Excerpt: ...elevant evidence is admissible by judicial notice.” (Golden Gate Land Holdings LLC v. East Bay Regional Park District (2013) 215 Cal.App.4th 353, 366.) The Court did not consider the federal district court cases against Holding Corp. in ruling on this motion, so specific orders and documents in those cases are not relevant. The threshold issue of whether Plaintiffs are employees of Imperial Girls and/or IEC is not at issue here. (ROA 122, Motio...

Excerpt: ...to the Court in the moving declaration of B. Hughes, it appears that counsel for Plaintiff, counsel C. Park, simply responded to Defendants' electronic correspondence by “respectfully disagree[ing]”. (Hughes Decl. ¶ 3). From this, the Court will conclude that Mr. Park did not satisfy the meet and confer requirement. Further, Plaintiff failed to present a timely written opposition to the demurrer and motion to strike, which are directed to al...

Excerpt: ...ith 15 days leave to amend. The demurrer as to the seventh and ninth causes of action, is sustained without leave to amend. The Kimbark Defendants' request for judicial notice is granted. Third Cause of Action for Intentional Interference With Prospective Economic Advantage The elements of intentional interference with prospective economic advantage are “(1) the existence, between the plaintiff and some third party, of an economic relationship ...

Excerpt: ... 196 Cal.App.4th 1366, 1375 [internal citations omitted].) A party is indispensable where the plaintiff seeks a type of affirmative relief that, if granted would affect the interest of a third person not joined. (Sierra Club, Inc. v. California Coastal Comm. (1979) 95 Cal.App.3d 495, 501; Code Civ. Proc., § 398, subd. (a).) In other words, Plaintiff is required to join as parties to the action any person whose interest is such that any judgment ...

Excerpt: ...nternal citations omitted].) Defendant contends the five causes of action in the Complaint asserted against him (i.e., the first, second, third, seventh, and eighth) are subject to a general demurrer because they are time-barred, and Plaintiff fails to allege the debtors transferred property to Defendant. Under the first, second, and third causes of action, Plaintiff seeks to void certain transfers of cash from debtors to Defendants under the Uni...

Excerpt: ...appears that no final judgment on the merits was entered in the prior action. (Opp RJN Exs. 1-5; Boeken v. Philip Morris USA, Inc. (2010) 48 Cal.4th 788, 797.) The Demurrer on res judicata grounds is therefore Overruled. The Demurrer also asserts that the entire action is time-barred, but that has not been established for purposes of demurrer. The Complaint alleges that Patel, through “Mortgage Corp.”, entered into a Mortgage Broker Business ...

Excerpt: ... confer requirements of CCP 430.41. Defendant must first make reasonable attempts to comply in good faith with the requirements of CCP 430.41. Once Defendant has completed those efforts, it may refile its demurrer. Defendant's counsel may not charge his client for the new filing fee or for any additional fees incurred in redrafting and refiling the demurrer papers. First, Ramos states that tried to initiate contact with Plaintiff on 2/6/18, by te...

Excerpt: ...s supposed to plead facts. The Court can generally disregard contentions, or conclusions of law or fact at the demurrer stage. (WA Southwest 2, LLC v. First American Title Insurance Company (2015) 240 Cal.App.4th 148, 151; Stevenson Real Estate Services, Inc. v. CB Richard Ellis Real Estate Services, Inc. (2006) 138 Cal.App.4th 1215, 1219-20). A complaint should allege with reasonable particularity the facts supporting the statutory elements of a...

Excerpt: ...all be submitted as well. As to the Settlement: 1. Please provide estimates and calculations for the total potential value of all claims. Also, the class size of 1,983 was as of 07/31/17. (Settlement ¶¶ 1.39, 3.1.) Please provide an update on the class size and provide calculations based on the revised class size. 2. As to the requested enhancement payment, at final approval Plaintiff is to submit a declaration that addresses the factors set fo...

Excerpt: ... an independent legal right to bring the action, a person who is not a party but who is represented by the agency is bound by the judgment as though the person were a party.”) Accordingly, the trial court must “review and approve” a PAGA settlement. Cal. Lab. Code § 2699(l)(2). There is little direction in either the statute or the cases as to the court's responsibility in connection with the required approval. However, § 2699(e)(2), auth...

Excerpt: ... for pure questions of law” and thus improper. (Opp. p. 3.) But the RFAs are as to coverage issues, and as to whether Exir was an insured. (Lehavi Decl. Exs. 3 & 5.) RFAs which require application of facts to law are permissible. (C.C.P. § 2033.010; Cembrook v. Superior Court In and For City and County of San Francisco (1961) 56 Cal.2d 423, 429 [that a request is “for the admission of a controversial matter, or one involving complex facts, o...

Excerpt: ... range of their proportional share of liability for plaintiff's alleged damages. The settlement is not so far out of the ballpark as to be inconsistent with the equitable goals of CCP §877.6. Plaintiff has agreed to allocate $181,885 of the $1,875,000 WRAP policy limits settlement to window defects, which will offset any judgment plaintiff obtains against Milgard. That figure was reached based on 10% of a vinyl window replacement cost estimate o...

Excerpt: .... Cross-Defendants /Cross-Complainants AAPER Holdings Inc. Motion requesting a finding that the settlement by and between Plaintiffs Andrea R. Moni & Fabian E. Moni and Cross- Complainant/Cross-Defendant Christopher Moore, MD is not in good faith is Denied. In determining the issue of the good faith of a settlement, the question is “whether the amount of the settlement is within the reasonable range of the settling tortfeasor's proportional sha...

Excerpt: ...e Defendant has waived service of the summons and Complaint and has consented to this Court's exercise of jurisdiction. Defendant consented to jurisdiction because he made several general appearances by attending multiple CMC's, in person, by telephone, and through counsel. Defendant invoked the jurisdiction of the Court by requesting continuances of the CMC -- to allow him to negotiate settlement, to retain counsel, and to file an answer or demu...

Excerpt: ... court within 60 days after the filing of the complaint”).) Plaintiff shall do so within the next two days. Per the moving papers, a settlement was reached between Plaintiff and the Defendant in March of 2017, pursuant to a written Settlement and Mutual Release Agreement which the movant seeks to enforce. While a copy of a detached stipulation page regarding entry of judgment is provided, a copy of the settlement agreement is not provided to th...

Excerpt: ...support the position of the party in question.” (Id. at p. 851.) A defendant moving for summary judgment satisfies his or her initial burden by showing that one or more elements of the cause of action cannot be established or that there is a complete defense to the cause of action. (Code Civ. Proc., § 437c, subd. (p)(2).) The scope of this burden is determined by the allegations of the plaintiff's complaint. (FPI Development v. Nakashima(1991)...

Excerpt: ...any evidence supporting this assertion. Moreover, Defendants also state that “Defendants stand ready to produce the Person Most Qualified and service personnel from Premier Chrysler Jeep of Placentia at a mutually agreeable date and time for deposition so long as those depositions take place at the dealership.” Id. at 2:17-19. Thus, while Defendants appear to contend that these deponents are not party- affiliated witnesses, Defendants also st...

Excerpt: ...Civil Procedure §483.010(a). The plaintiff has established through the declaration of its vice president and custodian of records that as of June 2017, the principal amount owed to plaintiff is $41,954.66. Declaration of Parker. The Plaintiff met its initial burden of establishing a prima facie showing of prevailing on its claims against Defendants. In response, the defendants have presented no evidence which supports a finding that the plaintif...

Excerpt: ...actual allegations in the pleading or the pleader's ability to prove those allegations. Cundiff v. GTE Cal., Inc. (2002) 101 Cal.App.4 th 1395, 1404-05. Questions of fact cannot be decided on demurrer. Berryman v. Merit Prop. Mgmt., Inc. (2007) 152 Cal.App.4 th 1544, 1556. Furthermore, “[w]hen a pleader is in doubt about what actually occurred or what can be established by the evidence, the modern practice allows that party to plead in the alte...

Excerpt: ...ion as one for personal injury and property damage. Her proposed pleading included a single cause of action for injuries arising out of an automobile accident occurring on 06/19/15. There were three named defendants (Arredondo as driver, Rogue as driver, and Jones as owner). Plaintiff's petition was granted (see ROA 3). On 08/17/17, plaintiff filed a First Amended Complaint. Although she was technically entitled to do so without prior approval (s...

Excerpt: ...nsurance Company's summary judgment motion under seal. Defendant's summary judgment motion is scheduled for hearing on March 22, 2018. Defendant Scottsdale Insurance Company designated some of the documents Plaintiffs seek to file under seal “confidential” pursuant to the Protective Order in this case; Plaintiffs designated other of the documents they seek to file under seal “confidential” pursuant to the same order. Defendant did not fil...

Excerpt: ...ts, which were filed without leave of court and violation of the California Rules of Court. A motion for summary judgment “shall be granted if all the papers submitted show that there is no triable issue of any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.” Cal. Civ. Proc. Code § 437c(c). For the following reasons, Defendant's motion for summary judgment is granted. In her third cause of action, Ogle a...

Excerpt: ...0(c), 2031.300(c), and 2025.450(h).) Sanctions should be appropriate to the dereliction, and should not exceed that which is required to protect the interests of the party entitled to but denied discovery, but continuing misuses of the discovery process warrant incrementally harsher sanctions until the sanction is reached that will curb the abuse. (Doppes v. Bentley Motors, Inc. (2009) 174 Cal.App.4th 967, 992.) Here, the evidence presented demon...

Excerpt: ...ck Eisen in its responses to Special Interrogatory Nos. 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10. After Plaintiff filed this motion, Defendant agreed to produce Eisen for deposition and to accept a subpoena on his behalf. Defendant also provided Plaintiff with second supplemental responses to Special Interrogatory Nos. 2, 4, 24, 32 and 34 on March 7, 2018. Plaintiff did not address these issues or interrogatories in his reply. Accordingly, the court finds Plaintiff's m...

Excerpt: ...owing in the Court records as having been actually filed, at the time of receipt. The Court did not review the submission and will return the submission to Ms. Galian unless the fact of service, and filing, are established by Ms. Galian, at the time of this hearing. Further, the Court would like to provide the cross-defendants adequate time to receive and respond to the documents, as well as the same for the Court. The hearing will likely be cont...

Excerpt: ...��FTAs”). A party seeking to defeat a forum selection clause bears the “substantial burden” of demonstrating that enforcement of the clause would be unreasonable. (CQL Original Products, Inc. v. National Hockey League Players' Association (1995) 39 Cal.App.4th 1347, 1353-1354; Miller-Leigh LLC v. Henson(2007) 152 Cal.App.4th 1143, 1149.) Plaintiffs have not done so here. Nor is there any apparent basis for the claim that FTAs were not part ...

Excerpt: ...f Proof As the moving party, Handler LLC has the burden of proof on two interrelated factors: (1) the likelihood that the moving party will prevail on the merits, and (2) whether the harm Handler LLC will likely suffer if injunctive relief is denied outweighs the harm Defendant BOFI Holding Inc. is likely to suffer if injunctive relief is granted. (O'Connell v. Superior Court (2006) 141 Cal. App. 4th 1452, 1481; Ketchens v. Reiner(1987) 194 Cal.A...

Excerpt: ...rise, mistake or excusable neglect. Defendants argue that the court should set aside the defaults and default judgments entered against them. See Cal. Civ. Proc. Code § 473.5. Defendants submitted a proposed answer to Plaintiff's First Amended Complaint with their motion. See Stopani/Laguna Decl. Ex. A. For the following reasons, Defendants' motion is granted. The court finds Defendants made their motion within the time period specified in secti...

Excerpt: ...y stayed during appeal. However, under C.C.P. § 917.1(a)(2), a cost award for expert witness fees claimed under C.C.P. § 998 is an exception to that rule. (See Quiles v. Parent (2017) 10 Cal.App.5th 130, 143 [expert witness fee award under § 998 is not, on its own, a money judgment under §917.1(a)(1): instead, it resides in a separate category that requires a bond for a stay on appeal under §917.1(a)(2).].) The Amended Judgment includes an a...

Excerpt: ...Co., Inc. v. Harrison(1981) 125 Cal.App.3d 436, 442. Here, the TAC seeks, inter alia, damages of $2,085,488.22, including $267,800.00 in attorneys' fees. TAC at 64-66 (Prayer for Relief). This is a material change from the Second Amended Complaint (SAC), which sought various types of alleged damages “according to proof at trial,” injunctions, and costs and attorneys' fees. SAC at 64-66 (Prayer for Relief). Defendant is therefore entitled to r...

Excerpt: ...intiff to give notice. Plaintiff SP Star Enterprises, LLC's Motion to Compel Further Responses to Special Interrogatories Plaintiff SP Star Enterprises, LLC, moves to compel further responses to Special Interrogatories (Set Two). Plaintiff's motion is granted. Defendant Madain must provide further, complete responses to Special Interrogatory Nos. 71, 83, 85, 86, 90, 91 and 97. These interrogatories are within the scope of discovery. Defendant Mad...

Excerpt: ...n on the merits of any disputed issue, a statement of the total hours spent and the total fees charged by the referee, and the referee's recommended allocation of payment. The referee shall serve the report on all parties. Any party may file an objection to the referee's report or recommendations within 10 days after the referee serves and files the report, or within another time as the court may direct. The objection shall be served on the refer...

Excerpt: ...s personal property. Ultimately, the Appellate Court in Regent Alliance Ltd. cites elements of conversion in a dispute in which each side sought control over and possession of an alleged other party's personal property. “Conversion is generally described as the wrongful exercise of dominion over the personal property of another. The basic elements of the tort are (1) the plaintiff's ownership or right to possession of personal property; (2) the...

Excerpt: ...by the economic loss rule and that it is improperly duplicative of the second cause of action for breach of contract. Cross-defendant URS cites Robinson Helicopter Co., Inc. v. Dana Corp. (2004) 34 Cal.4th 979, 988, for the proposition that where a party seeks to recover economic loss allegedly caused by defective services, that party's remedy is in contract alone. Cross-defendant URS contends that construction service providers do not owe a duty...

Excerpt: ... verified, no verification is necessary where it contains only objections.) During their meet and confer meetings, counsel for the parties agreed that the deadline for filing a motion to compel a further response would be December 26, 2017 and then February 16, 2018. (See Exhibits F and G.) As such, the motion, which was filed on February 15, 2018, is timely. A party moving to compel a further response to interrogatories need only show that the a...

Excerpt: ...settlement of the case, or part thereof, the court, upon motion, may enter judgment pursuant to the terms of the settlement.” Here, plaintiff and defendants Tri-Emerald Holdings, Jacques Poujade, GemTK Realty, Inc., and GemTK.com LLC, entered into a settlement agreement on June 10, 2017 in which Tri- Emerald Holdings agreed to make specified payments to plaintiff and Mr. Poujade agreed to personally guarantee the payments. The parties further a...

Excerpt: .... Motion 1: The motion by defendants to stay civil case pending resolution of criminal cases is DENIED. Defendants Anthony Nguyen and Toan Thai are currently in default, and thus, they do not have the right “to take any further affirmative steps in the litigation until either [the] default is set aside or a default judgment is entered.” See Devlin v. Kearny Mesa AMC/Jeep/Renault, Inc., 155 Cal.App.3d 381, 385 (1984). As for defendant Minh Ngu...

Excerpt: ... of the motion in order to decide if it should award attorney fees and costs to the defendants. [Citations.]” “ . . . [W]hen plaintiff dismissed its case at a time when defendants' anti-SLAPP motion was pending, the trial court continued to have jurisdiction over the case only for the limited purpose of ruling on the defendants' motion for attorney fees and costs.” [Citations.] (Ibid.) The Special Motion to Strike brought by Defendants Dana...

Excerpt: ...t for Production “shall set forth specific facts showing good cause justifying the discovery sought by the demand.” "Good cause” for production of documents may be established where it is shown the request is made in good faith and the documents sought are relevant to the subject matter and material to the issues in the litigation. (Associated Brewers Distributing Co. v. Superior Court (1967) 65 Cal.2d 583, 588.) Request No. 21 seeks: “Al...

Excerpt: ......

Excerpt: ...r other decision, or the verdict or other decision is against law. [¶] A new trial shall not be granted upon the ground of insufficiency of the evidence to justify the verdict or other decision . . . unless after weighing the evidence the court is convince from the entire record, including reasonable inferences therefrom, that the court or jury clearly should have reached a different verdict or decision.” “When a trial court rules on a motio...

Excerpt: ...m in her bankruptcy petition, and therefore the claims are part of the debtor's bankruptcy estate and have not been discharged. (11 U.S.C. §541(a)(1); Hamilton v. Greenwich Investors XXVI, LLC (2011) 195 Cal.App.4 th 1602, 1609.) Second, the express terms of the written Deed of Trust submitted by Defendant in support of the Demurrer reflects different terms than those expressed in the FAC. The court treats the facts asserted in the FAC as mere s...

Excerpt: ...Cal.App.4 th612, 616.) The court finds the facts pled as to these causes of action are not so uncertain that Defendant cannot reasonably respond. Second as to the fifth cause of action, Plaintiff pled sufficient facts showing that he relied on Defendant's misrepresentation (“experienced and knowledgable”) by entering into a contract based on this misrepresentation. (FAC, ¶¶ 10-13.) Third, as to the fifth cause of action, Defendant contends ...

Excerpt: ... Cal. 1977) 441 F.Supp.792, 796.) Here, there has been no showing of prejudice to Californian creditors and, thus, Defendants' first basis for Demurrer fails. Additionally, pursuant to the Order appointing Plaintiff as Receiver: “Receiver, as an officer of this Court, shall immediately have and take possession and custody and control of all ‘Collateral' securing the obligations of Proove to Leavitt under the Note and Security Agreement, as bo...

Excerpt: ... to Strike 4)Plaintiffs Daisy Martinez and Douglas Lindgren's Joinder in Defendant's Motion to Strike Before the Court is Defendant Inter-Con Security Systems, Inc.'s (“Defendant”) motion for an order striking from the record (1) Plaintiff Daniel Piggue's (“Piggue”) Opposition to Motion for Preliminary Approval and all papers filed in support thereof, and (2) and his Reply in support of Motion for an Order to Deem Counsel Inadequate and/o...

Excerpt: ...nder the circumstances, the Court finds there is a sufficient mistake, surprise, inadvertence or other basis to grant relief. (CCP §473(b),(d)); Basinger v. Rogers & Wells (1990) 220 Cal.App.3d 16, 21–22 (a court retains JD to to set aside dismissal). As a separate matter, the Court may not have had the jurisdiction to enter the dismissals in the first place. As Petitioners argue, the bankruptcy court did not send a certified copy of the reman...

Excerpt: ...sible. Going forward, counsel for all parties, and in particular counsel for Plaintiff, are admonished to timely file his pleadings and briefs, consistent with the deadlines established by the applicable rules of civil procedure. II. Defendants' Demurrer to the FAC Defendants Christopher Wallace, Shawn Dua, Arvin Lal, Ankur Garg, and Fit Life Group LLC demur to all 11 causes of action in the First Amended Complaint filed on 12/27/17 by Plaintiff ...

Excerpt: ...Review Hearing is set for September 7, 2018 at 9:00 a.m. Both sides' Requests for Judicial Notice are granted. Based on Iskanian v. CLS Transportation Los Angeles, LLC (2014) 59 Cal. 4th 348, 386-88, and Esparza v. KS Industries, L.P. (2017) 13 Cal. App. 5th 1228, 1243-46, plaintiffs are required to arbitrate their individual, victim-specific claims, recovery on which they will personally retain, but may have the court determine their representat...

Excerpt: ...101. The Court's Research Attorney, will be available to assist the parties in their meet and confer efforts at that time. The Case Management Conference is also continued to March 8, 2018 at 1:30p.m. The Court recognizes that Defendants (the moving parties) have attempted to meet and confer but is concerned by Plaintiffs' lack of responses to those efforts. The Court notes that on 2/23/18, it addressed motions to compel responses from Plaintiffs...

Excerpt: ...a ruling in the plaintiff's favor if no controverting evidence is presented. (ZL Technologies, Inc. v. Does 1-7 (2017) 13 Cal.App.5th 603, 613; see also Yelp Inc. v. Superior Court of Orange County (2017) 17 Cal.App.5 th 1, at *13-14.) The statements at issue must also be identified with specificity. (ZL Technologies, supra, 13 Cal.App.5 th at 616.) Plaintiff here has offered, en masse, evidence as to the internet activity which supports her clai...