Excerpt: ...Constitution in connection with a public issue shall be subject to a special motion to strike, unless the court determines that the plaintiff has established that there is a probability that the plaintiff will prevail on the claim.” (CCP § 425.16(b)(1).) An “act in furtherance of a person's right of petition or free speech under the United States or California Constitution in connection with a public issue” includes: . . . any written or o...

Excerpt: ...e). Second Cause of Action for Fraudulent Deceit, Third Cause of Action for Intentional Misrepresentation and Fourth Cause of Action for Negligent Misrepresentation: The elements of fraud that will give rise to a tort action for deceit are: (a) misrepresentation (false representation, concealment, or nondisclosure); (b) knowledge of falsity (or ‘scienter'); (c) intent to defraud, i.e., to induce reliance; (d) justifiable reliance; and (e) resul...

Excerpt: ...��MSJ”) on Defendants Jeffrey Berganza, Abe Hayes, and White Rabbits Social Club. Code of Civil Procedure section 1008(a) provides, “(a) When an application for an order has been made to a judge, or to a court, and refused in whole or in part, or granted, or granted conditionally, or on terms, any party affected by the order may, within 10 days after service upon the party of written notice of entry of the order and based upon new or differen...

Excerpt: ...bruary 11, 2021, Plaintiff filed this motor vehicle negligence action against Defendants J.G. Littleford, Christine Littleford and Joel Littleford (collectively, “Defendants”), based upon a May 16, 2020 incident wherein J.G. Littleford (driving a vehicle owned and insured by Christine Littleford) was driving his vehicle while Plaintiff was a passenger. Plaintiff alleges that J.G. Littleford drove negligently and at an unsafe speed in a rounda...

Excerpt: ...presumably often be the case in the instance of a large national or international corporation, the trial court should issue the protective order and first require the plaintiff to obtain the necessary discovery through less intrusive methods. These would include interrogatories directed to the high-level official to explore the state of his or her knowledge or involvement in plaintiff's case; the deposition of lower level employees with appropria...

Excerpt: ...information, or tangible thing described in the deposition notice, the party giving the notice may move for an order compelling the deponent's attendance and testimony, and the production for inspection of any document, electronically stored information, or tangible thing described in the deposition notice. [¶] (b) A motion under subdivision (a) shall comply with both of the following: [¶] (1) The motion shall set forth specific facts showing g...

Excerpt: ...idavits in the other, show satisfactorily that sufficient grounds exist therefor. No preliminary injunction shall be granted without notice to the opposing party.” Code of Civil Procedure section 526(a) provides, “(a) An injunction may be granted in the following cases: (1) When it appears by the complaint that the plaintiff is entitled to the relief demanded, and the relief, or any part thereof, consists in restraining the commission or cont...

Excerpt: ...th a willful and conscious disregard of the right and safety of others. CC § 3294(c)(1). “Oppression” means conduct that subjects a person to cruel and unjust hardship in conscious disregard of that person's rights. (Civil Code § 3294(c)(2).) The two leading opinions on punitive damages in impaired driving cases are Taylor v. Superior Court (1979) 24 Cal.3d 890 and Dawes v. Superior Court (1980) 111 Cal.App.3d 82. They collectively stand fo...

Excerpt: ...icular interrogatory is evasive or incomplete . . . [¶] (3) An objection to an interrogatory is without merit or too general. . . . [¶] (b) A motion under subdivision (a) shall be accompanied by a meet and confer declaration under Section 2016.040. [¶] (c) Unless notice of this motion is given within 45 days of the service of the verified response, or any supplemental verified response, or on or before any specific later date to which the prop...

Excerpt: ...n has no merit, that there is no affirmative defense to the cause of action, that there is no merit to an affirmative defense as to any cause of action, that there is no merit to a claim for damages . . . , or that one or more defendants either owed or did not owe a duty to the plaintiff or plaintiffs.” (CCP § 437c(f)(1).) “A motion for summary adjudication shall be granted only if it completely disposes of a cause of action, an affirmative ...

Excerpt: ...t for Judicial Notice is GRANTED. “A demurrer tests the pleading alone, and not the evidence or the facts alleged. . . . To the extent there are factual issues in dispute, however, this court must assume the truth not only of all facts properly pled, but also of those facts that may be implied or inferred from those expressly alleged in the complaint. [Citations.]” (City of Atascadero v. Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc. (1998) 68 C...

Excerpt: ...ction 452, states, “In the construction of a pleading, for the purpose of determining its effect, its allegations must be liberally construed, with a view to substantial justice between the parties.” Perez v. Golden Empire Transportation Transit District (2012) 209 Cal.App.4th 1228, 1238, provides, “This rule of liberal construction means that the reviewing court draws inferences favorable to the plaintiff, not the defendant. [Citations.]�...

Excerpt: ...le and serve an amended complaint within fourteen (14) days of notice of this ruling. STANDARD OF LAW “A demurrer tests the legal sufficiency of the factual allegations in a complaint.” (Redfearn v. Trader Joe's Co. (2018) 20 Cal. App. 5th 989, 996.) The Court must determine “whether the complaint alleges facts sufficient to state a cause of action or discloses a complete defense.” (Id.) The Court assumes “the truth of the properly plea...

Excerpt: ... for production – set one, and requests for admissions – set one. After several extensions, Defendant served responses on 4/9/21. While the parties made some attempts to meet and confer, it appears to the Court that most of the disputes raised in motions 1-4 could have been resolved if counsel for the parties engaged in a thorough, good faith meet and confer process. The Court encourages counsel for both parties to engage in further meet and ...

Excerpt: ...pending before a court of this State, the court in which such action or proceeding is pending, shall, upon motion of a party to such action or proceeding, stay the action or proceeding until an arbitration is had in accordance with the order to arbitrate[.]”) STANDARD OF LAW “On petition of a party to an arbitration agreement alleging the existence of a written agreement to arbitrate a controversy and that a party thereto refuses to arbitrate...

Excerpt: ...ly $4.6 million from Cushman's family trust to the LLC, secured by a deed of trust attached as Exhibit C. Cushman also submits an Operating Agreement for CBGM as Exhibit D, which states Cushman is the 50% owner of the LLC and Mr. and Mrs. Brown, respectively, are each 25% owners. However, Cushman declares he does not recall signing the Operating Agreement and does not recall agreeing to give the Browns a 50% membership interest in the LLC. Rather...

Excerpt: ...ten. (¶11(c) and ¶23 of Cross-Complaint). Lastly, the Court finds sufficient “ultimate facts,” regarding knowledge of falsity and intent to induce reliance. (¶24-¶26 of Cross-Complaint; See also Doheny Park Terrace Homeowners Assn., Inc. v. Truck Ins. Exchange (2005) 132 Cal.App.4th 1076, 1099 and Perkins v. Superior Court (1981) 117 Cal.App.3d 1, 6). In demurring to the First Cause of Action for Fraud, moving Cross-Defendant did not addr...

Excerpt: ...motional distress; (2) the plaintiff suffered severe emotional distress; and (3) the defendant's extreme and outrageous conduct was the actual and proximate cause of the severe emotional distress.” (Crouch v. Trinity Christian Center of Santa Ana, Inc. (2019) 39 Cal.App.5th 995, 1007.) Plaintiff's allegations against Defendant in paragraphs 6-9 and 11-13, 18, 20-22, 24-25 of the SAC encompass Defendant's conduct in the course of the family law ...

Excerpt: ... by what means and by whom, specifically, the representations were made.” (Demurrer: 8:10-13). Here, the Cross-Complaint generally alleges the misrepresentations were made by Cross- Defendant Gutcheon, prior to July 17, 2020, through “conversations and emails.” (¶9 of Cross-Complaint). In addition to the above general allegation, specific statements are alleged to have occurred on February 10, 2020. (Id.). The misrepresentations made on Fe...

Excerpt: ...ion. Once the defendant . . . has met that burden, the burden shifts to the plaintiff . . . to show that a triable issue of one or more material facts exists as to that cause of action or a defense thereto.” Code of Civil Procedure section 437c, subdivision (f)(1), provides, in part, “A party may move for summary adjudication as to one or more causes of action within an action, one or more affirmative defenses, one or more claims for damages,...

Excerpt: ...perly considered. (Jay v. Mahaffey (2013) 218 Cal. App. 4th 1522, 1538 [stating, on anti-SLAPP motion, that “[t]o the extent defendants argue they had the right to file any reply declarations at all, they are not wrong. Such declarations, however, should not have addressed the substantive issues in the first instance, but only filled gaps in the evidence created by the limited partners' opposition.”] Here, Cross-Defendant has submitted his de...

Excerpt: ...other grounds in MacLeod v. Tribune Publishing Co., Inc. (1959) 52 C2d 536, 551); Fasuyi v. Permatex, Inc. (2008) 167 Cal.App.4th 681, 701 (citing and quoting text).) The California State Bar Civility Guidelines provide: “Unless time is of the essence, an attorney should agree to an extension without requiring motions or other formalities, regardless of whether the requesting counsel previously refused to grant an extension.” (State Bar Calif...

Excerpt: ...d to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence.” (CCP § 2017.010.) “[S]tatutes governing discovery ‘must be construed liberally in favor of disclosure unless the request is clearly improper by virtue of well-established causes for denial.'” (Yelp, Inc., 17 Cal. App. 5th at 15 [internal citations omitted].) “This means that ‘disclosure is a matter of right unless statutory or public policy considerations clearly prohibit it.'” (I...

Excerpt: ... burden of persuasion thereon. (See Evid. Code, § 500.) There is a triable issue of material fact if, and only if, the evidence would allow a reasonable trier of fact to find the underlying fact in favor of the party opposing the motion in accordance with the applicable standard of proof.” (Aguilar v. Atlantic Richfield Co. (2001) 25 Cal.4th 826, 850.) A defendant moving for summary judgment must “show” that either one or more elements of ...

Excerpt: ...ement agreement, to reinstatement of a default judgment entered in connection with another matter. Plaintiffs also ask for injunctive relief and attorneys' fees. In 2016, Plaintiffs brought a defamation suit against Cyrkin in OSCS, Case No. 2016- 00848867. (Deedle Dec. ¶ 2.) On 10-12-17, Plaintiffs obtained a default judgment against Cyrkin in that matter, in the amount of $250.545. (UMF 1; Deedle Dec., ¶ 4, Exhibit 1.) On 8-22-18, almost a yea...