Excerpt: ...ations in the complaint as a whole must be reviewed to determine whether a set of alleged facts constitutes a cause of action. (People v. Superior Court (Cahuenga's the Spot) (2015) 234 Cal.App.4th 1360, 1376.) A complaint need only meet fact-pleading requirements, which requires a statement of facts constituting a cause of action in ordinary and concise language, and should allege ultimate facts that, as a whole, apprise defendant of the factual...

Excerpt: ...p.4 th 314, 318.) The inquiry on such a motion is limited to the “probable validity” of the lien. (Ibid.) As the lien claimant, Acon bears the burden to establish the probable validity of its mechanics lien by a preponderance of the evidence. (Id. at 319.) Thus, Acon must establish a prima facie case for its lien, and if opposed, the Court must consider the relative merits of the positions of the respective parties and make a determination of...

Excerpt: ... to the allegedly duplicative PAGA causes of action. In the Blanchard Action, Plaintiff sues only for civil penalties (along with attorney's fees and costs) pursuant to Labor Code section 2699. The defined “aggrieved employees” are those from December 6, 2018 through date of judgment. In this Action, Plaintiff seeks class certification of an “Overtime Class,” for a 4 year period immediately preceding the filing of the complaint; a “Wage...

Excerpt: ...he defendant and continues to run until the action is “brought to trial.” (Code Civ. Proc. § 583.310.) The 5-year period in which an action must be brought to trial is tolled (extended) by any period of time during which:  The court's jurisdiction to try the action was suspended (Code Civ. Proc. § 583.340(a)); or  Prosecution or trial of the action was stayed or enjoined (Code Civ. Proc. § 583.340(b)); or  Bringing the action to t...

Excerpt: ...onstitutes a cause of action. (People v. Superior Court (Cahuenga's the Spot) (2015) 234 Cal.App.4th 1360, 1376.) A complaint need only meet fact-pleading requirements, which requires a statement of facts constituting a cause of action in ordinary and concise language, and should allege ultimate facts that, as a whole, apprise defendant of the factual basis of the claim. (Code Civ. Proc. §425.10(a)(1); Navarrete v. Meyer (2015) 237 Cal.App.4th 1...

Excerpt: ... deductions or conclusions of fact or law. The court may also consider matters which may be judicially noticed. Further, the court gives the complaint a reasonable interpretation, reading it as a whole and its parts in their context. (Blank v. Kirwan (1985) 39 Cal.3d 311, 318.) When a complaint makes both general allegations and specific allegations, and a conflict or inconsistency exists between them, the specific allegations control over the in...

Excerpt: ...ercise of constitutional rights. The purpose of a SLAPP suit is to punish and distract those that oppose the suing party [plaintiff or cross-complainant] by threatening ruinous damages and imposing litigation costs for exercising their free speech rights. (Dixon v. Superior Court (1994) 30 Cal.App.4th 733, 741.) To protect the constitutional right of petition and free speech, the SLAPP statute is broadly construed. (Code Civ. Proc. § 425.16(a).)...

Excerpt: .... The Subpoena seeks the Berman Firm's entire litigation file related to its representation of Pacific Hydrotech Corporation (“PHC”) in the underlying action, Gonzalez v. Pacific Hydrotech Corporation, Orange County Superior Court, Case No. 2016-00861439 (“Gonzales Action”) (RPD 1); all communications between the Berman Firm and PHC (RPD 2); all communications between the Berman Firm and James River (RPD 3); all communications between the...

Excerpt: ...enue is proper where defendant is a resident applies. (California State Parks Foundation v. Superior Court (2007) 150 Cal. App. 4th 826, 833.) CCP §395(a) sets forth the general venue statute and provides in relevant part: “Except as otherwise provided by law and subject to the power of the court to transfer actions or proceedings as provided in this title, the superior court in the county where the defendants or some of them reside at the com...

Excerpt: ... Baker Electric, Inc. (2019) 32 Cal.App.5 th 602, 613.) Plaintiff has complied with the timing requirements under the general motions statute. Even if the arbitration petition statute did apply, that statute permits this Court to extend the time for a response for good cause. Similarly, this Court may consider late-filed oppositions for good cause if there is no undue prejudice to the moving party and in furtherance of the strong policy favoring ...

Excerpt: ...ck Parties (collectively, “Defendants”) make the same arguments, and therefore, are discussed together. The Subpoena seeks essentially all Bank records regarding or related to Defendants Mo Murrayfield, LLC (“Murrayfield”), Mo Azzurri, LLC (“Azzurri”), TRP Fund, TwinRock Partners, LLC (“TwinRock Partners”), TwinRock Holdings, LLC (“TwinRock Holdings”) and TwinRock Management Inc. (“TwinRock Management”) (collectively, “S...

Excerpt: ...be appointed as Liason Counsel, and to have an Executive Committee appointed, made up of a representative from each of the five cases. Counsel in the Dias, Knipe and Romero cases seek to have three attorney firms appointed as Co-Lead Counsel, and to have attorneys Silverstein and Westerman appointed as Liaison Counsel. This case is now proceeding under the “Consolidated Complaint for Civil Penalties Pursuant to the Private Attorneys General Act...

Excerpt: ...Inc. v. DavisReed Construction, Inc., Case No. 30- 2018-00996904; 5. Kone, Inc. v. DavisReed Construction, Inc., Case No. 2018-01007275; 6. Empire Insulation, Inc. v. DavisReed Construction, Inc., Case No. 30-2018- 01007452; 7. Traditions Drywall, Inc. v. DavisReed Construction, Inc., Case No. 30-2018- 01008344; 8. Troxy Enterprises, Inc. v. DavisReed Construction, Inc., Case No. 30-2018- 01010315; 9. Qwest Engineering, Inc. v. The Waterfront Hot...

Excerpt: ...s impracticable to bring them all before the court …” “The party advocating class treatment must demonstrate the existence of an ascertainable and sufficiently numerous class, a well-defined community of interest, and substantial benefits from certification that render proceeding as a class superior to the alternatives. [Citations.] In turn, the community of interest requirement embodies three factors: (1) predominant common questions of la...

Excerpt: ...ch discovery is reasonably calculated to lead to evidence admissible under section 1094.5.” (Pomona, supra, 55 Cal.App.4th at 102.) “[D]iscovery under section 1094.5, unlike general civil discovery, cannot be used to go on a fishing expedition looking for unknown facts to support speculative theories.” (Pomona, supra, 55 Cal.App.4th at 102). “The stringent requirements set forth in section 1094.5, subdivision (e) require the moving party ...

Excerpt: ..., against Defendant Cylance, Inc. (“Cylance”) and (2) to arbitrate all his claims, except his PAGA claims, against Blackberry Corporation (“Blackberry”) through April 30, 2019. Saunders does not dispute that he entered into an Agreement and Acceptance of Arbitration Agreement (“AAA”) with Defendant Cylance, Inc. (“Cylance”) that encompasses this dispute. Regarding Blackberry, Defendants have shown only that Saunders agreed to arbi...

Excerpt: ...re applicable in determining if a complaint states a cause of action.” (South Shore Land Co. v. Petersen (1964) 226 Cal. App. 2d 725, 732.) A determination of the sufficiency of an answer requires an examination of the complaint because the adequacy of the answer is with reference to the complaint it purports to answer. (Id. at 733.) Further, the same pleading of ultimate facts rather than legal conclusions is required in pleading an answer as ...

Excerpt: ...t be a valid arbitration agreement between the parties. (Code Civ. Proc., § 1281.2; Chiron Corp. v. Ortho Diagnostic Sys., Inc. (9th Cir. 2000) 207 F.3d 1126, 1130.) Moving party bears the burden of proving the existence of an arbitration agreement by a preponderance of the evidence. (Rosenthal v. Great Western Fin. Securities Corp. (1996) 14 Cal.4th 394, 413 (Rosenthal); Engalla v. Permanente Medical Group, Inc. (1997) 15 Cal.4th 951, 972.) Def...

Excerpt: ...cted, rather than an “amended joint stipulation,” so as to avoid use of limited Court time and resources. A redlined copy of any amended Notice Packet materials should also be submitted for the Court's reference and convenience. As to the Settlement Agreement 1. Plaintiff's counsel seeks attorneys' fees of 1/3 of the Gross Settlement Amount (“GSA”) (SA, ¶¶ 16, 50.) The GSA includes amounts paid by Defendant under the Direct Settlement P...

Excerpt: ...g times: (a) After the claimant ceases to provide work. (b) Before the earlier of the following times: (1) Ninety days after completion of the work of improvement. (2) Thirty days after the owner records a notice of completion or cessation. While the briefs suggest disagreement on the applicable standard, the parties each cite to Civil Code §8180(a)(2) and authority discussing the same. Ultimately, the parties agree that occupation “accompanie...

Excerpt: ... on Defendants' motion to permit Leonard an opportunity to submit admissible evidence as to the presence of mold in his unit and causation of his injuries. Following a hearing on July 9, 2020, on July 10, 2020, the Court issued a minute order further continuing the hearing to July 30, 2020. On July 30, 2020, the Court continued the hearing to September 10, 2020 and allowed for limited supplemental briefing. Regarding the continuances in this matt...

Excerpt: ...nd Defendant's objections to attorney Wong's declaration in support of the opposition (ROA 121), the Court SUSTAINS the hearsay objections but OVERRULES all other objections. Both declarants declare that they spoke to the same Anaheim police detective who is investigating Defendant. Unless the facts are declared by both attorneys, the court will not consider the detective's statements for the truth of the matter asserted therein, but may consider...

Excerpt: ...sonably calculated to lead to evidence admissible under section 1094.5.” (Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center v. Superior Court (1997) 55 Cal.App.4th 93, 102). “[D]iscovery under section 1094.5, unlike general civil discovery, cannot be used to go on a fishing expedition looking for unknown facts to support speculative theories.” (Pomona, supra, 55 Cal.App.4th at 102). “The stringent requirements set forth in section 1094.5, subdivision...

Excerpt: ...re-review of previously filed documents. A redlined copy of any amended Notice Packet materials should also be submitted for the Court's reference. As to the Settlement 1. It appears that in section 1.24, Participating Class Members should mean "those Settlement Class Members and PAGA Members . . ." 2. The Settlement Class Released Claims includes a release of PAGA claims, but it is unclear whether such overlap with the PAGA Released Claims is ap...

Excerpt: ....) “The evident purpose of the notice requirement is to afford the [LWDA], the opportunity to decide whether to allocate scarce resources to an investigation, a decision better made with knowledge of the allegations an aggrieved employee is making and any basis for those allegations. Notice to the employer serves the purpose of allowing the employer to submit a response to the agency [citations], again thereby promoting an informed agency decis...