Excerpt: ...t to enforce these provisions. Similarly, defendants have not shown that Maryland law applies to determine standing. Further, as previously noted, the court will not make standing rulings at the pleading stage, in the absence of full briefing and the opportunity for an evidentiary showing. This court also rejects defendants' statute of limitations argument. Defendants argue that plaintiff's allegations of delayed discovery fail, but absent a deta...

Excerpt: ..., Fourth, Seventh and Eighth Causes of Action. The Demurrer to the Second Amended Complaint by Defendant Northwood Investors, LLC is SUSTAINED with 15 days leave to amend as to the First, Second, Third, Fourth, Seventh and Eighth Causes of Action. Based on the Request for Dismissal plaintiff filed on June 21, 2021, the Demurrers to the Fifth and Sixth Causes of Action are MOOT and off calendar. Plaintiff's Request for Judicial Notice is GRANTED. ...

Excerpt: ...rted privilege objections to plaintiff's document requests, this motion involves the content of discovery responses, and the Separate Statement requirement of CRC Rule 3.1345(a) applies. Nonetheless, the court orders defendant ManaMed to comply with its agreement to provide a privilege log, as referenced in its opposition brief at 2:1-2. Plaintiff's request for monetary sanctions is denied. Defendant acted with substantial justification in connec...

Excerpt: ...ntiff's request for sanctions against Spartamed and its counsel, Thomas A. Moore and Brownstone Law Group, P.C., is granted in the amount of $4,000, payable within 30 days. The opposition was not substantially justified. Plaintiff Össur Americas, Inc.'s Motion for an Order Compelling Defendant Spartamed, LLC, to Provide Responses, Without Objections, to Plaintiff Össur Americas, Inc.'s Special Interrogatories is granted as to #5, 8, 11 and 16, ...

Excerpt: ...une 24, 2019. Renee Mann's cause of action for financial elder abuse against Alex Mann, the only cause of action in any of the many petitions being set for trial that was subject to a right to jury trial, was placed in Phase 2. This court already heard Phase 1 as a court trial. Jack Mann Jr. correctly notes that the trial on the financial elder abuse claim would include some of the undue influence evidence that was part of the Phase 1 trial, in w...

Excerpt: ...ned with Team Makena, LLC. Lasso argues that the preliminary injunction may last for only three years, from the sale of the last of his ownership interests in Team Makena. Lasso has not submitted any evidence in support of this motion, including any declaration of his own, and he relies solely on judicially noticed documents, two Minute Orders and a 2018 Declaration of Otto Fernandez, a Manager of Team Makena, LLC. Fernandez asserted in paragraph...

Excerpt: ...apers, including the class notice. The settlement agreement (in §3.04(a) on pp. 9-10) and the class notice (in §4 on pp. 2-3) provide that the Administrator will resolve any workweek disputes. The documents should reflect instead that the Administrator and the parties will attempt to resolve any such dispute, but that the court ultimately will decide any unresolved dispute. In §§8 and 13 of the class notice, the four references to the Final F...

Excerpt: ...sion of 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 letter to the aggrieved employees, rather than with just a supplemental declaration simply asserting that the issues have been resolved. The PAGA Settlement Agreement provides in ¶12 t...

Excerpt: ...ntain nonpublic information that is entitled to confidential treatment under applicable law”. Since tax returns are privileged under California law, MFS's tax returns are entitled to confidential treatment. Webb v. Standard Oil Co. (1957) 49 Cal. 3d 509, 513. Since accounting and financial records are typically treated as confidential, and are typically labeled confidential when being produced pursuant to a protective order, MFS's accounting an...

Excerpt: ...-65; Herrera v. Deutsche Bank National Trust Co. (2011) 196 Cal. App. 4th 1366, 1375. Under CCP §405.31, the court shall order a lis pendens expunged if it finds that the pleading on which the notice is based does not contain a real property claim. CCP §405.4 defines a real property claim as a cause of action in a pleading that would, if meritorious, affect title to, or the right to possession of, specific real property. The burden is on the pa...

Excerpt: ...an arbitration award is due 10 days from service of the petition. Code Civ. Proc., § 1290.6. Petitioner did not object to the untimeliness of Respondent's opposition, did not show any prejudice as a result of the untimely opposition, and served and filed a reply. Accordingly, the Court exercises its discretion and considers the opposition. Ruiz v. Moss Bros. Auto Group, Inc. (2014) 232 Cal.App.4th 836, 847. As noted in the Court's 3/25/2021 Minu...

Excerpt: ... 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 letter to the aggrieved employees, rather than with just a supplemental declaration simply asserting that the issues have been resolved. The Status Conference set for June 18, 2021 is ordered off calendar...

Excerpt: ...apers, 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 Status Conference set for April 29, 2021 is ordered off calendar. Plaintiff provides virtually no information as to defendant...

Excerpt: ...apers, including the class notice. The Status Conference set for May 21, 2021 is ordered off calendar. The settlement agreement (on p. 11 in §III(D)(3)) requires objections to be in writing. Even though the class notice provides that class members may appear at the Final Approval Hearing to object to the settlement even if they have objected in writing, such notice is unclear. The class notice must be amended. In the third paragraph of §10 on p...

Excerpt: ...n Deon Sims are sustained. The joint declaration is not executed under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California, nor does it expressly state that it was executed in California. It therefore fails to comply with Code of Civil Procedure §2015.5 and its contents are inadmissible. Kulshrestha v. First Union Commercial Corp. (2004) 33 Cal. 4th 601, 610-11 (a declaration that doesn't strictly comply with §2015.5 is inadmissible on...

Excerpt: ...o have allocated none of plaintiff's attorneys' fees or costs to plaintiff's individual settlement. Plaintiff must submit an amended Proposed Final Approval Order that does not provide for the dismissal of this action in violation of CRC Rule 3.769(h), and that does not provide (in ¶16) for an injunction against unnamed class members. Res judicata and collateral estoppel arguments should provide defendant with sufficient protection against facin...

Excerpt: ...papers, including the class notice. Paragraph 12(M) of the settlement agreement is ambiguous. Must the settlement amount be increased if there are more than 32 class members, or if the number of class members increases by at least 10% over 32, meaning 36 or more class members? Clarification is required. Paragraph 28 of the settlement agreement on p. 23 provides that 16 calendar days before the Final Approval Hearing the Administrator will prepare...

Excerpt: ...f any revised papers, including the class notice. The allocation of only 20% of the settlement payments for wages appears to be low. Either an increase to 33 1/3% or an explanation of why the figure is not at least 33 1/3% is required. The release language used in the settlement agreement and in the class notice is too broad. The release must be limited to claims that are asserted in the operative pleading or that could be asserted based on the f...

Excerpt: ...L Insurance Company Limited, XL Insurance Company PLC; XL Insurance Company PLC Irish Branch and XL Insurance Company SE cannot be granted. The applicants have not complied with CRC Rule 9.40(c)(1) since they have not filed with the court a proof of service by mail of copies of the applications and the notice of hearing of the applications on the State Bar of California at its San Francisco office. The applicants also have not complied with CRC R...

Excerpt: ...s set for August 6, 2021 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 individual claims asserted by plaintiff and that no grounds exist to bar enforcement of the agreement. CCP §1281.2. Plaintiff does not dispute entering into the agreement, and makes no claims ...

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...

Excerpt: ...te. The court concludes that there exists a valid agreement to arbitrate the individual claims asserted by plaintiff and that no grounds exist to bar enforcement of the agreement. CCP §1281.2. Plaintiff does not dispute that she signed the arbitration agreement, and she 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. California...

Excerpt: ...ed papers, including the class notice. Although the motion provides the estimated average payment to class members under the proposed settlement, it fails to provide the estimated high and low payments. Those estimates are needed to assist the court in properly determining the fairness of the proposed settlement to the class. If those figures are not available now, they must be provided in the motion for final approval. The allocation of only 20%...

Excerpt: ...ed papers, including the class notice. The release for plaintiff Hamadah and all members of the Contingent Employee Sub-Class releases both PAGA and Class Claims. However, plaintiff Hamadah's Complaint does not assert PAGA claims. The release for plaintiff Tran and all members of the Direct Employee Sub-Class also releases both PAGA and Class Claims. However, plaintiff Tran's Complaint does not assert Class claims. (Settlement Agreement, pp. 10-1...

Excerpt: ...Determination of Good Faith Settlement is granted, but only to the extent of CCP §877.6(c), such as to “bar any other joint tortfeasor or co-obligor from any further claims against the settling tortfeasor or co-obligor for equitable comparative contribution, or partial or comparative indemnity, based on comparative negligence or comparative fault”. Alpha's evidentiary objections are overruled. The court concludes that the settlement between ...