Excerpt: ...tach order. A writ of attachment is a statutory remedy governed by CCP Section 484.090. Attachment is a harsh remedy because it causes the defendant to lose control of their property before the plaintiff's claim is adjudicated. See Martin v. Aboyan (1983) 148 Cal.App.3d 826, 831. Because of this, the statutory requirements are strictly construed. See Kemp Bros. Construction, Inc. v. Titan Electric Corp. (2007) 146 Cal.App.4th 1474, 1476. CCP Sect...

Excerpt: ...nctions are awarded in favor of Ms. Sheedy. This motion comes as part – hopefully the last part – of an extraordinary set of discovery disputes in this case. These disputes occupy several volumes of the Court's case file despite the fact that nearly all of it has actually occurred before a Discovery Referee and not in court. It is to be feared that both sides' counsel have allowed this matter to become more personally rancorous than is profes...

Excerpt: ...ment interest is an element of damages, not of costs. Hence, absent a stipulation like the one applicable to Line 3, a request for an award of prejudgment interest should be presented either before judgment is entered, or by way of a new trial motion. North Oakland Medical Clinic v. Rogers (1998) 65 Cal.App.4th 824. Even if the procedural problem is ignored (and no party has raised it), the motion is substantively unmeritorious. On a tort claim, ...

Excerpt: ...Government Code § 946.6. “Section 946.6 is a remedial statute intended ‘to provide relief from technical rules that otherwise provide a trap for the unwary claimant.'” Bettencourt v. Los Rios Community College Dist. (1986) 42 Cal.3d 270, 275. Courts exercise their power to grant relief liberally, so as to preserve meritorious claims wherever possible. Any doubts are to be resolved in favor of permitting the suit to proceed. Viles v. Califo...

Excerpt: ...'s parents“ refused to have their son apologize or take responsibility for a dreadful decision.” (2) The portion of the Instagram post where Defendant stated that N.Y.'s parents “refused to have their son apologize/take responsibility for a poor decision.” All other alleged defamatory statements are stricken from the complaint. Legal Standard “Resolution of an anti‐SLAPP motion [or special motion to strike] involves two steps. First, ...

Excerpt: ...k of personal jurisdiction. It did make a motion to dismiss Eaves 1 for forum non conveniens. After discovery and a second round of briefing, the Court denied that motion on October 20, 2016. Shell made no such motion in Eaves 2. CONTRA COSTA SUPERIOR COURT MARTINEZ, CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT: 17 HEARING DATE: 04/26/18 ‐ 2 ‐ Shell answered Eaves 1 on October 27, 2016 and Eaves 2 on May 30, 2017. In doing so, it entered a general appearance. By en...

Excerpt: ...olving adjudication of complex issues of legal and beneficial title to property.” (Martin‐Bragg v. Moore (2013) 219 Cal.App.4th 367, 394.) The Court has denied plaintiffs' motion because this civil action does not involve such issues. The First, Fifth and Sixth Causes of Action are based on alleged irregularities in the service and posting of the notice of trustee's sale. (See Complaint, ¶¶ 29‐31.) Plaintiffs acknowledge in their opening ...

Excerpt: ...r. Gordon and his Trust”). For reasons stated below, the Motion to Strike is granted, the Demurrer is overruled, and the MJOP is denied in part, and granted in part. Relevant Factual And Procedural Background This is a personal injury‐premises liability case. Plaintiff, Konstantinos Sakellariou (“Plaintiff”), alleges that he was injured at a property owned, operated, and maintained by the defendants in this matter. The following facts wer...

Excerpt: ...court may order that a record be filed under seal only if it expressly finds facts that establish: (1) There exists an overriding interest that overcomes the right of public access to the record; (2) The overriding interest supports sealing the record; (3) A substantial probability exists that the overriding interest will be prejudiced if the record is not sealed; (4) The proposed sealing is narrowly tailored; and (5) No less restrictive means ex...

Excerpt: ...uding during trial. (Berman v. Bromberg (1997) 56 Cal.App.4th 936, 945.) “The rule of liberality is particularly important where, as in the present case, an amendment is sought to an answer.” (Dunzweiler v. Superior Court of Alameda County (1968) 267 Cal.App.2d 569, 576 (defendant permitted to plead plaintiff's negligence). Plaintiffs argue they will be prejudiced if the amendment is allowed because vehicle inspections, depositions, and a med...

Excerpt: ...ors' good faith motion. See Franklin Mint Co. v. Superior Court (2005) 130 Cal.App.4th 1550, 1561, fn. 5 (“The amount of discovery – if any – to be allowed and the scope of the good faith settlement proceeding rests in the sound discretion of the trial court.”); City of Grand Terrace v. Superior Court (1987) 192 Cal.App.3d 1251, 1265 (appropriate for “the objecting nonsettlor to move for a continuance of the hearing, if necessary, for t...

Excerpt: ...ference that “both sides had agreed to a jury trial. I did not know that my demand was sufficient to secure my rights, and the whole proceeding was conducted so quickly that I did not think to ask the court about the issue.” There is some apparent miswording in the declaration, i.e., the discussion was that both sides had agreed to a court trial, and presumably Ms. Longmire means that she did not know that her demand was insufficient to secur...

Excerpt: ...ne was negotiating with State Farm, who advised him that while it represented Bravos, it could not accept service on his behalf. State Farm specifically requested that it be notified when the cross‐complaint was served, or before seeking entry of a default. Eventually, Romdhane obtained an order permitting service by publication. On October 13, 2017, however, Romdhane managed to personally serve Bravos, according to a proof of service dated Oct...

Excerpt: ...ender, rested on Rad's debt to the HOA for failure to pay HOA assessments. Spinnaker thereafter obtained the present California judgment on sister‐state judgment, pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure § 1710.25. Defendant Rad now moves to vacate the judgment pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure § 1740. The motion is granted. Venue As the last, most cursory item in his motion, Rad states that Contra Costa County is the improper venue for the judg...

Excerpt: ...t last fall. Plaintiff/cross‐defendant Korb filed a demurrer to it. On December 15, 2017 the Court took that demurrer off‐calendar because Romero had responded by proposing to amend his pleading in response to what he said were “good points” made by his opponent. The Court granted Romero leave to file his First Amended Cross‐Complaint by January 15, 2018, and expressly directed the parties to meet and confer before that filing in the ho...

Excerpt: ...� 6 ‐ motion for leave to amend the complaint to correct typographical errors and to add two causes of action—Declaratory Relief and Injunctive Relief. Motions for leave to amend the pleadings are directed to the sound discretion of the judge. “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 of Civil Procedure § 473. Judicial policy favor...

Excerpt: ...Code of Civil Procedure § 430.10(e).) CONTRA COSTA SUPERIOR COURT MARTINEZ, CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT: 12 HEARING DATE: 04/20/18 ‐ 9 ‐ The SAC alleges or can reasonably be construed to allege the following. The plaintiffs and the lead defendant, Gerald Knopoff, are siblings, the children of Leon Knopoff. When Leon died, the children were left $7 million in a trust. But when the trustee, Gerald Knopoff, distributed the funds, each child received ...

Excerpt: ...ief of no more than 10 pages and any additional evidence on or before June 28. Defendants may each file and serve a supplemental brief of no more than 10 pages and any additional evidence on or before July 12, 2018. Thereafter the Court will hold a hearing on whether plaintiff has shown a probability of prevailing on the merits of its claims against the defendants. Plaintiff sued various defendants, including attorneys Mark Lapham and Owen Mascot...

Excerpt: ...�litigation procedures apply to each of the homes, and no opposition has been presented on that point. The motion does not provide the Court with a sense of how long the pre‐litigation process will take. The Court sets a case management conference for July 16, 2018, at 8:30 a.m. On or before July 11, 2018, the parties shall file a joint case management statement (a manuscript statement; do not use the Judicial Council form). That case managemen...

Excerpt: ...sses, the ends of justice, or the economy and efficiency of handling the litigation would be promoted thereby.” Here, the principal arguments for bifurcating the issue of causation are (a) economy and efficiency, and (b) the ends of justice. Typically, when considering economy and efficiency, the Court is best informed by a detailed showing of how bifurcation will save trial time; viz. a list of which witnesses will testify in a bifurcated tria...

Excerpt: ...a Dang, D.D.S. (“Dr. Dang”) at the time she passed away. Plaintiffs move pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure (“CCP”) section 425.13, which governs the amendment of complaints to include claims for punitive damages against health care providers: In any action for damages arising out of the professional negligence of a health care provider, no claim for punitive damages shall be included in a complaint or other pleading unless the court ent...

Excerpt: ... heirs, as well as heirs making individual claims. In this motion, Defendants Synthes, Inc. and Norian Corporation seek summary adjudication of plaintiffs' claims for elder abuse, violation of the Unfair Competition Law (UCL), conspiracy, and negligence per se, as well as plaintiffs' plea for attorney's fees. II. Motions for Summary Adjudication A. Standards on Summary Judgment/Adjudication A motion for summary judgment/adjudication “shall be g...

Excerpt: ...y false and/or intentionally misleading fact allegations relating to Plaintiff's failure to exhaust his administrative remedies.” (Def. Memo of P & A, 2:5‐6.) Defendants contend the complaint falsely alleges that Plaintiff exhausted his administrative remedies necessary to maintain a FEHA claim. “‘Before filing a civil action alleging FEHA violations, an employee must exhaust his or her administrative remedies with DFEH.' [Citation.] Exha...

Excerpt: ...or law, make application to the same judge or court that made the order, to reconsider the matter and modify, amend, or revoke the prior order. The party making the application shall state by affidavit what application was made before, when and to what judge, what order or decisions were made, and what new or different facts, circumstances, or law are claimed to be shown. In addition, “[a] party seeking reconsideration also must provide a satis...

Excerpt: ...awford decision does not hold otherwise. That decision addressed “issues concerning the contractual duty to defend in a noninsurance context [italics in original].” (Crawford v. Weather Shield Mfg., Inc. (2008) 44 Cal.4th 541, 547.) Footnote 12 of the decision states that the issue of contractual liability for defense costs, as raised in a general contractor's cross‐complaints against subcontractors during construction litigation that has n...