Excerpt: ...of California.” The Court accepts the stipulation. More than that, the Court salutes the parties for taking the initiative to present this issue, which (the Court infers) has stood as a roadblock to possible settlement. Accordingly, each side has filed a summary adjudication motion limited to this single issue. Unfortunately, however, the Court concludes that both motions must be denied. The applicability of § 3333.4 to this accident turns on ...

Excerpt: ...ENT: 12 HEARING DATE: 06/28/19 ‐ 5 ‐ before July 26, 2019. If plaintiffs elect not to amend, the Sheehys' time to answer the remaining parts of the FAC will run from that date. The FAC's Allegations This case concerns defendants' alleged attempts to economically harm plaintiffs' equestrian facility in Blackhawk. Defendant Pestana worked as a professional equestrian trainer at another facility. Defendants Daniel and Marcia Sheehy leased and ra...

Excerpt: ...ing under that issue are essentially the same ones as those raised in the demurrer, and they do not stand thoroughly briefed at present – especially on the plaintiff side. As the Court will explain, it has some questions about plaintiff's case, but wants to hear more about plaintiff's counter‐ arguments. However, the Court does have some concern about the possibility that the corporate defendant's assets may be dispersed beyond retrieval betw...

Excerpt: ... the subcontractors involved in these litigations can usefully be sorted into four categories, with different results as to whether they should or should not be included in a general reference and whether the subcontractors' complaints should or should not be consolidated into the main action. 1. Subcontractors Whose Work Is Potentially at Issue in the Thompson‐LTC Dispute The Court's prior indications rested to a large extent on its understand...

Excerpt: ...) This is without prejudice to any petitions or actions that may be filed in the future once any small wireless facilities are actually installed or receive permits to be installed or the Policy contemplated by Ordinance Number 488 is actually adopted. Petitioners are a former city council member and a former mayor of San Ramon. They seek a Writ of Mandate invalidating a Resolution that the City adopted on January 8, 2019, Resolution No. 2019‐0...

Excerpt: ...��An immaterial allegation in a pleading is… A demand for judgment requesting relief not supported by the allegations of the complaint or cross‐complaint.” (Code Civ. Proc., § 431.10(b)(3).) Defendants move to strike the following from Plaintiffs' Amended Complaint: Item 1: Page 7; ¶¶ 40‐44, All mention of Intentional Emotional Distress; Item 2: Page 8, ¶¶ 45‐48, All mention of Negligent Emotional Distress: The Court grants the mot...

Excerpt: ...rk and a variety of parties, not including McHale Engineering. Trademark, however, filed its own cross‐complaint naming its subcontractors, including McHale Engineering. Trademark's claims against McHale are indemnity, equitable indemnity, and contribution. After some expert reports were obtained and discovery taken, two experts (Peter Curry and Glen Tofani), opined that McHale's work met the standard of care. The Allards and McHale then reache...

Excerpt: ... 1 and 2 in Plaintiff's Third Amended Notice of Deposition of a Person Most Knowledgeable on specified topics. ALS provides collection services to Homeowners' Associations in collecting debts from HOA members, and plaintiffs allege that ALS has violated various laws in the course of doing so. Plaintiff moves for an order compelling notice to the class, which was certified by order of the Court dated August 27, 2018. In order to provide mailed cla...

Excerpt: ...he same motion, Gonzalez CONTRA COSTA SUPERIOR COURT MARTINEZ, CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT: 33 HEARING DATE: 06/27/19 ‐ 3 ‐ also moves for summary judgment as to the Complaint in subrogation filed by Plaintiff Republic Electric West (“REW”), the employer of Plaintiff Mejia. The second motion is filed by the general contractor on the project, New American Group, Inc. (erroneously sued as New American Homes, Inc.) (“NAGI”) as to the Complaint...

Excerpt: ...or when a pre‐suit demand on the board of directors is excused. Under Nevada law, and because there is no board‐considered transaction at issue, the applicable standard is that articulated by the Delaware Supreme Court in its Rales decision: Rales v. Blasband (Del. 1993) 634 A.2d 927, 936. (Kahn v. Dodds (In re AMERCO Derivative Litig.) (2011) 127 Nev. 196, 218‐219.) Under Rales, the court must evaluate whether particularized facts in the s...

Excerpt: ...he defendant makes the required showing, the burden shifts to the plaintiff to demonstrate the merit of the claim by establishing a probability of success. We have described this second step as a ‘summary‐judgment‐like procedure.' [Citation.] The court does not weigh evidence or resolve conflicting factual claims. Its inquiry is limited to whether the plaintiff has stated a legally sufficient claim and made a prima facie factual showing suf...

Excerpt: ...n for summary judgment. This ruling included an analysis of the Court's preliminary assessment that the subject limitation of liability clause does not apply, reading as follows: C. The Limitation of Liability Clause. C‐1. The Written Contracts. The limitation of liability clause in the master contract reads as follows: 9.2 Unless otherwise provided by applicable law, seller's aggregate liability, if any, in damages or otherwise, shall not exce...

Excerpt: ...utine lemon law case. Plaintiff purchased a 2015 Dodge Challenger from Michael Stead's Auto Depot on January 23, 2015. The total purchase price, including warranties and financing, came to $61,751.95. Almost immediately, plaintiff began experiencing a myriad of problems with the car. She and/or her husband repeatedly brought the car into the dealership for different problems. They also had the bad luck of running over an object on the freeway and...

Excerpt: ...2019. The Proof of Service for Defendant indicates substituted service on February 16, 2019 at 912 Santa Cruz Drive, Pleasant Hill, California 94523 wherein the process server left the Summons and Complaint with a “JOHN DOE.” The Declaration of Diligence regarding service indicates that on this date (the process server's fourth attempt at 912 Santa Cruz Drive) the process server informed an Indian male in his 30s, appearing to be a competent ...

Excerpt: ...ion is removed there will no longer be a basis for plaintiff's request for attorney's fees. However, plaintiff rightly notes that a provision in a contract for an award of attorney's fees can support such an award even on tort theories provided the language is not restricted to contract theories. (See Palmer v. Shawback (1993) 17 Cal.App.4th 296, 299 (“Nothing in Code of Civil Procedure section 1021 limits its application to contract actions”...

Excerpt: ...the California Bane Act. Defendant demurs to the Second and the Fourth Causes of Action. Defendant previously demurred to the original complaint's Second and Fourth Causes of Action. On April 24, 2019, the Court sustained that demurrer with leave to amend. For the following reasons, the Demurrer here is sustained, with leave to amend. Request for Judicial Notice Defendant requests judicial notice of the Verified First Amended Complaint. Plaintiff...

Excerpt: ...laintiff deems proper. Plaintiff was granted a 20% ownership interest in Sutter‐Tacoma, a recycling and document destruction business, in recognition for his services as manager of its Tacoma facility. (SAC, ¶ 7, 8.) This ownership interest was complete by the end of 2012 and it vested immediately. (¶ 8.) CONTRA COSTA SUPERIOR COURT MARTINEZ, CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT: 21 HEARING DATE: 06/26/19 ‐ 11 ‐ In December 2013, Sutter‐Tacoma and sev...

Excerpt: ...a neighboring property (the Wen parties, who have since settled out). The plaintiffs are Jeffrey and Shannon Jones, both acting as trustees of a family trust. Shannon Jones, who is an attorney, is acting as the attorney of record for both plaintiffs. The Wens filed a cross‐complaint against the Hiteses, former owners of the 5945 Bruce property (from whom the Joneses bought it). According to the Joneses, in the course of discovery they learned t...

Excerpt: ...tiff agreed to provide the residential property located at 30 Rio Vista in Orinda to Defendant and Defendant agreed to make monthly payments. Defendant allegedly breached the agreement by failing to pay rent for the period of July 23, 2018 through September 10, 2018. Plaintiff also alleges Defendant sawed down a medium‐sized oak tree located in the side yard, removed a light fixture from the bedroom, failed to maintain the yard, and dumped 60�...

Excerpt: ...s to the Second Cause of Action as to the City only. Leave to amend is granted because, while this is plaintiffs' Third Amended Complaint, these defendants were not added to the case until plaintiffs filed their First Amended Complaint. Further, the court has only ruled on the legal sufficiency of plaintiffs' allegations once, on the demurer to that version of the complaint. The Second Amended Complaint was superseded by the TAC before the court ...

Excerpt: ...e of Action. The first cause of action is for breach of fiduciary duty. Successful pleading of such a cause of action requires facts establishing that (1) defendants owed plaintiffs a fiduciary duty, (2) said duty was breached, and (3) the defendant's actions damaged the plaintiff. (Wolf v. Superior Court (1992) 107 Cal.App.4th 25.) A fiduciary relationship is any relation existing between parties to a transaction wherein one of the parties is du...

Excerpt: ...ause of action for conversion. The demurrer is sustained, with leave to amend, on the second cause of action for fraud. Plaintiff shall prepare an order for filing with the Court. Plaintiff and Foshay's requests for judicial notice are granted only as to the existence of the identified documents. First Cause of Action. Plaintiff added Foshay to this cause of action in the FAC under the alter ego theory. 1. Violation of Court Order Argument Foshay...

Excerpt: ...to the family trust that changed her share of assets from about 5% to about 50%. The Keading family trust has been the subject of prior litigation, most significantly Contra Costa Superior Court case MSP16‐00402, which addressed a petition to appoint a trustee, confirm trust ownership, and find intentional interference with expected inheritance, fraud, conversion, and elder abuse on Kenton's part. A judgment in excess of $2 million was entered ...

Excerpt: ...tificates Series 2005‐9 (“Defendant” or “US Bank”) (collectively, “Defendants”). Plaintiff Benson Eugene Shiner (“Plaintiff” or “Shiner”) opposes the Demurrer. The Complaint pleads causes of action for (1) violation of Civ. Code § 2924.17; (2) negligent misrepresentation; (3) violation of the Rosenthal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, Civ. Code § 1788; and (4) violation of Bus. & Prof. Code § 17200. For the following r...

Excerpt: ...s denied, and he assumed his motion was continued to February 27, 2019 and then granted. The assertions conflict with the facts. Mr. Speights' motion for reconsideration was denied on January 9, 2019. The hearing was to have been held at 9:00 a.m. that morning but no party called to contest the tentative ruling which was posted on January 8th. Mr. Speights claims that he called the department just before noon CONTRA COSTA SUPERIOR COURT MARTINEZ,...