. § 2.) A. Existence and ...

Excerpt: ...t to the applicable Local Rules and the court will reset the trial at that time. Explanation: “The court may, in furtherance of justice, and on such terms as may be proper, allow a party to amend any pleading.” (Code Civ. Proc. § 473; see also, § 576.) There is generally a strong policy in favor of allowing a plaintiff to amend the complaint. (Glaser v. Meyers (1982) 137 Cal.App.3d 770, 776‐777.) Judicial policy favors resolution of all d...

Excerpt: ... balance of the award to be deposited into a pooled special needs trust in order to preserve the minor's public benefits. However, petitioner must first file a petition under Probate Code section 3604 with the Probate Department, so it can confirm that the trust complies with California Rules of Court, rule 7.903, and provide for ongoing court supervision. Once that is accomplished, petitioner may refile his compromise petition with this court. I...

Excerpt: ...served on 10/3/18. This motion must be served within 45 days after service of a verified response (extended if served by mail, overnight delivery or fax or electronically; see Code Civ. Proc. § 1010.6(a)(4), 1013). Otherwise, the demanding party waives the right to compel any further response to the discovery. (Code Civ. Proc. §§ 2030.300(c), 2031.310(c), 2016.050; see Sperber v. Robinson (1994) 26 Cal.App.4th 736, 745.) The 45‐day time limi...

Excerpt: ...for bringing the motion. To grant plaintiffs' motion to amend the complaint. To treat defendant's motion for summary judgment/adjudication as a motion for judgment on the pleadings, and to grant it with leave to amend. Plaintiffs are given leave to amend the causes of action now predicated on alleged Labor Code violations to state causes of action for failure to pay overtime on other bases as may be provided by law. Plaintiffs are granted 15 days...

Excerpt: ...to the plaintiff, determines that no reasonable person would conclude the condition created a substantial risk of injury when such property is used with due care in a manner which is reasonably foreseeable that it would be used.” (Sambrano v. City of San Diego (2001) 94 Cal.App.4th 225, 234, internal citations and quotation marks omitted; see also Swaner v. Santa Monica (1984) 150 Cal.App.3d 789, 799.) “In making the determination of whether ...

Excerpt: ... class action is proper. Luckey v. Superior Court (2014) 228 Cal. App. 4th 81 (rev. denied). See also Newberg, Newberg on Class Actions (T.R. Westlaw, 2017) Section 7:3: “The parties' representation of an uncontested motion for class certification does not relieve the Court of the duty of determining whether certification is appropriate.” The case so requiring is Amchem Prods., Inc. v. Windsor (1997) 521 U.S. 591, 620 (“Amchem”): “Confr...

Excerpt: ...nt public entity for collateral source payments paid or obligated to be paid for services or benefits that were provided prior to the commencement of trial.” (Gov. Code, § 985, subd. (b).) A “collateral source payment” is money “paid or obligated to be paid” by “private medical programs, health maintenance organizations, state disability, unemployment insurance, private disability insurance, or other sources of compensation similar t...

Excerpt: ...efendants demur to the first, second, and third causes of action in the complaint on the ground that there is another action pending between the same parties on the same cause of action. (Code Civ. Proc. § 430.10, subd. (c).) They claim that some of the plaintiffs in the present action have also brought the same construction defect claims in another action that was previously filed in Fresno Superior Court against the same defendants. (See Defen...

Excerpt: ...ailure to state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action. (Code Civ. Proc. § 430.10, subd. (e).) To deny the motions to strike the allegations and prayers for punitive damages and attorney's fees. To grant leave to amend, except as stated below. Plaintiffs shall serve and file their second amended complaint within 10 days of the date of service of this order. All new allegations shall be in boldface. Explanation: A. Demurrer Untimely Opp...

Excerpt: ...th of all material allegations and a Court will “give the complaint a reasonable interpretation by reading it as a whole and all its parts in their context.” (People ex re. Lungren v. Superior Court (1996) 14 Cal.4th 294, 300.) A demurrer can be used only to challenge defects that appear on the face of the pleading under attack or from matters outside the pleading that are judicially noticeable. (Blank v. Kirwan (1985) 39 Cal.3d 311, 318.) He...

Excerpt: ...n: Attorney's Fees While the fee awards should be fully compensatory, the trial court's role is not to simply rubber stamp the defendant's request. (Ketchum v. Moses (2001) 24 Cal.4th 1122, 1133; Robertson v. Rodriguez (1995) 36 Cal.App.4th 347, 361.) Rather, the court must ascertain whether the amount sought is reasonable. (Robertson v. Rodriguez, supra, 36 Cal.App.4th at p. 361.) The party seeking attorney's fees has the burden of e...