Excerpt: ...ntiffs may file another motion to file under seal which complies with this directive. Plaintiff's Motion for Contempt and Request for Sanctions Against Hyder M. Mukadam and Mukadam Medical Center, Inc. is denied. This court did not order defendants to pay sanctions to plaintiff, but rather awarded plaintiff sanctions against defendants. The court phrased the ruling this way specifically to prevent a failure to pay sanctions from being used as a b...

Excerpt: ...ery Referee in this case, Michael Garey Balmages. Both of these motions seek relief found in the discovery statutes, and they are based on plaintiffs' alleged discovery violations. In addition, defendants' arguments hinge on the long discovery history of this case before the Discovery Referee. His input and recommendation on this motion would be exceedingly helpful, since he is in the best position to weigh the parties' discovery abuse arguments ...

Excerpt: ...y to the reference. The court concludes that disputes exist between the parties as to multiple discovery matters and that the interests of justice and efficiency will be best served by the appointment of a discovery referee to hear and determine the discovery matters and make recommendations to the court on them. Pursuant to CCP §639(a)(5), the court specifically finds that the following exceptional circumstances exist in this case: There have a...

Excerpt: ...e response does not comply with CCP §2031.220 since it does not state that all documents or things in the demanded category that are in defendant's possession, custody or control already have been produced. Plaintiff's justification for #82 is that he wants to discover who defendant's owners are, but that request is overbroad as phrased. Such information is specifically and narrowly requested in #103, which is not overbroad, because it seeks onl...

Excerpt: ...missible evidence. In addition, the discovery sought would unnecessarily invade plaintiff's privacy rights, which outweigh defendant's claimed interest in the requested information. At the hearing the parties should address whether the court should appoint a discovery referee for the Sadeghi portion of this case. Moving party is ordered to give notice of the ruling. ...

Excerpt: ...arch 20, 2018, but plaintiff served her moving papers on defendant's prior counsel, Morgan Lewis & Bockius, on June 1, 2018. Plaintiff must either give counsel of record statutory notice of the next hearing date or file a waiver of notice from them. Plaintiff must submit an invoice from Administrator ILYM Group, Inc. to support the requested Administrator fee. Plaintiff now seeks an Administrator fee of $11,750 even though the original papers, in...

Excerpt: ...ite no authority supporting the proposition that vouchers should be considered part of a common fund. The court in Dunk v. Ford Motor Co. (1996) 48 Cal. App. 4th 1794, 1809-10, questioned the common fund theory in a coupon settlement. In this court's view, a reasonable fee would be 1/3 of the cash settlement, which is $312,500, but in this case the $50,000 being used to pay the employer's share of payroll taxes (which seems high for this settleme...

Excerpt: ...ludes that there exists a valid agreement to arbitrate the claims asserted by plaintiff and that no grounds exist to bar enforcement of the agreement. CCP §1281.2. Plaintiff has failed to meet her burden of proving the facts of any defense to enforceability. Chin v. Advanced Fresh Concepts Franchise Corp. (2011) 194 Cal. App. 4th 704, 708. Plaintiff's claims of unconscionability are unsupported by the language of the arbitration agreement and th...

Excerpt: ...d and the Administrator provides an updated report. E-service of the moving papers on June 7, 2018 provided defense counsel with insufficient notice of this hearing. Plaintiffs must either give counsel statutory notice of the next hearing date or file a waiver of notice from them. The moving papers report that five of six workweek disputes have been resolved. Plaintiffs must explain what happened to the sixth workweek dispute, and if there is any...

Excerpt: ...ite no authority supporting the proposition that vouchers should be considered part of a common fund. The court in Dunk v. Ford Motor Co. (1996) 48 Cal. App. 4th 1794, 1809-10, questioned the common fund theory in a coupon settlement. In this court's view, a reasonable fee would be 1/3 of the cash settlement, which is $312,500, but in this case the $50,000 being used to pay the employer's share of payroll taxes (which seems high for this settleme...

Excerpt: ...missible evidence. In addition, the discovery sought would unnecessarily invade plaintiff's privacy rights, which outweigh defendant's claimed interest in the requested information. At the hearing the parties should address whether the court should appoint a discovery referee for the Sadeghi portion of this case. Moving party is ordered to give notice of the ruling. ...

Excerpt: ...d and the Administrator provides an updated report. E-service of the moving papers on June 7, 2018 provided defense counsel with insufficient notice of this hearing. Plaintiffs must either give counsel statutory notice of the next hearing date or file a waiver of notice from them. The moving papers report that five of six workweek disputes have been resolved. Plaintiffs must explain what happened to the sixth workweek dispute, and if there is any...

Excerpt: ...arch 20, 2018, but plaintiff served her moving papers on defendant's prior counsel, Morgan Lewis & Bockius, on June 1, 2018. Plaintiff must either give counsel of record statutory notice of the next hearing date or file a waiver of notice from them. Plaintiff must submit an invoice from Administrator ILYM Group, Inc. to support the requested Administrator fee. Plaintiff now seeks an Administrator fee of $11,750 even though the original papers, in...

Excerpt: ...ite no authority supporting the proposition that vouchers should be considered part of a common fund. The court in Dunk v. Ford Motor Co. (1996) 48 Cal. App. 4th 1794, 1809-10, questioned the common fund theory in a coupon settlement. In this court's view, a reasonable fee would be 1/3 of the cash settlement, which is $312,500, but in this case the $50,000 being used to pay the employer's share of payroll taxes (which seems high for this settleme...

Excerpt: ...arch 20, 2018, but plaintiff served her moving papers on defendant's prior counsel, Morgan Lewis & Bockius, on June 1, 2018. Plaintiff must either give counsel of record statutory notice of the next hearing date or file a waiver of notice from them. Plaintiff must submit an invoice from Administrator ILYM Group, Inc. to support the requested Administrator fee. Plaintiff now seeks an Administrator fee of $11,750 even though the original papers, in...

Excerpt: ... plaintiffs and that no grounds exist to bar enforcement of the agreement. CCP §1281.2. This action is ordered stayed pending completion of the arbitration. The Status Conference set for today is ordered off calendar. A Post-Arbitration Review Hearing is set for January 11, 2019 at 9:00 a.m. The parties must file a Joint Status Report at least a week before the hearing. The unopposed motion of K&L Gates LLP to be relieved as counsel of record fo...

Excerpt: ... she is in default. In amending, the court specifically grants Wardak leave to derivatively assert, on behalf of CSS, Inc., claims for breach of fiduciary duty in both the 082 case and the 168 case. In the amended pleadings Wardak must include captions showing all the parties to his new pleadings, and specifically assert whether his claims are derivative. Both sides' Requests for Judicial Notice are granted as to documents in the court's file, an...

Excerpt: ...ement. Counsel also should provide a red-lined version of any revised papers, including the notice to the class. Service by mail of the moving papers on May 15, 2018 provided defense counsel with insufficient notice of the hearing. Plaintiff must give adequate notice of the continued hearing date, and also must provide the LWDA with courtesy notice of the new hearing date. The operative pleading is plaintiff Savannah Epps' original Complaint, whi...

Excerpt: ...14, 519. A triable issue of material fact exists as to whether the Motor Carrier Act exemption applies in this case. No class has yet been certified, and so putative class members are not parties to this action. Thus, any substantive ruling on this motion presumably would not bind them or fully resolve this matter. While the court in Fireside Bank v. Superior Court (2007) 40 Cal. 4th 1069, 1082-83, recognized that a defendant may assume the risk ...

Excerpt: ...at there exists a valid agreement to arbitrate the claims asserted by plaintiff and that no grounds exist to bar enforcement of the agreement. CCP §1281.2. Plaintiff's claims of unconscionability are unsupported by the language of the arbitration agreement and the law, and defendants did not waive their right to arbitrate. Plaintiff has failed to meet her burden of proving the facts of any defense to enforceability. Chin v. Advanced Fresh Concep...

Excerpt: ...s supplemental reply papers must be filed no later than two weeks before the hearing. In discussing the law that applies to the specific facts that plaintiff can establish, plaintiff must directly address recent U.S. Supreme Court case law, which is stricter against the exercise of personal jurisdiction than the old California cases on which plaintiff relies. Moving party is ordered to give notice of the continuance. ...

Excerpt: ...es have undertaken sufficient discovery. It is too early for the court to make any such conclusions. The court notes that it would have heard the Corp. Code §709 trial by now, and potentially had a better sense of the merits of the new pleading, if the parties hadn't stipulated to continue the trial multiple times. Intervenor Bastel Wardak's request for attorneys' fees is denied. The court does not yet know if the First Amended Complaint in Inte...

Excerpt: ...o be only for plaintiff Sadeghi while the Kibriya plaintiffs still intend to use the original Complaint. The motion is therefore denied without prejudice, but defendant's Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings will create the window for plaintiff Sadeghi to file a proper pleading. Defendant Shapell Industries, Inc.'s Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings, as joined in by defendant Richfield Tile & Construction Company, Inc., is granted with 15 days ...

Excerpt: ...er 2, 2014, almost four years ago, noted that construction of the underground parking structure, a planned mitigation measure, was no longer an available or realistic option. The court therefore ruled that plaintiff's construction of the surface parking lot would not be admissible at trial as a mitigation measure. Defendants thus will be entitled to recover their eminent domain damages based on no mitigation having taken place. The court even obs...

Excerpt: ...claimants. The court also will need the Administrator's final estimated invoice for its services. Detailed hourly billing breakdowns are required from all of plaintiffs' law firms or attorneys who intend their hours to be considered in the lodestar base to be used to cross-check the attorneys' fees requested, and who want to be awarded part of the $3.39 million in attorneys' fees requested here. Charts summarizing those hours are not adequate (wi...