Excerpt: ...ation and the arbitration requiring resolution of the arbitration first due to the contract between Altamura and plaintiff. Altamura contends he terminated his contractual relationship with plaintiff because plaintiff mismanaged his vineyard. (Id., ¶¶ 3‐5.) If Altamura is correct, then he had good cause to part ways with plaintiff, and plaintiff's claims against defendants for interfering with the contractual relationship will be less likely ...

Excerpt: ...in 20 calendar days of service of notice of entry of order. The City's request for monetary sanctions is DENIED. Devine did not oppose the motion, which means monetary sanctions are not warranted. (See Code Civ. Proc., §§ 2030.290, subd. (c) [providing that monetary sanctions are warranted against any party, person, or attorney who “unsuccessfully . . . opposes a motion to compel . . . .”]; 2031.300, subd. (c) [same].) The City raises for t...

Excerpt: ...ntegrated enterprise issues (before the discrimination, retaliation, and fraud liability, and damages issues), liability and compensatory damages, and punitive damages pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure sections 598 and 1048, subdivision (b), and request to preclude the admission of evidence of defendants' profits, wealth, or financial condition until after the trier of fact returns a verdict for plaintiff awarding actual damages and finds defen...

Excerpt: ...r law.” (Blank v. Kirwan (1985) 39 Cal.3d 311, 318.) “A demurrer tests only the legal sufficiency of the pleading. It admits the truth of all material factual allegations in the complaint; the question of plaintiff's ability to prove these allegations, or the possible difficulty in making such proof does not concern the reviewing court.” (Comm. on Children's Television, Inc. v. Gen. Foods Corp. (1983) 35 Cal.3d 197, 213‐ 14.) In reviewing...

Excerpt: ... Hill property. The Bakers frame the question as not “‘if' the Vineyard will be redeveloped, it is ‘when' it will be redeveloped.” But there is no guarantee, as the Bakers proffer, that they will be allocated the vineyard land. The land the Bakers seek to develop is the subject of competing claims in this partition action with the Land Trust and defendants/cross‐complainants/cross‐defendants Bruno R. Solari, Giulia S. Nelken, Anthony ...

Excerpt: ...iff/cross‐defendant Nancy Ryan shall serve verified code‐compliant further responses, without objections except those based on the attorney‐client privilege and work product doctrine, and documents within 20 calendar days of service of notice of entry of order. Ryan served initial responses to the discovery requests on February 6, 2019. A party may move to compel further responses to written interrogatories if it deems that the party's resp...

Excerpt: ...entered against Defendant Berridge Wine Company, LLC on March 12, 2019, is hereby set aside. Clerk to give notice. The Court may, upon noticed motion of either party, set aside a void judgment. (Code Civ. Proc. §473, subs. (d)). The Court may also set aside a void default judgement on its own motion. (Security Pac. Nat'l Bank v. Lyon (1980) 105 CA3d Supp. 8, 13.) When a judgment is void, the Court must set it aside. (County of Ventura v. Tillett...

Excerpt: ...d costs and expenses in the amount of $38,039.59, for a total award of $266,234.59, following settlement of claims brought under the Song‐Beverly Consumer Warranty Act, Civil Code sections 1790, et seq. Plaintiffs and Defendant are in accord that Plaintiffs are entitled to costs and expenses including attorneys' fees, based on: a) actual time expended; which, b) the Court determines to have been reasonably incurred in connection with the action...

Excerpt: ... and the letter from Dr. Steven Gross. (Code Civ. Proc., § 2025.420; Webster Decl., ¶¶ 4‐5, Supp. Webster Decl., Ex. B [stating Ryan has an orthopedic condition requiring surgery, and will need to recover before being able to travel].) The Court realizes professional courtesies may have broken down in this case, which may have thwarted resolving this during the meet‐and‐confer process, but before the Court is a 78‐year‐old woman unde...

Excerpt: ...broker (Samrick) and Defendant insurer (State Farm) for damages arising out of the destruction of their home by fire. The Complaint sets out causes of action for professional negligence, negligent misrepresentation, and breach of fiduciary duty. A demurrer is treated as “admitting all material facts properly pleaded, but not contentions, deductions or conclusions of fact or law.” (Blank v. Kirwan (1985) 39 Cal.3d 311, 318.) “A demurrer test...

Excerpt: ...s that he would be testifying “regarding the surveyed location of the access road and easement, as well as possibly the topographical survey of the drainage area at issue in the complaint.” While Defendants certainly made clear throughout this litigation that they dispute Plaintiffs' claim that the easement at issue in this case is interrupted by a triangular encroachment, both sides have consistently referred to the 1978 survey as the operat...

Excerpt: ...uth of the matters contained therein; and City of St. Helena Resolution No. 2009‐24 attached as Exhibit E to Petitioner's Request for Judicial Notice, but not for the truth of the matters contained therein. The Petition for writ of mandate is DENIED. The matter is set for OSC re: Dismissal on Thursday, May 23, 2019, 8:30 a.m., in Dept. B. A. Factual Background On November 27, 2018, the City Council of the City of St. Helena (City) adopted an or...

Excerpt: ...e, however, involved a dispute over the petitioner's claim to an easement. No easement is at issue in this case. Plaintiff does not allege that Defendant has presented any right to possession or title to Plaintiff's property. Plaintiff's first amended complaint asserts that “Defendant's conduct will eventually interfere with Plaintiff's possession of the Scott Property through the imposition of a servient easement in favor of Defendants across ...

Excerpt: ...ablishing that plaintiff is entitled to the relief sought. Clauson v. Superior Court (1998) 67 Cal.App.4th 1253, 1255. In establishing a claim for punitive damages, plaintiff must show by “clear and convincing” evidence that the defendant is guilty of oppression, fraud or malice. Civil Code § 3294(a). Plaintiffs fail to do so here, and fail to demonstrate how they may amend their Complaint to properly state a punitive damages claim. Accordin...

Excerpt: ...d. SUSTAINED WITH LEAVE TO AMEND as to the Seventh cause of action for intentional infliction of emotional distress. A cause of action for intentional infliction of emotional distress requires (1) extreme and outrageous conduct by the defendant; (2) intention to cause or reckless disregard of the probability of causing emotional distress; (3) severe emotional suffering; and (4) actual and proximate causation of the emotional distress. Heller v. P...

Excerpt: ...tion for medical battery, third cause of action for intentional misrepresentation, and fourth cause of action for violation of Business and Professions Code section 17200 on the ground of uncertainty is OVERRULED. An uncertainty demurrer is strictly construed, even where a pleading is in some respects uncertain, because ambiguities can be clarified under modern discovery procedures. (See Khoury v. Maly's of Calif., Inc. (1993) 14 Cal.App.4th 612,...

Excerpt: ...led for May 30, and Trial set for June 3, are vacated. This action arises out of a dispute between Plaintiffs as borrowers/mortgagors relating to residential real property, and Defendants as the purported assignees of the related promissory note and deed of trust. Plaintiffs assert four causes of action1, based on claims that the transfers and assignments of the promissory note and deed of trust – in the course of the alleged securitization of ...

Excerpt: ...rygium excision with autograft on Plaintiff's right eye. Plaintiff now claims that he is experiencing complications, including double vision. At the time of the surgery, Plaintiff was incarcerated at the California Substance Abuse Treatment Facility and State Prison, Corcoran (“CSATF”). On January 8, 2018, this Court heard five motions in this matter: 1) Plaintiff's Motion for Appointment of Counsel, which was denied; 2) Plaintiff's Motion fo...

Excerpt: ...endants to file a reply.1 Cootes thereafter filed her second supplemental opposition along with a request for judicial notice. Cootes attached to the second supplemental opposition a proposed first amended complaint. Defendants filed their reply and an objection to the request for judicial notice. The Court subsequently granted Cootes' request to file a sur reply as well as a response to the objection to her request for judicial notice. The Court...

Excerpt: ...h, fifth, and sixth causes of action on the ground that the Court previously issued a tentative ruling in a different action is overruled. A tentative ruling is not a ruling. Plaintiffs dismissed the prior action before the Court ruled on the demurrer. Demurrer to the first cause of action (breach of contract) is sustained with leave to amend. The claim alleges that “Defendants failed to perform its duties” and “cancelled Plaintiff's loan m...

Excerpt: ... medical examinations. Defendant took plaintiff's deposition in October, 2018, and apparently made extensive inquiry regarding plaintiff's injuries. Plaintiff testified during deposition that he anticipated having a second shoulder surgery. Plaintiff disclosed his expert witnesses in this matter on November 28, 2018. On December 10, 2018, plaintiff moved ex‐parte for an order continuing the trial date based on the instability of plaintiff's rig...

Excerpt: ...th of the exam. Specifically, plaintiff argues Dr. Sarah Hall's time estimate is not consistent with the completion time the product manufacturers proscribe, an effective examination does not require a full administration of all of Dr. Hall's proscribed exams, and a two‐day sixteen‐hour exam is overly burdensome and a misuse of the discovery process. The Court takes each contention in turn. First, the product manufactures' proscribed time doe...

Excerpt: ... untimely. Ryan is correct that Code of Civil Procedure section 428.50, subdivision (a), sets out the time period for the filing of a permissive cross‐complaint: “A party shall file a cross‐complaint against any of the parties who filed the complaint or cross‐complaint against him or her before or at the same time as the answer to the complaint or cross‐complaint.” Ryan, however, fails to address subdivision (c) of the statute, which ...

Excerpt: ... officer, from attending the depositions. (Code Civ. Proc., § 2025.420, subd. (b)(12); see Willoughby v. Super. Ct. (1985) 172 Cal.App.3d 890, 892 [parties have the right to attend depositions].) Even if the Court was authorized to issue such a protective order, defendants have not demonstrated good cause to overcome plaintiff's right to have Mark Holderbein, Chief Operating Officer, present at the depositions. Although another officer could att...

Excerpt: ... Republic General Insurance Corporation's Memorandum of Points and Authorities in Support of Motion for Leave to File Complaint in Intervention.” Second, the Court (Hon. Stone) granted XL Catlin's request to file a complaint‐inintervention on August 21, 2018, which was brought against defendants GS Trucking, G.S. Nahal Trucking, LLC, Swaranjit Kaur, Bay Area Trans, U.S.A. Trucking, Inc., Hakirat Singh Sran, and Kavr Rovin. XL Catlin dismissed...

Excerpt: ...ew trial date for late September or early October 2019 and any other applicable dates. The Court plans on granting the motion as prayed, with all pre‐trial deadlines to be re‐set in accord with the new trial date. Pierce seeks to close all non‐expert discovery based on purported prior agreements between the parties, and to force defendants to withdraw any pending discovery requests, including deposition subpoenas directed to Pierce's employ...

Excerpt: ...erving Jurisdiction on the Issue of Attorneys' Fees, signed November 27, 2018, and entered November 28, 2018, is hereby vacated. Defendant's request for $7,425.00 in attorneys' fees for the cost of preparing its motion for an award of attorneys' fees (below), made in the Opposition Memorandum, is DENIED. The request is not made through a noticed motion. Moreover, Defendant fails to assert which sanction power(s) it would have the Court exercise. ...

Excerpt: ...hall be available at the hearing, in person or by telephone, in the event defendants' counsel appears without following the procedures set forth in Local Rule 2.9. A. Request for Judicial Notice and Evidentiary Objections Plaintiff 3030 Airport Road, LLC's request for judicial notice is GRANTED as to Airport Sponsored Assurances of the Federal Aviation Administration (exhibit A), Napa County Lease Agreement No. 6621 (exhibit B), FAA registration ...

Excerpt: ...y sanctions for bringing the motion is DENIED. Although Alejandre filed a response, he did not oppose the motion, which means monetary sanctions are not warranted. (See Code Civ. Proc., §§ 2030.290, subd. (c) [providing that monetary sanctions are warranted against any party, person, or attorney who “unsuccessfully . . . opposes a motion to compel . . . .”], 2031.300, subd (c) [same].) Weisberg's reference in the memorandum of points and au...

Excerpt: ...al request to continue the trial date out far enough to file a summary judgment motion. The Court also allowed defendant to file a reply to the opposition. The reopening of discovery appears appropriate due to the production of documents that occurred on February 1, 2019, and the possible failure to exhaust the discovery process via the production of internal email communications. Defense counsel represents that it now believes this matter can be...

Excerpt: ...dd an Indispensable Party is GRANTED. Plaintiff's Motion for Leave to File Sixth Amended Complaint to Add an Indispensable Party is DENIED. 1. PLAINTIFF'S REQUESTS FOR JUDICIAL NOTICE Plaintiff's Request for Judicial Notice is GRANTED in part. The Court takes judicial notice of: (a) Verified Complaint for Trespass, Foreceable Detainer, prescriptive Easement and Nuisance Abatement filed in this matter January 29, 2014, but not for the truth of the...

Excerpt: ...nquestionably a form of personal injury. (See Schwab v. Rondel Homes (1991) 53 Cal.3d 428, 432 [plaintiffs' emotional distress claim covered by Code of Civil Procedure section 425.10].) Swank's claim for emotional distress is not “incidental” to the causes of action in her complaint as one of the reasons she filed her pleading is due to the alleged emotional distress she suffered from the death of her dog. (See id. [an emotional distress clai...

Excerpt: ...solve the dispute. Through the Complaint in this matter Plaintiffs allege that Defendant failed to make certain disclosures to Plaintiffs relating to Defendants sale to Plaintiffs of residential real property. The Complaint asserts six causes of action relating to the same set of general allegations. The nature and scope of the allegations set forth in the Complaint are typical for this type of case. Through the present motion, Plaintiffs assert ...

Excerpt: ...efendant's Request for Judicial Notice is GRANTED in part. The Court agrees that California Evidence Code section 452, subsections (c) and (h) permit the taking of judicial notice of the records and files of the California Agricultural Labor Relations Board (ALRB). (Medix Ambulance Service, Inc. v. Super. Ct. (2002) 97 Cal.App.4th 109, 114, Fowler v. Howell (1996) 42 Cal.App.4th 1746, 1749‐ 1750.) The Court takes judicial notice of the followin...

Excerpt: ...e Plaintiff's Request for Judicial Notice is GRANTED. The Court takes judicial notice of the Complaint filed by Plaintiff Francis Wang in this matter, but not for the truth of the matters alleged therein. C. Background This case involves a dispute between neighboring property owners over rights to a strip of land along the boundary of their respective properties. Plaintiff alleges to have lived on property commonly known as 460 Stonecrest Drive f...

Excerpt: ...endant has engaged in certain business transactions with Third‐Party Grant Reynolds. Reynolds acknowledges that he holds a lien on certain of Defendant's property. In an effort to explore these relationships, on or about November 14, 2018, Plaintiff applied to the Superior Court in and for the County of San Diego for an order of examination of Mr. Reynolds. Mr. Reynolds objected. In an apparent effort to focus its resources, Plaintiff withdrew ...

Excerpt: ...r's recommendations or, in the alternative, motion to correct and remedy the errors in these proceedings by instructing the Partition Referee he should recommend an allocation of water and recommend the scope of access as part of the partition proceedings is DENIED. This is an untimely motion for reconsideration not supported with any new or different facts, circumstances, or law. (Code Civ. Proc., § 1008.) The untimeliness of the motion notwith...

Excerpt: ...ant/cross‐complainant Angelena Checchi's recent discovery responses and document production. If Checchi believes there is a lack of duty or that the allegations are deficient, she may utilize the appropriate code provision to challenge the amended pleading. The liberality of permitting amendment of a pleading outweighs Checchi's asserted prejudice of delay in proceeding to trial and incurring additional fees. RD Winery shall file its proposed f...

Excerpt: ...pp. Decl., ¶ 4.) The request for a privilege log is granted as there is no indication defendant produced a supplemental privilege log. (Sakaguchi Decl., ¶ 11.) Defendant shall provide a supplemental privilege log if it believes that certain files are privileged. (Code Civ. Proc., § 2031.240, subd. (b); Hernandez v. Super. Ct. (2003) 112 Cal.App.4th 285, 291‐92.) Defendant shall serve its privilege log within 10 calendar days of service of no...

Excerpt: ...dicial Notice is GRANTED in its entirety. 3. Plaintiffs' Procedural Objections to Defendants' Motion for Summary Adjudication Plaintiffs' procedural objections are OVERRULED. Plaintiffs argue that the Court should deny Defendants' Motion for Summary Adjudication because of asserted defects in Defendants' Notice of Motion and Separate Statement of Undisputed Facts. Specifically, Plaintiffs assert that certain language is not repeated in the two do...

Excerpt: ...pies. The Court's February 1, 2019 Minute Order stated, “Plaintiff has not complied with Local Rule 3.3. Plaintiff is directed to provide courtesy copies of e‐filed documents not later than February 8, 2019.” Plaintiff failed to provide courtesy copies. Plaintiff's counsel is cautioned that any further violation of Local Rule 3.3, or failure to comply with the Court's Orders in this matter will result in sanctions. A. Factual Background Pla...

Excerpt: ...nded opposition brief) and prior to the hearing on the Court's motion re: Dismissal, any issues relating to whether the class‐action may be properly maintained in light of the present ruling relating to the named‐plaintiff. A. Defendant's Request for Judicial Notice The Request for Judicial Notice by Defendant Queen of the Valley Medical Center (QVMC) is GRANTED as to (a) DLSE Counsel H. Thomas Cadell's June 3, 1991 opinion letter, (b) Wage O...

Excerpt: ...hough plaintiffs again failed to satisfy California Rule of Court, rule 3.1324, by stating in the supporting declaration where the new allegations are proposed to be added by page, paragraph, and line number, the Court overlooks the deficiency because exhibit B to the Jones declaration is highlighted to allow the Court to determine where the additional allegations were added. Plaintiffs shall file their proposed first amended complaint by Februar...

Excerpt: ...Terminating Sanctions (Exhibit E), and Notice of Entry of Judgment on Verdict (Exhibit F) in Case No. 26‐ 56249; and (2) case information from the Court's website (Exhibit G), complaint (Exhibit H), and May 7, 2014 Order (Exhibit J) in Case No. 26‐62431; and May 23, 2018 Minute Order (Exhibit M) in this case. For the pleadings, the Court does not take judicial notice of the truth of the matters asserted therein. The request is denied as to ex...

Excerpt: ...ment Quieting Title entered September 16, 2005 in Napa County Superior Court Case No. 26‐29788. (2) DEFENDANTS' REQUEST FOR JUDICIAL NOTICE IN SUPPORT OF DEFENDANTS' MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT OR SUMMARY ADJUDICATION TENTATIVE RULING: Defendants' Request for Judicial Notice is GRANTED. The Court takes judicial notice of the Fifth Amended Verified Complaint for Prescriptive Easement and Nuisance of Plaintiff Kathleen McBride filed March 27, 201...

Excerpt: ...pursuant to Civil Code section 3295. Preliminarily, the court voices its disappointment that counsel for both parties have filed these motions to be heard on the first day of trial, despite trial having been continued previously and despite knowing about the current trial date for the last four months. All of the issues raised in these motions have been patent to counsel for quite some time. Waiting this long to bring these issues to the court's ...

Excerpt: ...e claims on which the attachment is based are claims on which an attachment may issue; (2) plaintiff has established the probable validity of the claims on which the attachment is based; (3) the attachment is sought for no purpose other than the recovery on the claims on which the attachment is based.; and (4) the amount to be secured by the attachment is greater than zero. ...

Excerpt: ...ilure to serve timely responses to requests for admissions necessitated a motion to deem the requests admitted. (Code Civ. Proc., § 2033.280, subd. (c).) Brock failed to serve timely responses to the requests. However, Code of Civil Procedure section 2023.040 requires the moving party to support its motion with a memorandum of points and authorities. TRC, in its memorandum of points and authorities, supported its request for monetary sanctions w...

Excerpt: ...1, and 63‐68, request for admissions numbers 4‐5, 7, 10, 12‐15, 17‐20, 22, 30, 34, and 36, and request for production of documents numbers 5‐9, 14, 17, 19‐20, and 24‐28 is DENIED.2 The Court will not reach the merits because a review of the declarations reveals the meet‐and‐confer process was not exhausted prior to the filing of this motion. Defendant JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A. agreed to supplement various responses following a me...

Excerpt: ...ct Plaintiff's counsel forthwith and advise Plaintiff's counsel of Local Rule 2.9 and the Court's tentative ruling procedure. If Defendant's counsel is unable to contact Plaintiff's counsel prior to the hearing, Defendant's counsel shall be available at the hearing, in person or by telephone, in the event Plaintiff's counsel appears without following the procedures set forth in Local Rule 2.9. Defendant's Motion to Compel Further Responses to For...