Excerpt: ...ds outlasts its jurisdiction to grant relief pursuant statute, its inherent power is narrower than its ability to grant relief under 473(b), and it is exercised only in exceptional circumstances. (See, e.g., Rappleyea v. Campbell (1994) 8 Cal.4th 975, 98; Mechling v. Asbestos Defendants (2018) 29 Cal.App.5th 1241, 1246. In considering a request for relief from default on equitable grounds, courts apply a three-part test: "first, the defaulted par...

Excerpt: ...eady parties or (2) he claims an interest relating to the subject of the action and is so situated that the disposition of the action in his absence may (i) as a practical matter impair or impede his ability to protect that interest or (ii) leave any of the persons already parties subject to a substantial risk of incurring double, multiple, or otherwise inconsistent obligations by reason of his claimed interest. If he has not been so joined, the ...

Excerpt: ...ing them Verdi was incompetent to provide services and thereby convinced customers to cease using Verdi's services and to hire Hamilton's newly-formed competing business. Verdi also alleges Hamilton poached Verdi's employees. A demurrer and motion to strike portions of the complaint was heard back in January, 2023. Defendant/cross-complainant Hamilton filed a Cross-complaint on 2/15/2023. It names Verdi Energy and Gregory Cecchi as Cross-Defendan...

Excerpt: ...for personal injury claims expired on 4/8/2023. CCP section 12a prov-des in pertinent part: "If the last day for the performance of any act provided or required by law to be performed within a specified period of time is a holiday, then that period is hereby extended to and including the next day that is nota holiday. For purposes of this section, "holiday" means all day on Saturday [and) all days that by terms of Section 12b are required to be c...

Excerpt: ...ng the appropriate penalty, and we must uphold the court's determination absent an abuse of discretion. [Citation.] We defer to the court's credibility decisions and draw all reasonable inferences in support of the court's ruling. "Despite this broad discretion, the courts have long recognized that the terminating sanction is a drastic penalty and should be used sparingly. [Citation.) A trial court must be cautious when imposing a terminating san...

Excerpt: ...ive condition existed aside from the lack of a "Certificate of Occupancy," and have also failed to set forth any specific damages. Defendant RCl's unopposed Motion to Strike is granted without leave to amend. Plaintiffs have failed to show that any acts committed by RCI were willful, reckless, or done in conscious disregard for the safety and rights of others. The burden is on the complainant to show the court that a pleading can be amended succe...

Excerpt: ...notice of hearsay allegations as being true," even where they exist in a court's record or file. (See Day v. Sharpe (1975) 50 Cal.App.3d 904, 914- 915, emphasis original Objections to Evidence Defendant Fernstrom-Lee's Objections to Evidence filed on June 7, 2023, are sustained as to: 1-9 (foundaton, personal knowledge); 23-34 (authentication). The remaining objections are overruled. Standard of Review A defendant (or cross-defendant) may move fo...

Excerpt: ...07) 148 Cal.App.4th 97, 113.) "Taking judicial notce of a document is not the same as accepting the truth of its contents or accepting a particular interpretation of its meaning" and "[t]he hearing on demurrer may not be turned into a contested evidentiary hearing through the guise of having the court take judicial notice of documents whose proper interpretation are disputable." (ld. at 365, quoting Indemnity, supra, 148.Cal. App.4th at 113- 114....

Excerpt: ...the existence of a document may be judicially noticeable, the truth of statements contained in the document and its proper interpretation are not subject to judicial notice if those matters are reasonably in dispute. (Unruh-Haxton v. Regents of University of California (2008) 162 Cal.App.4th 343, 354, quoting Freemont Indemnity Co. v. Fremont General Corp. (2007) 148 Cal.App.4th 97, 113.) "Taking judicial notce of a document is not the same as ac...

Excerpt: ...rty's project and to allow project activities unaffected by the air quality issue with the EIR found by the Court of Appeal to move forward while the City revises the EIR at issue. Petitioner Community Environmental Advocates oppose the same. Save Our Capitol! v. Department of General Services (2023) 87 Cal.App.5th 655, delineates the applicable standard for the request made: CEQA "allows a trial court to leave project approvals in place. CEQA do...

Excerpt: ...o. (1996) 48 Cal.App.4th 1794, 1802.) Counsel should include additional information regarding the specific documents reviewed and the extent of discovery conducted prior to agreeing to settle the case. (2) Plaintiff has not submitted a declaration from the proposed class representative evidencing that she has agreed to act as the same and understands her responsibilities. (See Soderstedt u CB/Z Southern California, LLC (2011) 197 cal.App.4th 133,...

Excerpt: ...kin presiding. A judgment was thereafter entered in favor of Plaintiffs in the amount of $88,304.53 against Defendant Forest River, Inc. ("Forest River"). An additional $12,962.00 was awarded to Plaintiffs against both Forest River and Timothy DeMartini d.b.a. DeMartini RV Sales ("DeMartini"). Plaintiffs were determined to be the prevailing party and the amount of attorneys' fees, costs, and expenses to be awarded were deferred until such time as...

Excerpt: ...any information or input by class members. Counsel shall address how the notice of final judgment will be given to class members. (See Rules of Court 3.771(b).) Counsel is also directed to provide the Court with proposed dates fora final status hearing regarding Defendant's compliance with the settlement agreement. Plaintiff will be required to timely submit its report of compliance before the final status hearing. Counsel are directed to prepare...

Excerpt: ...iction of emotional distress occurring in connection with Plaintiff's prior employment with BMI. Plaintiff moves to strike BMI's verified answer averring that its corporate status has been suspended/forfeited since on or about January 4, 2021, as a result of its failure to comply with Franchise Tax Board ("FTB") requirements (failure to file tax returns as required). Plaintiff contends that, as a forfeited corporation, BMI is disallowed from defe...

Excerpt: ...s. The Court defers on the imposition of any monetary sanctons required under Code of Civil Procedure section 2023.020 until the hearing on any such subsequent motion. Discussion Under the Discovery Act, discovery should ordinarily be self-executing. (Townsend v. Superior Court (1998) 61 Cal.App.4th 1431, 1434 ["It is a central precept to the Civil Discovery Act of 1986 that civil discovery be essentially self-executing" l.) And because the Legis...

Excerpt: ...ed. The moton is accordingly granted as prayed. Plaintiffs are ordered to provide responses, without objections, to the form interrogatories, SROGs, and RFPs within ten (10) days of this Court's order. Plaintiffs' failure to respond as to each of the above-described discovery requests constitutes "misuse of the discovery process" within the meaning of Code of Civil Procedure section 2023.010(d) ("[f]ailing to respond or to submit to an authorized...

Excerpt: ...discovery requests were timely propounded, the time for response has elapsed, and no answers, documents, or other code-compliant responses have been received. (See McDonald Declaration, "1 3-7, Exhibit 4 thereto.) Their motion to compel is accordingly granted. Plaintiff is ordered to provide responses, without objections, to the form interrogatories, SROGs, and RFPs within ten (10) days of being served by Garda with this Court's order. As to the ...

Excerpt: ...ore specifically, she contends that she injured herself on an improperly installed covered trench drain dug and constructed by an unlicensed and unqualified handyman at the residence. Plaintiff contends that Defendant negligently created and maintained the ditch (and its covering) on the property and that the same resulted in her extensive injuries. Defendant now moves for summary judgment, or, in the alternative, summary adjudication, as to both...

Excerpt: ...val, the Court is in need of additional information as discussed and the hearing is continued on the Court's own motion to July 7, 2023, at 10m a.m., in Department 6. In connection with its motion, Plaintiff has submitted the declaration of Mary Collins ("Ms. Collins"). Ms. Collin's is the president of Defendant TTSD and her declaration is submitted for the purposes of establishing that proper notice has been sent to the Class Members. That decla...

Excerpt: ... those issues only. The parties are ordered to timely select and agree upon a third party arbitrator in accordance with Section 6 of their partnership agreement. (See CodeofCivi/ Procedure S 1281.6.) Ifthe parties are unable to select or agree upon an arbitrator as provided for in their agreement, or the method otherwise fails, the parties may seek further relief under Secton 1281.6. Discussion of .Secäon 1281.2 "On petition of a party to an arb...

Excerpt: ... accordingly, consistent with the failure of the contract cause of action and the absence of a quantum meruit claim by Plaintiffs. (Defendants' Motion, Pg. 7:3-5, italics original.) Defendants agree with the Court's finding that Plaintiff's contract claim failed, but argue that the Court's purported evaluation of the value of the lien was not based on a contract amount, but was impliedly based on a cause of action for quantum meruit, which was no...

Excerpt: ...tinued on the Court's own motion to July 28, 2023, at 1:00 p.m., in Department 6. Asto the motion to disqualify, the Court will conduct a brief evidentiary hearing at the continued hearing date. As to the moton to quash, Defendant is directed to file an opposition thereto no later than June 16, 2023. Defendant's opposition must include a Rule 3.113 compliant memorandum, including "a discussion of the statutes, cases, and textbooks cited in suppor...

Excerpt: ...tion District ("NID"). NID provides its employees and retrees with contributions to Health Reimbursement Accounts ("HRA") based on a particular formula. Where the employee/retiree's chosen health plan is less expensive than the designated plan, the difference in premiums is deposited by NID into the individual's HRA account. In Plaintiff's case, after he retired and prior to him becoming Medicare eligible, this resulted in him being compensated a...

Excerpt: ... with the motion. Golden Gate has made the requisite showings that discovery requests were timely and received, the time for response has elapsed, and no answers, documents, requests for extensions, or other adequate responses have been received. The motion is granted in its entirety (unless Plaintiffs serve substantially compliant responses to the RFAs before the hearing). Plaintiffs are both ordered to provide responses, without objections, to ...

Excerpt: ...evaluation of the fairness of the settlement, the Court notes that the number of class members has decreased from two hundred sixty (260) at the time of preliminary approval to two hundred fifty-four (254) at present. Counsel shall briefly address the reason for this decrease in class members. Counsel shall also address how the notice of final judgment will be given to class members. (See Rules of Court 3.771(b).) Finally, Counsel is directed to ...