Excerpt: ...irez. This action arises out of two separate motor vehicle accidents occurring approximately 3½ weeks apart. Plaintiff alleges Ramirez negligently caused the first accident on 4/26/19 while the parties were on the Interstate 10 in Ontario, California. Plaintiff alleges Cruz negligently caused the second accident on 5/21/19 while the parties were on the State Route 91 in Fullerton, California. Plaintiff alleges he has sustained injuries and damag...

Excerpt: ...leges causes of action for: (1) Open Book Account; (2) Account Stated; and (3) Reasonable Value. Defendant 5 Star filed its answer on 07/08/19. An attachment application was granted on 12/09/20. Defendant's motion for leave to file a cross-complaint was granted on 01/06/21, and Defendant filed a cross-complaint against Plaintiff the same date, alleging causes of action for: (1) Declaratory Relief; and (2) Negligent Misrepresentation, alleging tha...

Excerpt: ...ustice, and on any terms as may be proper, allow a party to amend any pleading.” Code Civ. Proc., § 473, subd. (a)(1); see also Code Civ. Proc., § 576. The court's discretion will usually be exercised liberally so as not to deprive a party of the right to assert a meritorious cause of action or defense. The policy favoring amendment is so strong that denial of leave to amend can rarely be justified: “If the motion to amend is timely made an...

Excerpt: ...closure); (b) knowledge of falsity (or ‘scienter'); (c) intent to defraud, i.e., to induce reliance; (d) justifiable reliance; and (e) resulting damage.' [Citations.]” (Lazar v. Superior Court (1996) 12 Cal.4th 631, 638.) “Fraud may be pled specifically and general and conclusory allegations do not suffice. (Id. at p. 645.) To survive demurrer, plaintiff must plead facts that “show how, when, where, to whom, and by what means the represen...

Excerpt: ...documents. The court did not consider Plaintiffs' improperly filed sur-reply. Failure to Name Indispensable Party Demurrers for nonjoinder of parties lie only where it appears from the face of the complaint or matters judicially noticed that some third person is a necessary or indispensable party to the action, and hence, must be joined before the action may proceed. Code Civ. Proc. §430.10(d). When this is the case, in conjunction with the demu...

Excerpt: ... (See Carlton v. Dr. Pepper Snapple Group Inc. (2014) 228 Cal.App.4th 1200, 1211; accord Weil & Brown, Cal. Practice Guide: Civil. Proc. Before Trial (The Rutter Group 2020) ¶¶ 7:140-7:143.) But it shouldn't be surprising if the court comes to the same result. These causes of action remain predicated in part on defendant Grubb's conduct during his employment with plaintiff. (See SAC ¶¶ 11, 13, 17.) Section 16600 “does not affect limitations...

Excerpt: ...the demurrer. This dispute arises out of an option to lease the premises on which an restaurant is operated. Plaintiff alleges he and his former business partner, Abed Elhaj, purchased the business from the previous tenants, the Chaos, in 1994. In connection with the acquisition, a total of five agreements were executed, “none of which would have occurred without the others[.]” (FAC at ¶ 16.) Included in the five agreements was an “Option ...

Excerpt: ...and its sales agent Defendant No Hoang for $20,000. At paragraphs 6 and 7 of the complaint, Plaintiff alleges Defendants sold her a bed for $20,000 “to cure her medical problems.” At paragraph 8, Plaintiff alleges, “The product advertized by Defendants in fact were not as described, being a defective product and not serving Plaintiff's the needs.” At paragraphs 9-11, Plaintiff alleges she requested a refund and rescission of the sale, but...

Excerpt: ...warranty, which includes automobiles. Civil Code §1794(a) states: “Any buyer of consumer goods who is damaged by a failure to comply with any obligation under this chapter or under an implied or express warranty or service contract may bring an action for the recovery of damages and other legal and equitable relief.” Defendant argues that Plaintiff failed to adequately allege a contract for warranty by setting out the terms verbatim or attac...

Excerpt: ...tiff must allege facts establishing that defendant: “(1) had responsibility for meeting the basic needs of the elder or dependent adult, such as nutrition, hydration, hygiene or medical care; (2) knew of conditions that made the elder or dependent adult unable to provide for his or her own basic needs; and (3) denied or withheld goods or services necessary to meet the elder or dependent adult's basic needs, either with knowledge that injury was...

Excerpt: ...oes not list the opposition as one of the documents served. In addition, Artedi Cortez did not state his email address on the proof of service. Code Civ. Proc., § 1013b, subd. (b)(1). Furthermore, a party cannot serve documents by mail. Code Civ. Proc., § 1013a, subd. (1). Because the Association did not file any reply, it is unclear whether the Association received the opposition. Subject to any objection by the Association regarding service, ...

Excerpt: ...late reasonable attorneys' fees. Meister v. U.C. Regents (1998) 67 Cal. App. 4th 437, 448-49. The court determines a lodestar figure based on a careful compilation of the time spent and reasonable hourly compensation of each attorney involved. Serrano v. Priest (1977) 20 Cal. 3d 25. A reasonable fee is determined in the trial court's discretion. PLCM Group v. Drexler (2000) 22 Cal. 4 th 1084. To determine reasonable attorneys' fees, the court sho...

Excerpt: ...he tolling issue. The court also orders further briefing regarding the issue of lack of consideration, namely, whether the June Agreement is invalid merely because it was signed again at a different date but is identical to the May Agreement. Both sides shall file supplemental briefs on those issues, only, no later than 7 court days prior to the continued hearing date. No reply briefs will be permitted. The court further orders Plaintiff to provi...

Excerpt: ...(See Evid. Code, § 500.) There is a triable issue of material fact if, and only if, the evidence would allow a reasonable trier of fact to find the underlying fact in favor of the party opposing the motion in accordance with the applicable standard of proof.” Aguilar v. Atl. Richfield Co. (2001) 25 Cal. 4th 826, 850, as modified (July 11, 2001). “The motion for summary judgment shall be granted if all the papers submitted show that there is ...

Excerpt: .... The Complaint of plaintiff Heather Devon (“Plaintiff”) alleges a single cause of action for negligence, based upon alleged medical negligence. The elements of a medical negligence cause of action are: 1. duty of professional to use such skill, prudence, and diligence as other members of his profession commonly possess and exercise; 2. a breach of that duty; 3. a proximate causal connection between negligent conduct and resulting injury; and...

Excerpt: ... for which notice is requested. Furthermore, based on the Court's review of the documents included with the requests, it does not appear that any of them is a proper subject of which to take judicial notice under Evidence Code Sections 451 or 452. Cross-Complainant's evidentiary objections are all overruled. “[F]rom commencement to conclusion, the party moving for summary judgment bears the burden of persuasion that there is no triable issue of...

Excerpt: ...s conference re binding arbitration for 10/4/21 at 10 am in Dept. C15. Defendants have met their burden to show a written arbitration agreement exists that covers plaintiff's claims. (See Code Civ. Proc., § 1281.2; Rosenthal v. Great Western Fin. Securities Corp. (1996) 14 Cal.4th 394, 413 [elements]; see also Valencia Decl. ¶¶ 1-8; Def. Ex. 4 ¶ 24.) Plaintiff has not shown grounds to deny enforcement of the arbitration agreement. Plaintiff's...

Excerpt: ...ph that provides for arbitration must either be stated verbatim in the petition or attached thereto. (C.R.C. 3.1330.) The burden then shifts to the resisting party “to demonstrate that an arbitration clause cannot be interpreted to require arbitration of the dispute.” (Buckhorn v. St. Judge Heritage Medical Group (2004) 121 Cal.App.4th 1401, 1406.) Any reasonable doubt as to whether a claim falls within the arbitration clause is to be resolve...

Excerpt: ...cause Instant Tuck USA LLC did not propound the discovery, it is not entitled to seek further responses, and the motions as to it are denied. As to the proper moving party, Plaintiff Instant Tuck, Inc. (“Plaintiff”), the Court rules as follows: (1) The motion to compel further responses to special interrogatory nos. 1 and 2 is denied; (2) The motion to compel further responses to document requests nos. 8 (erroneously identified as 1 in the Mo...

Excerpt: ...are procedurally flawed in that (1) they do not provide a legal basis for the motion, (2) Defendant did not plead any settlement in its answer, and (3) there was no settlement between the parties. “A basic tenet of motion practice is that the notice of motion must state the grounds for the order being sought (Code Civ. Proc., § 1010; Cal. Rules of Court, rule 3.1110(a)), and courts generally may consider only the grounds stated in the notice o...

Excerpt: .... (hereinafter “Ital Catering”),and Spectrum Restaurant Management Group, LLC. (hereinafter “Spectrum”) (collectively referred to as Cross-Defendants) move to quash the subpoena on the grounds that the categories of documents requested are overly broad and seek items outside the scope of permissible discovery, and it seeks documents that are private, and the privacy rights outweigh any right to discovery. In Hill v. National Collegiate At...

Excerpt: ...on as to when the arbitration award was served. [See 12-18-20 minute order (ROA No. 489).] MPs were ordered to do so by 1-22-21. (Id.) It appears that MPs attempted to do so on 12-24-20, but this filing was rejected by the clerk. (ROA No. 490.) However, on 1-20-21, respondents' counsel served a declaration in opposition to the instant Petition. (ROA No. 492.) That declaration admits that the award was served on or about 12-8-18. (Id. at Para. 3.)...

Excerpt: ...ories and 27 inspection demands; Plaintiff Higueron propounded 56 special interrogatories and 27 inspection demands. (Id.) On 08/07/2020, Plaintiffs requested responses without objections be served. (Bosse Decl. ¶ 9.) No responses were received as of the date of filing. (Id.) In late 09/2020, Defendant Gallardo retained new counsel. New counsel immediately met and conferred with Plaintiffs regarding outstanding discovery, and on 10/12/2020, Defe...

Excerpt: ...23, 24-33. Demand for production of documents: 4, 5. Plaintiff complains that the verifications served with the original August 5 responses are inadequate as they were “pre-dated” July 10, 2020. Plaintiff implies the verifications were signed before the responses were prepared. Therefore, plaintiff contends, the verifications were not really verifications for purposes of a motion to compel further response. Defendant contends they were signed...

Excerpt: ... plaintiff lives and that defendant Powerstone does not manage either property. Undisputed Material Facts 6 and 8. Defendants also have established that plaintiff Lewellen has admitted in her verified discovery responses that she has no basis for any of the allegations or her causes of action as alleged against the moving party defendants. Undisputed Material Facts 9-16. Defendants served written discovery on Lewellen seeking to discover the basi...