Excerpt: ... papers, including the class notice. Counsel also should provide the court with an explanation of how the pending issues were resolved, with references to any corrections to the settlement agreement and the class notice, rather than with just a supplemental declaration or brief simply asserting that the issues have been resolved. The settlement agreement (in ¶51a.iii) and class notice (on p. 4) provide that the Administrator will resolve any wor...

Excerpt: ...ntiff's Evidentiary Objections are sustained as to #1 (third sentence only), #2 (first sentence only), and #4 (all except last sentence), and are otherwise overruled. Plaintiff's Objection to New Evidence is overruled. Espejo v. Southern California Permanente Medical Group (2016) 246 Cal. App. 4th 1047, 1060. Moreover, the court notes that plaintiff admits in his own declaration that he recognizes his signature on the Mutual Binding Arbitration A...

Excerpt: ...National Trust Co. (2011) 196 Cal. App. 4th 1366, 1375. Respondent Daniel Keith Larson's Request for Judicial Notice in his opposition on p. 1 is denied as overbroad, and because it violates Evidence Code §453(b), since it includes 2,208 documents. Respondent Daniel Keith Larson's request for his costs, fees and expenses incurred in responding to Petitioners' motion, pursuant to CCP §128.5, is denied as procedurally improper. Petitioners have f...

Excerpt: ... papers, including the class notice. Counsel also should provide the court with an explanation of how the pending issues were resolved, with references to any corrections to the settlement agreement and the class notice, rather than with just a supplemental declaration or brief simply asserting that the issues have been resolved. Although the motion provides the estimated average payment to class members under the proposed settlement, it fails to...

Excerpt: ...f any revised papers, including the class notice. Counsel also must provide the court with an explanation of how the pending issues were resolved, with references to any corrections to the settlement agreement and the class notice, rather than just a brief or supplemental declaration asserting that the issues have been resolved. The settlement agreement and the class notice require written objections and do not allow class members to speak at the...

Excerpt: ...f any revised papers, including the proposed letter to the aggrieved employees. Counsel also should provide the court with an explanation of how the pending issues were resolved, with references to any corrections to the settlement agreement and the proposed cover letter to the aggrieved employees, rather than with just a supplemental declaration simply asserting that the issues have been resolved. The release language used in the settlement agre...

Excerpt: ...rd Amended Complaint by defendants Northwood Investors, LLC, Northwood Employees, LP, Northwood Real Estate Partners, LP, and Northwood Real Estate Partners TE, LP, is SUSTAINED WITHOUT LEAVE TO AMEND. The First Cause of Action is for Breach of Fiduciary Duty. Plaintiff adequately alleges that defendants Mikles, Locoh, Sovereign Capital Management Group, Inc. (SCMG) and Infinity Urban Century, LLC (IUC) are alter egos of NNNRI and DPR, who were f...

Excerpt: ...E, LP, is SUSTAINED WITHOUT LEAVE TO AMEND in full. In the First Cause of Action for Breach of Fiduciary Duty, plaintiffs adequately allege that defendants Mikles, Locoh, Sovereign Capital Management Group, Inc. (SCMG) and Infinity Urban Century, LLC (IUC) are alter egos of NNNRI and DPR, who were financial advisors to plaintiffs, and who therefore owed plaintiffs a fiduciary duty, and who allegedly breached that duty by duping plaintiffs into se...

Excerpt: ...leges that NNNRI was the formal advisor to G-Trust, and therefore owed fiduciary duties to the tenant in common owners of the properties. 4AC, ¶25. The demurrer by these defendants does not challenge the sufficiency of the allegations of breach against NNNRI. The Demurrer to the First Cause of Action by defendant Northwood Investors, LLC is SUSTAINED WITHOUT LEAVE TO AMEND, since plaintiff has failed to allege sufficient facts to show that North...

Excerpt: ...nce set for December 9, 2021 is ordered off calendar. A Post-Arbitration Review Hearing is set for April 1, 2022 at 9:00 a.m. The parties must file a Joint Status Report at least a week before the hearing, and may request a continuance if arbitration is not yet complete. The court concludes 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....

Excerpt: ...ual recovery under the proposed settlement, including maximum, minimum and average workweeks, and estimated high, low and average payments to be paid to the aggrieved employees based on their workweeks, information that would enable the court to better evaluate the reasonableness of the settlement. The definition of Released Claims used in the settlement agreement in Section I(V) on pp. 3-4 is too broad. Because the scope of a lawsuit is defined ...

Excerpt: ...language, they do not accept the truth of matters stated in those documents. Fontenot v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. (2011) 198 Cal. App. 4th 256, 264-65; Herrera v. Deutsche Bank National Trust Co. (2011) 196 Cal. App. 4th 1366, 1375. Defendant Velocity's objection to the Evidentiary Appendix, Exhibit 3, is sustained because the court sees no foundation for it, and defendant's other objections to the Evidentiary Appendix are overruled. Defendant Velo...

Excerpt: ... three Requests for Judicial Notice are granted. However, while courts may take judicial notice of public records and their dates, parties and legally operative language, they do not accept the truth of matters stated in those documents. Fontenot v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. (2011) 198 Cal. App. 4th 256, 264-65; Herrera v. Deutsche Bank National Trust Co. (2011) 196 Cal. App. 4th 1366, 1375. The standing issues in this case exist, at least in part, ...

Excerpt: ... the court on April 16, 2021, and therefore relevant for the court to consider in ruling on defendants' Motions to Quash, set for hearing on October 15, 2021. Contrary to plaintiffs' contentions, however, whether Northwood Investors operated as an advisor or manager to three entities that funded a Joint Venture known as NW Congress Center, LLC, which itself was based in California, is irrelevant to the jurisdictional analysis. Nor are plaintiffs ...

Excerpt: ...nd which does not exceed the reasonable costs to the local government of providing the service or product”. Thus, the portion of the City of Anaheim's Electric Utility fees that represents the reasonable cost to the City of providing the service is not a tax. But the City's Electric Utility also pays to the City's general fund an amount of up to 4% of the Electric Utility's gross revenue earned during the previous fiscal year. Plaintiff contend...

Excerpt: ...d papers, including the class notice. Counsel also should provide the court with an explanation of how the pending issues were resolved, with references to any corrections to the settlement agreement and the class notice, rather than with just a supplemental declaration simply asserting that the issues have been resolved. The court's file in the first case filed by plaintiff against defendant, Case No. 2020- 01136520, reveals that plaintiff settl...

Excerpt: ...f action under any legal theory, regardless of what label plaintiffs place on their cause of action, and whether they state facts disclosing some right to relief. Michaelian v. State Comp. Ins. Fund (1996) 50 Cal. App. 4th 1093, 1105; Cellular Plus, Inc. v. Superior Court (1993) 14 Cal. App. 4th 1224, 1231. In paragraphs 54-57 and 64 of their Third Amended Complaint, on pp. 27 and 30, plaintiffs allege that the towing of plaintiffs' vehicles viol...

Excerpt: ... Jose Garcia and Amado Sandria Zarate. Plaintiffs request a 45% attorney fee award, but that request is highly excessive. The usual attorney fee award in wage and hour class action cases is anywhere from 25% to 33 1/3%, with the most common award in federal court being 25% and the most common award in state court being 33 1/3%. On very rare occasions this court has awarded 35%, and plaintiffs here are being awarded 35% because of the amount of ti...

Excerpt: ...ded Complaint, and (3) Defendant Wolfgang F. Hahn's Demurrer to Plaintiff's First Amended Complaint, are all sustained with 20 days leave to amend. Defendant CalPrivate Bank's Joinder to Defendants Mikles Trust's and Other Defendants' Demurrer to First Amended Complaint is denied – CalPrivate Bank has its own demurrer and in any event must rely on allegations plaintiff makes against CalPrivate Bank, not against other defendants. All parties' Re...

Excerpt: ...h causes of action, is sustained with 15 days leave to amend as to the 10th cause of action, and is sustained without leave to amend as to the 11th cause of action. Defendant Pacific Life Insurance Company's Demurrer to Second Amended Complaint is overruled as to the 1st and 9th causes of action, and is sustained without leave to amend as to the 11th cause of action. Defendants NFP Insurance Services, Inc. and Robin Johnston's Demurrer to Second ...

Excerpt: ...and Complaints created by plaintiff's counsel in other cases are neither necessary, helpful or relevant here. Defendant's 5/24/21 RJN, Exhibit A, and Defendant's 8/13/21 RJN, Exhibit 3, do not fall within any statutory category for judicial notice. Plaintiff's PAGA letter is not attached to plaintiff's Complaint and is not incorporated by reference in plaintiff's Complaint, as defendant contends. Nor are website printouts a proper subject of judi...

Excerpt: ...sed papers, including the class notice. Counsel also should provide the court with an explanation of how the pending issues were resolved, with references to any corrections to the settlement agreement and the class notice, rather than with just a supplemental declaration simply asserting that the issues have been resolved. Although the motion provides the estimated average payment to class members under the proposed settlement, it fails to provi...

Excerpt: ...ion for the employer's share of payroll and unemployment taxes, which the court does not consider to be part of the common fund on which plaintiff's attorneys' fees should be calculated. An enhancement award of $5,000 is sufficient and proper for a class and settlement of this size, and considering the work (of an unstated amount of hours) that plaintiff spent on this case. The court concludes that the $190,000 class action settlement, as approve...

Excerpt: ...nterested in the action or proceeding.” In 2004, the Court of Appeal held that the relief provisions of CCP §473(b) do not apply to a failure to comply with Public Resources Code §21167.4(a). Nacimiento Regional Water Management Advisory Com. v. Monterey County Water Resources Agency (2004) 122 Cal. App. 4th 961, 968. The court reasoned that the application of the §473(b) relief provisions to CEQA dismissals for failing to request a hearing ...

Excerpt: ... Judicial Council Emergency Order 10 extended the five-year deadline to bring a case to trial contained in CCP §§583.310 and 583.360 by an additional six months. Thus, the five-year mandatory dismissal statute becomes applicable on August 26, 2021, in 41 days. This case is a wage and hour class action lawsuit. Even though the case is more than five years old, plaintiffs have not filed a motion for class certification. The court in Warner Bros. ...