Excerpt: ...filed by Fairway Insurance, and if not, why not. Defense counsel's supplemental brief to be filed 9 court days before the continued hearing date. Any opposition by defendant Tim Roham, D.O., Inc. to be filed 5 court days before the continued hearing date of 3-22-18. The court notes that defense counsel remains counsel of record for defendant Tim Rohan, D.O. Inc. at this time because defense counsel's motion to withdraw as counsel has not been gra...

Excerpt: ... ordered to serve verified, non-evasive responses to the interrogatories without objections within ten days. Motion No. 3. Plaintiff's Motion Compelling Defendant Mindy Kennedy Alvarez to Serve Verified Responses Without Objections to Plaintiff's Inspection Demand, Set No. 1, is GRANTED. Defendant is ordered to serve verified, non-evasive responses to the inspection demands without objections and all responsive documents and things within ten day...

Excerpt: ...evidence is put forward, the burden shifting analysis in circumstantial evidence cases is not utilized. Mokler v. County of Orange (2007) 157 Cal.App.4th 121, 138. With direct evidence, a triable issue as to the actual motivation of the employer is created even if the evidence is not substantial. Cordova v. State Farm Ins. Companies (9th Cir. 1997) 124 F.3d 1145, 1150; Godwin v. Hunt Wesson, Inc. (9th Cir. 1998) 150 F.3d 1217, 1221 (“This comme...

Excerpt: ...does not add “M.D.” or anything similar after his name. In response, the defendant presented evidence from the Board that Mr. Reeder is not a physician licensed to practice in the State of California. Without any competent evidence of medical malpractice the plaintiffs have no claim. (The court further notes that the plaintiffs' opposition did not comply with the applicable Rules of Court.) The objections of the defendant are SUSTAINED. The d...

Excerpt: ...on within an action, one or more affirmative defenses, one or more claims for [punitive] damages, or one or more issues of duty”]; McCaskey v. California State Auto. Assn. (2010) 189 Cal.App.4th 947, 975 [court cannot grant summary adjudication “‘to the extent' a cause of action rests on this or that premise”].) With respect to defendant's first contention that the first amended complaint is a sham pleading, the sham pleading doctrine is ...

Excerpt: ...intiff also asserts the agreement is uncertain because it requires the plaintiff to send any claim to an unnamed vice-president by registered or certified mail. But she fails to show how this is critically uncertain or how she was in any way prejudiced by the alleged uncertainty. Finally, the plaintiff asserts the agreement violates element five of the holding in Armendariz v. Foundation Health Psychcare Services, Inc. (2000) 24 Cal.4th 83. But s...

Excerpt: ...se by Monday, 2-26-18, by fax or overnight delivery to counsel for plaintiff Perez. Plaintiff Perez's request for monetary sanctions against defendant Pho Hoa Soan, Inc. is GRANTED in the sum of $3,120.00, pursuant to C.C.P. § 2031.320(b), payable by defendant Pho Hoa Soan, Inc. within 21 days. Finally, plaintiff Perez's request for issue and/or evidentiary sanctions is DENIED as defendant Pho Hoa Soan, Inc. has not violated any prior discovery ...

Excerpt: ...ive, Suite 100, Santa Ana, California, 92707. The parties may, at their discretion, meet and confer to schedule a different date/time/place for the deposition. However, the deposition shall occur no later than March 15, 2018. Defendants are awarded sanctions against plaintiff in the amount of $976.00, not the entire amount of $2,588.50. Defendant knew the day before the deposition that plaintiff was not going to show up. There was no need for him...

Excerpt: ...et profits of her law firm for the years 2010 through 2014. Plaintiff responded to each of these interrogatories by referring to tax documents that Plaintiff would produce reflecting the law firm's profits on an annual basis. Special Interrogatory Nos. 39 through 42 ask Plaintiff to provide the business expenses for her law firm for the years 2010 through 2013. Plaintiff responded to each of these interrogatories by referring to tax documents tha...

Excerpt: ... while these motions were pending, Defendant served supplemental responses to these requests. As described below, Plaintiff's motions are granted in part and denied in part. The court has reviewed all of the materials submitted in support of and in opposition to these motions, including Defendant's supplemental responses. Defendant is ordered to send a letter to Plaintiff by February 22, 2018 stating whether Defendant has withheld any documents o...

Excerpt: ... special interrogatories, form interrogatories, and requests for admission. See, Obregon v. Superior Court (1998) 67 Cal.App.4 th 424, 433 to 435 and Townsend v. Superior Court (1998) 61 Cal.App.4 th 1431, 1435. New counsel for plaintiffs Hamid Hojati, et al. has represented that a further meet and confer might assist in resolving all or some of these pending discovery matters. Defendant Portales to file a supplemental declaration nine (9) court ...

Excerpt: ...ndant. The court finds that the objections raised in the response and amended response are without merit. The arguments as to attorney client privilege are also without merit, and have been waived by failing to assert the same in the initial response to the interrogatory. Code Civ. Proc. § 2030.290(a). A party to litigation can obtain contact information for an opposing party even if that party is represented by legal counsel without involving a...

Excerpt: ...cause for a continuance. “Circumstances that may indicate good cause include: (1) The unavailability of an essential lay or expert witness because of death, illness, or other excusable circumstances; (2) The unavailability of a party because of death, illness, or other excusable circumstances; (3) The unavailability of trial counsel because of death, illness, or other excusable circumstances; (4) The substitution of trial counsel, but only wher...

Excerpt: ...s court. “The order of the reviewing court is contained in its remittitur, which defines the scope of the jurisdiction of the court to which the matter is returned. ‘The order of the appellate court as stated in the remittitur, ‘is decisive of the character of the judgment to which the appellant is entitled. The lower court cannot reopen the case on the facts, allow the filing of amended or supplemental pleadings, nor retry the case, and if...

Excerpt: ...sts for Admission, Set One (the “RFAs”) were propounded to Plaintiff on 10/19/17, and that despite an extension to 12/7/17, no responses were ever provided. (Kruppe Decl. at ¶¶ 2-4 and Ex. A.) The arguments presented in the Opposition do not warrant a continuance: unless responses in substantial compliance with C.C.P. § 2033.220 are provided before the hearing, the matters specified in those RFAs shall be deemed admitted. Sanctions are imp...

Excerpt: ...uch counsel is acting an advocate before a jury. As reflected in the Court's May 9, 2017 Minute Order, both sides waived jury on that date. The “Discussion” of Cal. Rule Prof. Conduct, Rule 5-210 states in part: “This Rule is not intended to encompass situations in which the member is representing the client in an adversarial proceeding and is testifying in front of a judge.” As the potential for attorney Recchia to testify as a witness i...

Excerpt: ... (or any other entity) these two subpoenas apply to. In addition, the Calcor Space Facility, Inc. court explained that: “Because of the potential for promiscuous discovery imposing great burdens, even though ultimately the probative value of the discovered material may be questionable, trial judges must carefully weigh the cost, time, expense and disruption of normal business resulting from an order compelling the discovery against the probativ...

Excerpt: ...ordance with California Rule of Court 2.550, the court finds that the nature of the documents Scottsdale seeks to seal, i.e., an insurance application and correspondence between Plaintiffs and Scottsdale related to insurance coverage, supports sealing the documents due to the confidential information set forth in such materials. In addition, the proposed sealing is narrowly tailored and extends only to certain exhibits submitted by Scottsdale in ...

Excerpt: ... motion states it is only being brought by defendant Gladys Ross. Which is it?) The motion is legally ineffective because Code of Civil Procedure section 663 is inapplicable in situations where, as here, the allegation is that the proof of service was not adequate. Section 663 applies where the default judgment exceeds the prayer or is entered without a required statement of damages. (Weil & Brown (TRG 2017) Civil procedure Before Trial, Para. 5-...

Excerpt: ...s entitled to the attachment order. Code Civ. Proc., §§ 485.240 & 492.050. Moving parties have not shown that the amount to be secured by the attachment should be reduced, or by what amount the attachment should be reduced. Moving Parties offered no evidence to show their likelihood of prevailing on their cross-claims or the amount of offset pursuant to the cross-claims. Moving parties have not shown that section 3.3 of the distributorship agre...

Excerpt: ...burden of demonstrating that the challenged cause of action arises from protected activity.' . . . In City of Cotati v. Cashman (2002) 29 Cal.4th 69, 78, 124 Cal.Rptr.2d 519, 52 P.3d 695 (Cotati ), the California Supreme Court explained: “[T]he statutory phrase ‘cause of action ... arising from' means simply that the defendant's act underlying the plaintiff's cause of action must itself have been an act in furtherance of the right of petition...

Excerpt: ...gs. The plaintiff shall give notice. ...

Excerpt: ...ice of the notice of ruling of the Case Management Conference (which set the court trial date) was filed showing service on defendant's counsel. Counsel's concern that he never received notice of trial does not carry much weight given the presumption of Evidence Code section 664 and the fact it appears he elected not check the court's file for over five months after the answer was filed, but did, serendipitously, check it on December 27, 2017, th...

Excerpt: ... assuming that service was improper. Substituted Service: There is a significant issue whether a proper person was served for substituted service to be effective. Service was made on Joaquin Trujillo, “caretaker.” Defendant contends that he was a neighbor. If service was improper, a reasonably prudent person would assume an Answer was not required. CCP 415.20 (b) provides that “If a copy of the summons and complaint cannot with reasonable d...

Excerpt: ...en settlement agreement is denied. The proposed written settlement agreement (Ex. D to moving papers) contains multiple terms which were not part of the parties' oral settlement agreement on the record, as reflected in the transcript of the Mandatory Settlement Conference (Ex. A to moving papers). CCP 664.6 does not authorize the court to order a party to sign a written settlement agreement which “rewrite[s] the oral settlement agreement or add...