Excerpt: ...nted ann oyance, embarrassment, or oppression, or undue burden and expense.” Specifically, the court may refuse to compel the deposition of a corporate officer at the apex of the corporate hierarchy, absent a reasonable indication of the officer's personal knowledg e of the case and exhaustion of less intrusive discovery methods, given that such “high level” depositions raise a tremendous potential for discovery abuse and harassment. (Libe...

Excerpt: ...unsel as to the impact of the 5/3/24 filing of CrossComplainants first amended complaint and whether it should be stricken. (3) The motion for leave to file an untimely anti -SLAPP motion is denied. Demurer and Motion to Strike Confronted with a demurrer and motion to s trike directed at his original cross -compliant, Defendant/Cross -Complainant had the option of opposing the motions or amending his crosscomplaint. The time limit was the same...

Excerpt: ...to “LL Continental Inc.” (FAC, ¶24.) Defendant Chang Hsien Liu was the chief operating officer (“COO”) of the Company before the assets sale on September 19, 2019. (FAC, ¶28.) Defendant True Value was owned in whole or in part by Defendant Chang -Hsien Liu. Defendant Chang -Hsien Liu was the chief executive officer of Ture Value at the same time he was the COO of the Company. (FAC, ¶35.) Defendant LL Continental, Defendant Henry Lee an...

Excerpt: ...gence, the superior court in either the county where the injury occurs or the injury causing death occurs or the county where the defendants, or some of them reside at the commencement of the action, is a proper court for the trial of the action.” (Code Civ. Proc. , § 395, subd. (a); see Williams v. Superior Court for County of Contra Costa (2021) 71 Cal.App.5th 101, 109 [for personal injury claims, venue is proper where the injury occurred, o...

Excerpt: ...he breach of contract allegations against it versus Cross- Defendant Tierney is unclear. Cross -Complainant responds that Movant is liable based on the alter ego allegations contained at paragraph 5 of the Cross -Complaint. “In California, two conditions must be met before the alter ego doctrine will be invoked. First, there must be such a unity of interest and ownership between the corporation and its equitable owner that the separate personal...

Excerpt: ...onship to another which induces justifiable reliance by the latter to his prejudice.' Actual reliance and causation of injury must be shown.'” Prakashpalan v. Engstrom, Lipscomb & Lack, 223 Cal. App. 4th 1105, 1131 (2014) (internal citations omitted). “[T]he elements of a repres entation and falsity, are absent from constructive fraud. The fraud consists of the breach of the fiduciary duty of disclosure of relevant matters arising from the ...

Excerpt: ...may consider Plaintiff's non-opposition as an abandonment of any opposition to the arguments raised by Defendants in the motion to strike. Herzberg v. County of Plumas, 133 Cal. App. 4th 1, 20 (2005). Accordingly, the motion to strike is GRANTED WITHOUT LEAVE TO AMEND in its entirety. II. Demurrer to Complaint Defendants additionally filed a demurrer to the complaint, attacking the first cause of action for disability discrimination, second cau...

Excerpt: ... to Compel Deposition of Non-Party Deponents. For example, Plaintiffs have already begun engaging in discovery by issuing business records subpoenas (Subpoenas) to Non -Party Deponents on 9/29/23 (Motion, at. p. 3:5 -7, Exs. A, B), Plaintiffs have already tried to meet and confer with Non- Party Deponents without success (Motion, at. p. 3:8 -11, Exs. A, B; see also Declaration of Salar Atrizadeh, ¶¶ 4, 9), Plaintiffs contend they “have the ri...

Excerpt: ... merit, and that there are not triable issues as to any material fact. Motion is GRANTED. Plaintiffs plead two causes of action: Negligence and False Imprisonment. Defendants argue that Plaintiffs trespassed at the hotel by not leaving as of checkout time and refusin g to vacate the room even after security was called in notifying Plaintiffs that the police would be called. Indeed, Security Officer Jacinto testified that after security told Bent...

Excerpt: ...y move for an orde r compelling an answer or production against a deponent who has failed to answer any question or to produce any document, electronically stored information, or tangible thing under the deponent's control that is specified in the deposition notice. The Motion was timely filed. Defendant's deposition was taken on October 27, 2023 and this Motion was filed on December 12, 2023, less than two months after. Further, Plaintiff mad...

Excerpt: ...NUED to 06/ 25/2024 at 9:00am in Dept. C32. Code of Civil Procedure section 2031.310 provides: “(a) On receipt of a response to a demand for inspection, copying, testing, or sampling, the demanding party may move for an order compelling further response to the demand if the demanding party deems that any of the following apply: [¶] (1) A statement of compliance with the demand is incomplete. [¶] (2) A representation of inability to comply is ...

Excerpt: ...on is requir ed. Personal service on a corporation is governed by CCP § 416.10, which states in part: A summons may be served on a corporation by delivering a copy of the summons and the complaint by any of the following methods: (a) To the person designated as agent for service of process as provided by any provision in Section 202, 1502, 2105, or 2107 of the Corporations Code (or Sections 3301 to 3303, inclusive, or Sections 6500 to 6504, incl...

Excerpt: ... the allegation that, b etween March and November, the common area trash dumpsters “create a major nuisance as a source of fruit flies.” (TAC at ¶59) Plaintiff does not assert that the defendants put food or other items in the dumpsters which attracted fruit flies. Instead, pla intiff alleges that “defendants' efforts to abate the nuisance were completely inadequate.” (TAC at ¶66) This requires proof of negligence. “[T]hat proof of ...

Excerpt: ...plaint -inInt ervention by Intervenor Applied Risk Services, Inc., which provided workers compensation insurance to Plaintiff's employer. The Court declines to consider the opposition filed by Defendant The Irvine Company LLC, because Defendant does not have standing t o oppose the motion under Code of Civil Procedure section 437c(p)(2), which provides that the burden shifts to “the plaintiff or crosscomplainant” in opposing a motion for sum...

Excerpt: ...e evidenc e/objections before the Court as contained in the papers, the Court rules as follows on Defendant's Evidentiary Objections to Exhibit 2, excerpts from Plaintiff's deposition transcript: Objection Nos. 1 -5: Sustained. Objection No. 6: Sustained in part and Overruled in part. Sustained as to “Several times at the movie theater.” To the extent DOE 2 is answering the preceding question at p. 73:21 -24 “the only time you ever heard hi...

Excerpt: ...erits.” A ssociation of 36 Irritated Residents v. Department of Conservation (2017) 11 Cal. App. 5th 1202, 1218. “Res judicata, or claim preclusion, prevents relitigation of the same cause of action in a second suit between the same parties or parties in privity wi th them.” Ibid. “[I]f a plaintiff prevails in an action, the cause is merged into the judgment and may not be asserted in a subsequent lawsuit; a judgment for the defendant ser...

Excerpt: ...mpts state law bears the burden of proving the FAA applies. (See Woolls v. Superior Court (2005) 127 Cal.App.4th 197, 211.) Defendant bears the burden of proving the arbitration agreement is a “contract evidencing a transaction involving [interstate] commerce.” (9 U.S .C. § 2.) “Commerce,” for purposes of the FAA, generally includes employment contracts. (Circuit City v. Adams (2001) 532 U.S. 105, 113, 121) Priority submits evidence that...

Excerpt: ...ation and Production of Documents, Set One to OSL (“Motion 1”); (2) Plaintiff's Motion to Compel Further Responses, etc., filed as ROA 49 on 1/18/24, concerning Plaintiff's Form Interrogatories, Set One to OSL (“Motion 2”); (3) Plaintiff's Motion to Compel Further Responses and Documents, etc., filed as ROA 123 on 2/8/24, concerning Plaintiff's Request for Identification and Production of Documents, Set One to OMG (“Motion 3”); and...

Excerpt: ... to litigate their claims among themselves. (Hancock Oil Co. of Calif. v. Hopkins (1944) 24 Cal.2d 497, 508; City of Morgan Hill v. Brown (1999) 71 Cal.App.4th 1114, 1122.) Interpleader is an equitable procedure through which those who face conflicting claims to mone y or property they hold but have no interest in (referred to as “stakeholders”) may compel the claimants to interplead and litigate their claims to the money or property among t...

Excerpt: ...ting defendant is e ntitled to be served by an amended complaint when the amendment is as to a matter of substance and not a mere matter of form. The reason for this rule is plain. A defendant is entitled to opportunity to be heard upon the allegations of the complaint on whi ch judgment is sought against him.' [Citations.] An amendment which significantly increases the amount of damages sought is an amendment of substance which must be served b...

Excerpt: ...tion, and upon terms it deems proper: (a) [s]trike out any irrelevant, false, or improper matter inserted in any pleading[;] . . . [and/or] (b) [s]trike out all or any part of any pleading not drawn or filed in conformity with the laws of this state, a court rule, or an order of the court.” Code of Civil Procedure § 436. An “irrelevant matter,” or “immaterial allegation,” means: (1) an allegation that is not essential to the statement...

Excerpt: ... this “procedur al limbo.” (Gallo v. Wood Ranch USA, Inc. (2022) 81 Cal.App.5th 621, 634 (Gallo) [quoting legislative history].) The Legislature enacted section 1281.97 along with section 1281.98 and amended both sections in 2021. The former provision concerns fees due at the initiation of the arbitration. CCP § 1281.98 applies to fees and costs required during the arbitration to continue the proceeding. (Williams v. West Coast Hospitals, In...

Excerpt: ...d a valid objection under S ection 2025.410, fails to appear for examination, or to proceed with it, or to produce for inspection any document, …the party giving the notice may move for an order compelling the deponent's attendance and testimony, and the production...” (Code Civ. Pro c., § 2025.450.) “[A]ny party served with a deposition notice that does not comply with Article 2 (commencing with Section 2025.210) waives any error or i...

Excerpt: ...ight Writs of At tachment issued on January 17, 2024. “[A]lthough in a motion under section 485.240 the defendant is the moving party, the plaintiff nevertheless continues to have the burden of proving (1) that his claim is one upon which an attachment may be issued and (2 ) the probable vali dity of such claim, th e same burden h e must meet under sec tio n 484.090.” ( Loeb & L oeb v. Beverly Glen Music (1985) 166 Cal.App.3d 1110, 1116.) Def...

Excerpt: ...eclaration that the defendant's conduct fell within the community standard of care, or did not cause or contribute to the injury, the defendant is entitled to summary judgment unless the plaintiff comes forward with conflicting expert evidence. (Hanson v. Grode (1999) 76 Cal.App.4th 601, 607; Munro v. Regents of University of California (1989) 215 Cal.App.3d 977, 984- 985.) Here, Defendants have met their initial burden. The expert opinion of Dr...