Excerpt: ... March 6, 2023, including exhibits therein, from the trial record. The Shenzhen Defendants also seek an order imposing monetary and terminating sanctions. The Shenzhen Defendants contend that Plaintiffs' prior counsel inappropriately obtained financial records pursuant to a subpoena for business records on JP Morgan Chase Bank, after the Shenzhen Defendants objected to written discovery seeking financial records, and despite Plaintiffs' counsel's...

Excerpt: ...ornia Rules of Court, rule 2.112(3) and (4), and does not identify against which of the defendants each cause of action is brought, and alleges different theories of negligence against each defendant under the Fifth Cause of Action for Negligence. BP America also contends that punitive damages is not available as a form of damages in negligence actions. BP America additionally contends that the First Cause of Action for Assault and Second Cause o...

Excerpt: ... defendant entity (Creative Outdoor Distributor USA, Inc. (“COD”)) has convened a special committee to review Plaintiff's allegations of wrongdoing. Per Tang, the action should be stayed while the special committee investigates the allegations. The First Amended Complaint alleges that Plaintiff initially notified the Board of the wrongdoing alleged herein on 9/14/22, by way of letter. The letter demanded the Board take immediate remedial acti...

Excerpt: ...030. The Property Defendants assert that based on Plaintiff's discovery responses and deposition testimony, Plaintiff has been residing out of the State of California in Nevada since August 2020, and that there is a reasonable possibility that Property Defendants will obtain judgment in this action because JBCC, Bristol Retail, and Athena had no actual or constructive knowledge of the alleged dangerous condition of sandbags being placed at the en...

Excerpt: ...iolations; Plaintiff cannot establish a First Amendment retaliation claim because he failed to provide evidence that he engaged in any speech activities or that the speech was a matter of public concern; and Plaintiff cannot establish a First Amendment retaliation claim because he suffered no adverse action; 2. ISSUE NO. 2: the second cause of action under Government Code sections 3502 and 3506 has no merit because the Public Employment Relations...

Excerpt: ...rty who filed the pleading subject to the motion to strike and must file and serve with a motion to strike a declaration concerning the meet and confer, pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure section 435.5. Here, Defendant has filed no declaration showing that the required meet and confer in person or by telephone occurred. Further, Plaintiff's counsel's declaration demonstrates that her attempts to meet and confer regarding this Motion to Strike we...

Excerpt: ...any ultimate facts sufficient to support an alter ego theory of liability. Plaintiff argues that the ultimate facts regarding alter ego liability alleged in the TAC are sufficient to support all causes of action against Defendant and that Defendant has failed to address the partnership, employment, and independent contractor theories of liability, thereby conceding the same. The Court previously sustained Defendant's demurrer to the SAC on the gr...

Excerpt: ...barred by the contractual statute of limitations. Defendants contend that the employment agreement signed by Plaintiff states that he must bring a complaint within the time prescribed by law or six months from the date of the event forming the basis of the lawsuit, whichever expires first; Plaintiff's complaint was filed on May 26, 2020, over two years after his employment was terminated on May 24, 2018; courts routinely enforce such contractual ...

Excerpt: ...dequately alleged breach and causation. A negligence action requires a showing that the defendant owed the plaintiff a legal duty, that the defendant breached the duty, and that the breach was a proximate or legal cause of injuries suffered by the plaintiff. (Ann M. v. Pacific Plaza Shopping Center (1993) 6 Cal.4th 666, 673 disapproved of on other grounds by Reid v. Google, Inc. (2010) 50 Cal.4th 512.) “The existence of a duty is a question of ...

Excerpt: ...er shall distinctly specify the grounds upon which any of the objections to the complaint . . . are taken. Unless it does so, it may be disregarded.” (Code Civ. Proc. § 430.60.) In addition, “[e]ach ground of demurrer must be in a separate paragraph and must state whether it applies to the entire complaint . . ., or to specified causes or action . . . .” (California Rules of Court, rule 3.1320.) Here, the demurrer does not set forth each g...

Excerpt: ...revailing party, then the party who is determined to be the party prevailing on the contract, whether he or she is the party specified in the contract or not, shall be entitled to reasonable attorney's fees in addition to other costs." (Civ. Code, S 1717(a).) "Prevailing party" means "the party who recovered a greater relief in the action on the contract." (ld., S 1717(b)(1).) A court has wide discretion in determining what constitutes reasonable...

Excerpt: ..., i.e., 60 days after the Court's December 5, 2022 Order and Plaintiff's Notice of Entry of that Order; that Defendant's anti-SLAPP motion was frivolous as any reasonable attorney would know that Defendant could not meet her burden on the first prong; that Defendant's counsel knew or should have known that the anti-SLAPP motion lacked legal merit; and that Defendant's counsel relied exclusively on Birkner v. Lam (2007) 156 Cal.App.4th 275, which ...

Excerpt: ...hrough 15. Third, Defendant Tran moves for an order deeming the truth of all matters specified in Amended Request for Admissions, Set One. As to each of the three motions, Defendant Tran also moves for an order awarding monetary sanctions against Plaintiff and her counsel of record in the sum of $1,133. Defendant Tran asserts that Plaintiff served responses to the discovery at issue but did not include Plaintiff's signed verifications although th...

Excerpt: ... abandonment of the claims to which the moving party objected. (Herzberg v. County of Plumas (2005) 133 Cal.App.4th 1, 20.) Accordingly, the court may construe Plaintiffs' failure to oppose the Motion to Strike as an abandonment of any opposition to the issues raised in the moving papers. (Ibid.) On the merits, the court agrees that punitive damages have not been sufficiently alleged against Defendant Monarch Home Maintenance & Inspection. Becaus...

Excerpt: ...s on the moving party to demonstrate both: (1) relevance to the subject matter (e.g., how the information in the documents would tend to prove or disprove some issue in the case), and (2) specific facts justifying discovery (e.g., why such information is necessary for trial preparation or to prevent surprise at trial). (Glenfed Develop. Corp. v. super. ct. (1997) 53 cal.App.4th 1113, 1117.) Specifically, the moving party can also show good cause ...

Excerpt: ...rch 12, 2023, that Plaintiff would appear in-person, but that three days before the deposition on April 18, 2023, Plaintiff's counsel demanded that the deposition take place via remote videoconference due to the distance. Defendant also contends that at no time prior to the date of the deposition set for April 21, 2023, did Plaintiff's counsel serve objections to the deposition notice. Defendant additionally asserts that when Defendant's counsel ...

Excerpt: ...to the tort action for deceit, are (1) misrepresentation (false representation, concealment or non-disclosure); (2) knowledge of falsity (or "scienter"); (3) intent to defraud, i.e., to induce reliance; (4) justifiable reliance; and (5) resulting damage. (Hackethal v. National Casualty Co. (1987) 189 Cal.App.3d 1102, 1110.) The elements of an action for fraud and deceit based on concealment are: (1) the defendant must have concealed or suppressed...

Excerpt: ...ies; (4) contractual terms which are sufficiently definite to enable the court to know what it is to enforce; and (5) a substantial similarity of the requested performance to that promised in the contract. [Citations.]' [Citations.]" (Real Estate Analytics, LLC v. Val/as (2008) 160 Cal.App.4th 463, 472.) "To obtain specific performance, a plaintiff must... provCe] the elements of a standard breach of contract." (Darbun Enterprises, Inc. v. San Fe...

Excerpt: ...ute a cause of action for breach of contract against Defendants, as there is no allegation that Plaintiff ever attempted to purchase the Property or that Defendant prevented Plaintiff from purchasing the Property. Defendants also argue that the breach was due to the fact that Plaintiff moved someone into the Property in violation of the Residential Lease Agreement, and that Plaintiff has failed to qualify for the purchase of the Property, and is ...

Excerpt: ... Cause-DOI, Proof of Service Civil and DS 367 Officers Statement by mail on the DMV on 03/08/2023 (ROA g), and the Court set the Petition for 05/18/2023. On 03/13/2023, the Court granted Petitioner's Ex Parte Application for Stay of Suspension and Issuance of Alternative, staying the suspension of Petitioner's driving privileges to 05/18/2023, scheduled the Petition for 05/18/2023, provided that "Ca]ll briefing is per code", and ordered the "cler...

Excerpt: ...on for Violation of California's Unfair Competition Law Defendant seeks judgment on the pleadings as to Plaintiff's ninth cause of action for violation of California's Unfair Competition Law. In his ninth cause of action, Plaintiff alleges that Defendant violated Business and Professions Code sections 17531 and 17535. Business and Professions Code section 17531 states: "It is unlawful for any person, firm, or corporation, in any newspaper, magazi...

Excerpt: ...or an order compelling Defendant to serve full and complete, objection- free responses to Plaintiff's Requests for Production, Set One, and awarding monetary sanctions in the sum of $828 against Defendant. Plaintiff contends that it served Defendant with Form Interrogatories, Set One and Requests for Production, Set One, and that Defendant's responses were due on December 2, 2022, but that prior to filing the present motions, no responses were re...

Excerpt: ..."dangerous condition of public property under Government Code section 835; and (3) the City was not on notice of the alleged dangerous condition. Design Immunity Government Code 830.6 states: "Neither a public entity nor a public employee is liable under this chapter for an injury caused by the plan or design of a construction of, or an improvement to, public property where such plan or design has been approved in advance of the construction or i...

Excerpt: ...iable thereon, whether or not such person is already a party to the action, if the cause of action asserted in his cross-complaint (1) arises out of the same transaction, occurrence, or series of transactions or occurrences as the cause brought against him or (2) asserts a claim, right, or interest in the property or controversy which is the subject of the cause brought against him." Such a cross-complaint may be filed at any time before the cour...

Excerpt: ...l Distress and Fourth Cause of Action for Negligent Infliction of Emotional Distress fail to state facts sufficient to constitute causes of action. Plaintiff contends that Cruz failed to comply with the statutory requirements that defendant meet and confer at least 5 days before filing a demurrer and file a meet and confer declaration prior to filing its demurrer, as defense counsel states it attempted to communicate through email but Plaintiff's...