Excerpt: ...exatious because of his connections with vexatious litigant Rodney Quigley (“Quigley”). To that end, defendants provide evidence that Quigley has involved himself in the current action by corresponding with defendants and counsel under the auspices of “representing” Harmoning's interests, or having been directed by Harmoning to send communications. Defendants also note that the formatting and style of pleadings filed by Harmoning and corr...

Excerpt: ...al sufficiency of the pleadings, not the truth of the plaintiff's allegations or the accuracy of the described conduct. Bader v. Anderson (2009) 179 Cal.App.4th 775, 787. The court assumes the truth of all facts properly pleaded, and accepts as true all facts that may be implied or reasonably inferred from facts expressly alleged, unless they are contradicted by judicially noticed facts. Evans v. City of Berkeley (2006) 38 Cal.4th 1, 6. However, ...

Excerpt: ...son (2009) 179 Cal.App.4th 775, 787. The allegations in the pleadings are deemed true no matter how improbable they may seem. Del E. Webb Corp. v. Structural Materials Co. (1981) 123 Cal.App.3d 593, 604. The court does not assume the truth of contentions, deductions, or conclusions of facts or law. Evans v. City of Berkeley (2006) 38 Cal.4th 1, 6. The court previously sustained a demurrer to the verified petition and complaint as to the claims as...

Excerpt: ...r to reopen discovery, which include (1) the necessity and reason for the discovery; (2) the diligence or lack of diligence in seeking the discovery and the reason it was not completed earlier; (3) the likelihood that granting the motion will delay trial; and (4) the length of time that has elapsed between the prior trial date and the current trial date. (Code of Civil Procedure section 2024.050(b).) The court has carefully reviewed the motion an...

Excerpt: ... motion. The court declines to provide any further continuance for the purposes of discovery. While plaintiffs do have a right to conduct discovery of the jurisdictional facts necessary to sustain their burden of proof, they must also demonstrate that discovery will likely lead to the production of evidence establishing jurisdiction. (In re Automobile Antitrust Cases I and II (2005) 135 Cal.App.4th 100, 127.) Plaintiffs make a general request for...

Excerpt: ...cle XI, Section 1(b) of the California Constitution by depriving the Placer County Board of Supervisors of its constitutional authority to set employee compensation. Respondent goes on to challenge the second and third causes of action as derivative of the first cause of action, failing to allege additional facts to support any separate legal theory. A demurrer is reviewed under well‐established principles. A party may demur where the pleading ...

Excerpt: ...75, 787.) The allegations in the pleading are deemed to be true no matter how improbable the allegations may seem. (Del E. Webb Corp. v. Structural Materials Co. (1981) 123 Cal.App.3d 593, 604.) Further, a complaint must be liberally construed with all inferences drawn in favor of plaintiff. (Code of Civil Procedure section 452; Quelimane Co. v. Stewart Title Guaranty Co. (1998) 19 Cal.4th 26, 43, fn. 7; Perez v. Golden Empire Transit Dist. (2012...

Excerpt: ...se of action, a demurrer is reviewed under wellestablished principles. A party may demur to a complaint where the pleading does not state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action, testing the sufficiency of the pleading and not the truth of the allegations or the accuracy of the described conduct. (Code of Civil Procedure section 430.10(e); Bader v. Anderson (2009) 179 Cal.App.4th 775, 787.) The allegations in the pleading are deemed to b...

Excerpt: ...Superior Court (1975) 15 Cal.3d 652, 656. Where discovery seeks to invade the constitutional right to privacy, the party seeking the discovery must show that the information sought is directly relevant to claims at issue in the litigation, there is a compelling need for the information, and the information is essential to a fair resolution of the lawsuit. Alch v. Superior Court (2008) 165 Cal.App.4th 1412, 1425. The subject subpoena seeks the fol...

Excerpt: ...pitals (1976) 17 Cal.3d 699, 706; Laswell v. AG Seal Beach, LLC, et al (2010) 189 Cal.App.4th 1399, 1405. Under both federal and state law, a threshold question for any petition to compel arbitration is whether there exists an agreement to arbitrate. Cruise v. Kroger Co. (2015) 233 Cal.App.4th 390, 396. It is the petitioner that carries this initial burden of proving, by a preponderance of the evidence, the existence of a valid arbitration agreem...

Excerpt: ...ntract, regardless of who initiates the action. Pacific Custom Pools, Inc. v. Turner Construction Co. (2000) 79 Cal.App.4th 1254, 1268. One who is not a party to the contract may be able to recover fees under section 1717 only if it would have been liable for such fees had it lost the action. Reynolds Metals Co. v. Alperson (1979) 25 Cal.3d 124, 128‐ 129. A nonsignatory defendant seeking to recover fees under Civil Code section 1717 must establ...

Excerpt: ... of the pleadings, not the truth of the allegations or the accuracy of the described conduct. Bader v. Anderson (2009) 179 Cal.App.4th 775, 787. The allegations in the pleadings are deemed true no matter how improbable they may seem. Del E. Webb Corp. v. Structural Materials Co. (1981) 123 Cal.App.3d 593, 604. However, the court does not assume the truth of contentions, deductions, or conclusions of facts or law. Evans v. City of Berkeley (2006) ...

Excerpt: ...(Id. at 437c(p)(2).) Only when this initial burden is met does the burden shift to the opposing party to establish a triable issue of material fact. (Ibid.) In reviewing a motion for summary judgment, the trial court must view the supporting evidence, and inferences reasonably drawn from such evidence, in the light most favorable to the opposing party. (Aguilar v. Atlantic Richfield Company (2001) 25 Cal.4th 826, 843.) The court reviews the motio...

Excerpt: ...motion, or through a cost memorandum at the conclusion of the litigation). Johnson filed a special motion to strike the first, second, third, fourth and ninth causes of action alleged by defendant and cross‐complainant Aimee Lubell (“Lubell”) in the first amended cross‐complaint. The court granted the motion as to the first, second, and fourth causes of action in their entirety, and as to Paragraph Nos. 51, 53 and 54 of the third cause of...

Excerpt: ... 29, 2014 (“the Trust action”). Code of Civil Procedure section 1048 permits consolidation of multiple actions which involve common questions of law or fact. In determining whether multiple actions pending in the same court should be consolidated, the court examines various issues, including the timeliness of the motion, whether granting consolidation would cause undue confusion or complexity, and whether consolidation would adversely prejudi...

Excerpt: ...5 involves a complaint filed by plaintiffs Kim Johnson and KD Johnson and Associates (collectively “Johnson”), against defendant Aimee Lubell (“Lubell”), and a cross‐complaint by Lubell against Johnson. The pleadings arise from counseling services provided by Johnson to Lubell and her two sons, Jonathan Scharrer and Jaxon Scharrer. Johnson alleges claims against Lubell arising from Lubell's alleged failure to pay in full for the service...

Excerpt: ...Trust action”). 3 Code of Civil Procedure section 1048 permits consolidation of multiple actions which involve common questions of law or fact. In determining whether multiple actions pending in the same court should be consolidated, the court examines various issues including the timeliness of the motion, whether granting consolidation would cause undue confusion or complexity, and whether consolidation would adversely prejudice the rights of ...

Excerpt: ...and the exhibits attached thereto, and Exhibit 4 to the Plaintiffs' Motion for Summary Judgment. /// PLACER COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT THURSDAY, CIVIL LAW AND MOTION DEPARTMENT 42 THE HONORABLE MICHAEL W. JONES TENTATIVE RULINGS FOR MARCH 17, 2022 AT 8:30 A.M. PLACER SUPERIOR COURT – DEPARTMENT 42 Thursday Civil Law and Motion – Tentative Rulings Page 2 of 10 Ruling on the Motion In the current request, plaintiffs seek summary judgment against def...

Excerpt: ...ivil Procedure section 877.6. Defendants Aspen Earthworks, Inc. and Aspen Developers, Corp's Motion for Judgment on the Pleading as to Plaintiff's Complaint Ruling on Request for Judicial Notice The Aspen defendants' request for judicial notice is denied and plaintiff's objection no. 2 is sustained. They request the court take judicial notice of the original complaint filed by plaintiff, which was superseded through the filing of the first amende...

Excerpt: ...e overruled. Ruling on Motion Defendant Placer Valley Sports Complex, Inc. seeks summary adjudication as to the first, third, fourth and sixth causes of action alleged in the complaint filed by Sherry Larsen, 4 individually and dba California State Enterprises. A party may move for summary adjudication if there is no merit to one or more causes of action and the motion completely disposes of a cause of action. Code Civ. Proc. § 437c(f)(1). The m...

Excerpt: ...rder to prevent a trustee's sale of her home due to several alleged violations of the California Homeowner Bill of Rights (“HBOR”). The fees were awarded pursuant to Civil Code section 2924.12(h), which states: A court may award a prevailing borrower reasonable attorney's fees and costs in an action brought pursuant to this section. A borrower shall be deemed to have prevailed for purposes of this subdivision if the borrower obtained injuncti...

Excerpt: ...��scorched earth'; nor does it mean lack of civility. [Citations.] Zeal and vigor in the representation of clients are commendable. So are civility, courtesy, and cooperation. They are not mutually exclusive.” In re Marriage of Davenport (2011) 194 Cal.App.4th 1507, 1537. As one court stated, “[t]he timbre of our time has become unfortunately aggressive and disrespectful. Language addressed to opposing counsel and courts has lurched off the p...

Excerpt: ...ay time limit for response, responses have been filed, and 2 there is no evidence that any abuse of the discovery process was intended or occurred (C.C.P. § 2030.290(c)). Defendant's companion request to be relieved from the statutory waiver of objections to interrogatory responses is granted. The responses served by Defendant are substantially compliant with the requirements of the Discovery Act and, as previously noted, the failure to serve ti...

Excerpt: ...Hope shall provide verified responses, without objections, to form interrogatories, set one, within ten days of service of the signed order after hearing. Sanctions in the amount of $705.00 are imposed upon plaintiff Bank of Hope. The court notes plaintiff has engaged in a pattern of not responding to discovery propounded by defendants as seen in the court's prior orders after the June 18, 2020 hearings on defendants' discovery motions. Defendant...

Excerpt: ...duct. (Bader v. Anderson (2009) 179 Cal.App.4th 775, 787.) In this vein, the allegations are deemed to be true no matter how improbable they may seem. (Del E. Webb Corp. v. Structural Materials Co. (1981) 123 Cal.App.3d 593, 604.) A review of the allegations within the first amended cross‐complaint, when read in conjunction with the partnership agreement attached to the pleading, are sufficient to plead both breach of fiduciary duty and neglige...

Excerpt: ... action. Code Civ. Proc. § 430.10(e). A demurrer tests the legal sufficiency of the pleadings, not the truth of the allegations or the accuracy of the described conduct. Bader v. Anderson (2009) 179 Cal.App.4th 775, 787. The allegations in the pleadings are deemed true no matter how improbable they may seem. Del E. Webb Corp. v. Structural Materials Co. (1981) 123 Cal.App.3d 593, 604. The demurrer is sustained in its entirety. Plaintiff alleges ...

Excerpt: ...reinafter be referred to as “attorney defendants.” Attorney defendants caused a 3‐day notice to perform or quit to be served on plaintiff for an alleged violation of the lease. Attorney defendants thereafter filed against plaintiff a verified complaint for unlawful detainer. The unlawful detainer action is set for trial. In Count 4 of his First Amended Complaint, plaintiff alleges the 3‐ day notice and the verified complaint for unlawful ...

Excerpt: ... further response if the propounding party deems that any of the following apply: (1) An answer to a particular interrogatory is evasive or incomplete.”) See also Leach v. Superior Court (1980) 111 Cal.App.3d 902, 95 (noting that no meet and confer is required where there is a “total failure to respond to interrogatories within the time prescribed by statute”). In light of the substance of the motion, it is subject to the 45‐day limit set...

Excerpt: ...iff's allegations or accuracy of the described conduct. (Bader v. Anderson (2009) 179 Cal.App.4th 775, 787.) In this vein, the allegations in the pleading are deemed to be true no matter how improbable the allegations may seem. (Del E. Webb Corp. v. Structural Materials Co. (1981) 123 Cal.App.3d 593, 604.) The demurrer is reviewed keeping this in mind. A review of the allegations within the complaint, when read as a whole and with the judicially ...

Excerpt: ...on no. 1. Ruling on Motion The motion is granted and defendants are awarded $18,060.00 in attorneys' fees. In the current request, defendants seek to expunge the lis pendens notice filed by plaintiffs on April 6, 2021 along with the related recorded document. The expungement of a lis pendens involves a two prong analysis. The first prong involves a review of the complaint to determine whether a real property claim is involved. (Code of Civil Proc...

Excerpt: ...ery in the civil action while the criminal action is pending. Avant! Corp. v. Superior Court (2000) 79 Cal.App.4th 876, 885. In determining whether to grant a defendant's request to stay discovery, the court considers the extent to which the defendant's Fifth Amendment rights are implicated; the interests of the plaintiff in proceeding expeditiously and the potential prejudice of a delay; the burden the proceedings may impose on the defendants; t...

Excerpt: ...laintiff's counsel to defense counsel, which defendant argues was a valid settlement offer to settle plaintiff's claims against defendant for policy limits. Defendant further argues that the offer was accepted, and that a binding settlement agreement was entered into. This claim is the basis for defendant's second amended cross‐ complaint, which seeks specific performance of the alleged settlement agreement. Defendant moved for summary judgment...

Excerpt: ...surable by reference to the contract itself, and the basis for computing damages must be reasonable and certain. CIT Group/Equipment Financing, Inc. v. Super DVD, Inc. (2004) 115 Cal.App.4th 537, 541. In this case, defendant fails to establish that the claim sued on is a commercial claim. Against an individual, attachment lies only on a claim that arises “out of the conduct by the defendant of a trade, business or profession.” Code Civ. Proc....

Excerpt: ...ation as to their first cause of action for quiet title and second cause of action for declaratory relief along with summary adjudication of the corresponding quiet title and declaratory relief claims alleged in defendant's cross‐complaint. The motion is improper to grant on procedural grounds since it is aimed at pleadings that have been superseded by amendments. PLACER COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT THURSDAY, CIVIL LAW AND MOTION DEPARTMENT 42 THE HON...

Excerpt: ...ection 2025.230; and (3) require meet and confer and mutual coordination over a period not exceeding five business days, for notices, subpoenas or requests for SPS PMQ deposition testimony or SPS percipient witness testimony occurring in Utah. A party or deponent may seek a protective order where, upon a showing of good cause, an order is necessary for protection from unwarranted annoyance, embarrassment, oppression, or undue burden and expense. ...

Excerpt: ...f a building at a job site where Bonner was performing work. At the time of the incident, Bonner was acting as an employee for Lawson and Lawson was performing work pursuant to a Master Subcontract Agreement with Turner. Turner contends that Lawson has a duty to defend, indemnify, and hold Turner harmless from plaintiff's claims pursuant to the language of the Master Subcontract Agreement. Thus on June 29, 2020, Turner tendered their defense and ...

Excerpt: ...ied School District demurs to the first cause of action for dangerous condition of public property, alleged in plaintiff Gage Menezes's first amended complaint. A demurrer tests the legal sufficiency of the pleadings, not the truth of the allegations or the accuracy of the described conduct. Bader v. Anderson (2009) 179 Cal.App.4th 775, 787. The allegations in the pleadings are deemed true no matter how improbable they may seem. Del E. Webb Corp....

Excerpt: ...not the truth of the plaintiff's allegations or the accuracy of the described conduct. Bader v. Anderson (2009) 179 Cal.App.4th 775, 787. The court 9 assumes the truth of all facts properly pleaded, and accepts as true all facts that may be implied or reasonably inferred from facts expressly alleged, unless they are contradicted by judicially noticed facts. Evans v. City of Berkeley (2006) 38 Cal.4th 1, 6. The demurrer is sustained. A claim for i...

Excerpt: ...ode of Civil Procedure section 2030.290(c).) Nonetheless, repeated conduct of failing to comply with discovery obligations may lead the court to find an abuse of the discovery process and award sanctions on that basis. (Laguna Auto Body v. Farmers Ins. Exchange (1991) 231 Cal.App.3d 481, overruled on other grounds in Garcia v. McCutchen (1997) 16 Cal.4th 469, 478, fn. 4.) Plaintiff Northern California Collection Service, Inc.'s Motion to Compel R...

Excerpt: ...s but noted she still had mood swings, irritable behavior, and difficulties sleeping. There are no updated medical records establishing Ava has completely recovered from the emotional issues, sleeping, and headaches as attested to in paragraph 8.a. in the petition. The current petition now attests that the monies will be transferred to a custodian for Ava's benefit under the California Uniform Transfers to Minors Act [UTMA]. The attachments to th...

Excerpt: ... section 473(d). Defendants assert the court had no jurisdiction to enter either since they were not served, so the court did not have personal jurisdiction over them. The court may set aside a void judgment at any time. (Code of Civil Procedure section 473(d); OC Interior Services, LLC v. Nationstar Mortgage, LLC (2017) 7 Cal.App.5th 1318, 1327.) A judgment is only considered void on its face where a review of court records, without the aid of e...

Excerpt: ...ll not sufficiently address the discovery derelictions. Deyo v. Kilbourne (1978) 84 Cal.App.3d 771, 796‐797. In light of the extreme effect of terminating sanctions, courts do not impose such a sanction lightly. The totality of the circumstances surrounding the discovery violations are considered when ordering terminating sanctions: (1) whether the party's conduct was willful; (2) the detriment to the propounding party; and (3) the number of fo...

Excerpt: ...1 and 2 are sustained. Objection No. 3 is overruled. 5 Ruling on Motion Plaintiff Future Ford, Inc. seeks a preliminary injunction against defendant Jason Parks. The requested injunction would prevent defendant from using, disseminating, communicating, conveying, disclosing, copying, duplicating, modifying and/or destroying information regarding current or potential Future Ford customers, which information plaintiff identifies as confidential, pr...

Excerpt: ... of 7 the described conduct. Bader v. Anderson (2009) 179 Cal.App.4th 775, 787. The court assumes the truth of all facts properly pleaded, and accepts as true all facts that may be implied or reasonably inferred from facts expressly alleged, unless they are contradicted by judicially noticed facts. Evans v. City of Berkeley (2006) 38 Cal.4th 1, 6. The demurrer is overruled. A plaintiff may pursue inconsistent counts in a complaint by pleading cla...

Excerpt: ....App.4th 775, 787. The court assumes the truth of all facts properly pleaded, and accepts as true all facts that may be implied or reasonably inferred from facts expressly alleged, unless they are contradicted by judicially noticed facts. Evans v. City of Berkeley (2006) 38 Cal.4th 1, 6. The demurrer is overruled as to plaintiff's first cause of action for general negligence. The complaint, read as a whole, alleges sufficient facts to support thi...

Excerpt: ...complaint in this action does not pray for attorneys' fees. However “where a party's right to attorneys' fees rests on section 1717, the fact that the entire contract was before the court in the original action is a sufficient ‘pleading' to authorize an attorneys' fees award.” See PLACER COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT THURSDAY, CIVIL LAW AND MOTION DEPARTMENT 42 THE HONORABLE MICHAEL W. JONES TENTATIVE RULINGS FOR FEBRUARY 10, 2022 AT 8:30 A.M. PLAC...

Excerpt: ... the pleadings are deemed true no matter how improbable they may seem. (Del E. Webb Corp. v. Structural Materials Co. (1981) 123 Cal.App.3d 593, 604.) The demurrer is sustained. The complaint does not allege a valid cause of action for unlawful detainer. The complaint alleges the Tenant Protection Act of 2019 applies to this case. (Complaint para. 7(b).) Under this Act, when a landlord seeks at‐fault termination, the landlord must provide the t...

Excerpt: ...quest for sanctions is denied. The premise of defendant's request is that plaintiff intentionally withheld certain information regarding the alleged need for future fusion surgery in this personal injury action. Defendant has not established that this information was known to plaintiff and/or his counsel prior to the time that plaintiff served supplemental responses. Further, the court previously determined that a request to strike the admission ...

Excerpt: ...dicated in the introductory paragraph of the court's tentative rulings. The current hearing was set by minute order filed December 15, 2021. The matter is set for a motion for reconsideration, or to set aside the court's ruling on plaintiff's motion to vacate, issued on November 9, 2021. By way of background, plaintiff's motion to 4 vacate, filed October 13, 2021, sought relief relating to the court's ruling from August 10, 2021, which sustained ...

Excerpt: ... Rawlins, and co‐defendants Alan Roberts and Beverly Roberts (collectively “the Robertses”). A party must make a demand for exchange of expert witness information no later than the 10th day after the initial trial date has been set, or 70 days before the trial date, whichever is closer to the trial date. Code Civ. Proc. § 2034.220. Expert witness discovery closes fifteen days before the initial trial date. Code Civ. Proc. § 2024.030. Moti...