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: ...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: ...p.4th 566, 604.) CONTRA COSTA SUPERIOR COURT MARTINEZ, CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT: 39 HEARING DATE: 04/16/18 ‐ 3 ‐ In this instance, Mr. Luria has not complied with the Court's January 9, 2018, order, either by submitting code‐complaint responses or paying the sanction award. (The Court notes that while Mr. Luria stated that he no longer has possession or control of certain documents, that statement, by itself is not sufficient. Code of Civil Pr...

Excerpt: ...ssal, separate from any formal order on the demurrer, and shall submit that proposed judgment to plaintiffs' counsel for approval as to form. The basis for the Court's ruling is as follows. A. Request for Judicial Notice. Defendant seeks judicial notice of the recorded deed of trust and assignment of deed of trust. This unopposed request is granted. (See, Scott v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. (2013) 214 Cal.App.4th 743, 752‐761.) B. Individual Cau...

Excerpt: ...s plaintiff wishes to plead have been known all along, so there is no prejudice. Prejudice requires more than the additional costs of defending against new facts and theories. (See Zellerino v. Brown (1991) 235 Cal.App.3d 1097, 1109 (Prejudice does not mean a result which is unfavorable, it means a result which is unfair); Gonzales v. Brennan (1965) 238 Cal.App.2d 69, 75 (“To be sure without the amendment he might have won his lawsuit; with it,...

Excerpt: ...ce. Given that, whether counsel for Bank of America's statement with respect to receiving the subpoena by mail is hearsay is immaterial. Second, Bank of America's contention that plaintiff has no cause of action, and specifically that whether Ms. Smith had authority to sign the documents is legally immaterial is not properly raised as an objection to discovery. The cases relied on by Bank of America concern circumstances where the court itself de...

Excerpt: ... motion could have been filed at that time), it did respond (about a month late), and the parties engaged in some meet and confer efforts, which resulted in supplemental responses. While Sentinel may consider the responses to be wholly inadequate, especially given the provision in the statute that objections are waived by a failure to respond in a timely manner, the local rule exempts from the Discovery Facilitator Program only those circumstance...

Excerpt: ...idable.” (Complaint, Par. 11.) The sole named defendant in the action is Alvernaz Partners, LLC, which purchased the property at the trustee's sale, but against whom plaintiff alleges no wrongful conduct. Plaintiff recorded a lis pendens. Alvernaz moves to expunge the lis pendens on the grounds that (1) it is invalid because plaintiff did not serve it on Alvernaz; and (2) plaintiff cannot show a probability of prevailing on the merits of the ac...

Excerpt: ...ismissal was not in fact caused by the attorney's mistake, inadvertence, surprise or neglect.” In this instance, counsel fails to set forth any basis upon which, had he appeared at the hearing, a further extension of the deadline for service of a complaint filed January 9, 2017, would have been granted, given that a previous extension had been allowed. Plaintiff may appear (by telephone through Court Call) to address this issue ...

Excerpt: ...n. Petitioner contends that Respondent omitted the documents she lists and that all of the documents were considered directly or indirectly by the Department in making its decision. Respondent is also alleged to have redacted items from the record and edited the transcripted testimony. Petitioner's request to augment the record is denied for three reasons. First, Petitioner did not produce any of the documents she seeks to add to the record at th...

Excerpt: ...ted.) He declined, sending a hostile email complaining that she had been delaying the matter, declining the request (in all caps, underlined, and bold type). Longmire filed this motion on February 8, 2018. In support of her motion she states that she does not understand the requests, they appear to be complicated, and she is seeking to obtain counsel. In opposition, Kessler states that Longmire already has counsel in another matter raising the sa...

Excerpt: ...ion under CCP § 473. (See Harris v. Wachovia Mortgage, FSB (2010) 185 Cal.App.4th 1018, 1023.) If plaintiff files a Second Amended Complaint all demurrers and motions to strike not already heard will automatically be dropped from the calendar. Third Cause of Action, Violation of Business and Professions Code section 17200 Business and Professions Code section 17200 prohibits “any unlawful, unfair or fraudulent business act or practice and unfa...

Excerpt: ...f leave to amend. Its order further stated that any amended complaint “shall be filed and served on or before December 29, 2017.” (See Ex. A to Wagster Decl.) CONTRA COSTA SUPERIOR COURT MARTINEZ, CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT: 39 HEARING DATE: 03/19/18 ‐ 3 ‐ Plaintiff filed his First Amended Complaint on December 29, 2017, but failed to serve it on the two moving defendants by December 29, 2017. Plaintiff did not serve it on these defendants unt...

Excerpt: ...ty. The underlying claim arises from a prior case, in which James and Christine Dean sued Abacus Financial Group. At one point during that matter, Ms. Hinchman allegedly signed a declaration drafted by the Dean's counsel, Zelis. Amado claims that this violated various duties toward him and Abacus Financial. He issued subpoenas to Christine Dean and Zelis seeking information concerning the declaration, and the draft declaration itself. The matter ...

Excerpt: ... relevant time, Romdhane 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 proo...

Excerpt: ...Court to undertake a two‐step analysis. First, the Court must determine if the conduct Dr. Braunstein allegedly engaged in is activity protected by section 425.16. If the Court answers that question in the negative, the analysis stops and the motion must be denied. If the Court answers that question affirmatively, the Court must then analyze Karkanen's probability of prevailing on the merits. Navellier v. Sletten (2002) 29 Cal.4th 82, 88‐89; ...

Excerpt: ...es, in part, as follows: [Following] an order of suspension or revocation of the person's privilege to operate a motor vehicle after the hearing pursuant to Section 13558, the person may file a petition for review of the order in the court of competent jurisdiction in the person's county of residence. . . .The review shall be on the record of the hearing and the court shall not consider other evidence. If the court finds that the departme...

Excerpt: ... as 10359 San Pablo Avenue in El Cerrito. The lease was renewed in 2009. In 2014, the Wongs attempted to evict Ms. Tan for failure to pay the rent in September and October. They filed an action, Wong v. Tan (Contra Costa Superior Court Case No. RS14‐ 1020.) Defendant Tan successfully defended that action. On March 18, 2016, the Wongs filed another unlawful detainer, Contra Costa Superior Court Case No. RS16‐0235. (See Defendant's RJN, Ex. B.)...

Excerpt: ...on that ground. On Sladek's demurrer to the First Amended Complaint, the court granted leave to amend these causes of action. The court found that Plaintiff's lack of diligence most likely prevented delayed discovery beyond 2013 for Plaintiff's claims for fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, breach of good faith and negligent misrepresentation. Plaintiff's personal realtor, Jim Calhoun, had informed Plaintiff “sometime” in 2013 that she was not o...

Excerpt: ...s monetary and terminating sanctions. That section provides that every pleading submitted to the court certifies “to the best of the person's knowledge, information, and belief, formed after an inquiry reasonable under the circumstances, all of the following conditions are met: (1) It is not being presented primarily for an improper purpose…(2) The claims …are warranted by existing law or by a nonfrivolous argument [for a change in the law]...

Excerpt: ...9 HEARING DATE: 03/05/18 ‐ 3 ‐ “Partition is a remedy much favored by the law.” (LEG Investments v. Boxler (2010) 183 Cal.App.4th 484, 493.) “If the court finds that the plaintiff is entitled to partition, it shall make an interlocutory judgment that determines the interests of the parties in the property and orders the partition of the property and, unless it is to be later determined, the manner of partition.” (Code Civ. Proc., § 8...

Excerpt: ...R COURT MARTINEZ, CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT: 39 HEARING DATE: 03/05/18 ‐ 14 ‐ the trustee, which ultimately resulted in a judgment over $800,000, plus prejudgment interest of $225,000, and attorney fees of $440,000. The current application relates to the expenses of enforcing the judgment and defending the trustee's appeal. (The trial court judgment, issued by a private judge, was affirmed, with one exception.) The order is sought primarily pursu...

Excerpt: ...motion followed. In response to the motion, plaintiff has filed proposed responses, which his counsel states already have been served, and are attached to his supporting declaration as Exhibit B. Those responses are not verified, are dated October 27, 2017, and have no proof of service. They also contain objections, but in each case also provide an answer. All answers, however, either deny the statement or state that plaintiff lacks sufficient in...