Excerpt: ... Civil Procedure section 430.10(e).) A demurrer tests the legal 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 fac...

Excerpt: ...ful anti‐ SLAPP motion. A motion for judgment on the pleadings has the same function as a demurrer but is brought where the time for a demurrer has expired. (Code of Civil Procedure section 438(g); Southern California Edison Co. v. City of Victorville (2013) 217 Cal.App.4th 218, 227.) A defendant challenging a complaint must show either (1) the court has no PLACER COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT THURSDAY, CIVIL LAW AND MOTION DEPARTMENT 42 THE HONORABLE ...

Excerpt: ... A.M. PLACER SUPERIOR COURT – DEPARTMENT 42 Thursday Civil Law and Motion – Tentative Rulings Page 4 of 16 with the defendants. The dispute is in the amount of fees that should be awarded in this instance. Determining the reasonable amount of attorney's fees begins with the lodestar method, i.e. the number of hours reasonably expended multiplied by the reasonable hourly rate. (PLCM Group v. Drexler (2000) 22 Cal.4th 1084, 1095; Serrano v. Pri...

Excerpt: ...he legal sufficiency of the pleadings, not the truth of the plaintiff's allegations or accuracy of the described conduct. (Bader v. Anderson (2009) 179 Cal.App.4th 775, 787.) The allegations in the pleadings 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 complaint and its three pleaded causes of action are reviewed keeping this in mind. �...

Excerpt: ...on. (Code of Civil Procedure section 1290; Mercury Ins. Group v. Superior Court (1998) 19 Cal.4th 332, 349.) Ruling on Motion The motion is denied. In the current request, Hilt seeks to compel arbitration between the parties based upon the arbitration provision found in the parties' residential purchase agreement (RPA). A threshold question for any motion to compel arbitration is whether there exists an agreement to arbitrate. (Cruise v. Kroger C...

Excerpt: ...iff's allegations or accuracy of the described conduct. (Picton v. Anderson Union High School (1996) 50 Cal.App.4th 726, 733.) All properly pleaded facts are assumed to be true as well as those that are judicially noticeable. (Blank v. Kirwan (1985) 39 Cal.3d 311, 318.) A review of the complaint shows that it suffers from significant pleading deficiencies. The complaint does not identify causes of action, making unclear claims of discriminatory a...

Excerpt: ...omply with the court's prior order entered on June 14, 2019. Initially, the court declines to plaintiff's request for terminating sanctions or monetary sanctions. Terminating sanctions are an extreme sanction for those cases where misuses of the discovery process are so pervasive that a less drastic sanction will not sufficiently address the discovery derelictions. (Deyo v. Kilbourne (1978) 84 Cal.App.3d 771, 796‐797.) The purpose of discovery ...

Excerpt: ... objections, which included objections to RPD no. 4. From April 2019 through October 2019, the parties engaged in a significant informal discussion regarding the scope of discovery. During this meet and confer process, the parties agreed to limit the scope of RPD no. 4 to “dental records for patients whose treatment was billed to Denti‐Cal from March 11, 2015 to June 13, 2016 for the following dental procedures that are identified in the comp...

Excerpt: ...d an opportunity to respond. (Plenger v. Alza Corp. (1992) 11 Cal.App.4th 349, 362, fn. 8.) Ruling on Objections Defendants' objections nos. 1 through 3 are sustained in their entirety. Plaintiff's objection and request for continuance of the motion is denied. Code of Civil Procedure section 437c(h) allows for a party to seek a continuance to obtain discovery. The party seeking such a continuance must make a good faith showing, by affidavit, to e...

Excerpt: ...Ins. Services, Inc. v. Gaddy (2009) 159 Cal.App.4th 1292, 1307‐1308.) Ruling on Motion In the current motion, plaintiff seeks leave to amend her original complaint to include additional defendants along with adding allegations regarding punitive damages. Plaintiff's request is granted as to the naming of additional PLACER COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT THURSDAY, CIVIL LAW AND MOTION DEPARTMENT 42 THE HONORABLE CHARLES D. WACHOB TENTATIVE RULINGS FOR JAN...

Excerpt: ... in the pleadings 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.) All properly pled facts are assumed to be true as well as those that are judicially noticeable. (Blank v. Kirwan (1985) 39 Cal.3d 311, 318; Gomes v. Countrywide Home Loans, Inc. (2011) 192 Cal.App.4th 1149, 1153.) The court reviews the complaint keeping these principles in mind....

Excerpt: ...erit to one or more of the causes of action. (Code of Civil Procedure section 437c(f)(1).) However, a motion for summary adjudication shall only be granted where it completely disposes of a cause of action. (Ibid.) The moving party bears the initial burden of establishing every element of the cause of action. (Id. at 437c(p)(1).) Only when this initial burden is met does the burden shift to the opposing party to establish a triable issue of mater...

Excerpt: ...e of Civil Procedure section 436(a), (b).) The grounds for a motion to strike must appear on the face of the pleading or from judicially noticeable matters. (Code of Civil Procedure section 437(a).) Here, defendant seeks to strike various allegations within paragraph 10 of the complaint that refer to negligence per se presumptions along with presumed statutory violations of Business & Professions Code section 725 and 1680. The court has carefully...

Excerpt: ...in defendant being unable to amount any defense against plaintiff's action. Practically speaking, all three of these requests seek terminating sanctions. The imposition of terminating sanctions is generally limited to extreme cases of discovery misuses that are so pervasive a less drastic sanction will not sufficiently address the discovery derelictions. (Deyo v. Kilbourne (1978) 84 Cal.App.3d 771, 796‐797.) In light of the extreme effect of te...

Excerpt: ...R COURT THURSDAY, CIVIL LAW AND MOTION DEPARTMENT 42 THE HONORABLE CHARLES D. WACHOB TENTATIVE RULINGS FOR JANUARY 9, 2020 AT 8:30 A.M. action for injunctive relief. The court file, however, does not reflect plaintiffs have dismissed the third and fourth causes of action. In light of defendant's framing of his demurrer, the court will only address the challenge to the first cause of action for prescriptive easement and second cause of action for ...

Excerpt: ...tion of the state judicial proceeding to collect on a claim against the debtor. (Eskanos & Adler, P.C. v. Leetien (9th Cir. 2002) 309 F.3d 1210, 1214.) Since the automatic stay is selfexecuting and effective upon the filing of a bankruptcy petition, it was improper for the judgment to be entered in this case. (In Re Marriage of Sprague & Spiegel‐Sprague (IRMO Sprague) (2003) 105 Cal.App.4th 215, 219.) The default judgment, entered on April 3, 2...

Excerpt: ...TION DEPARTMENT 42 THE HONORABLE CHARLES D. WACHOB TENTATIVE RULINGS FOR SEPTEMBER 26, 2019 AT 8:30 A.M. NOTICE TO ALL PARTIES WHO REQUEST ORAL ARGUMENT: UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED, ORAL ARGUMENT WILL BE HEARD ON THURSDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2019 AT 8:30 A.M. IN DEPARTMENT 42. PLACER SUPERIOR COURT – DEPARTMENT 42 Thursday Civil Law and Motion – Tentative Rulings Page 3 of 7 is generally limited to extreme cases of discovery misuses that are so pervasive...

Excerpt: ...ure section 430.10(e).) A demurrer tests the legal sufficiency of the pleadings, not the truth of the plaintiff's allegations or accuracy of the described conduct. (Bader v. Anderson (2009) 179 Cal.App.4th 775, 787.) The allegations in the pleadings 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 cross‐ complaint is reviewed keeping this...

Excerpt: ...ction 452. Plaintiff's request for judicial notice, filed on September 3, 2019, is denied. Ruling on Motion In the current motion, plaintiff seeks an injunction to prevent defendants from foreclosing on the property subject to this litigation. The motion is denied. A preliminary injunction may be issued where it appears from the complaint that the plaintiff is entitled to the demanded relief and the plaintiff will suffer irreparable injury if the...

Excerpt: ...ally set trial date. Such an interpretation would be inconsistent with the overall purpose of Section 437c to dispose of meritless claims. (Green v. Bristol Myers Co. (1988) 206 Cal.app.3d 604, 609.) The court shall proceed to consider the merits of the motion. /// PLACER COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT THURSDAY, CIVIL LAW AND MOTION DEPARTMENT 42 THE HONORABLE CHARLES D. WACHOB TENTATIVE RULINGS FOR SEPTEMBER 5, 2019 AT 8:30 A.M. PLACER SUPERIOR COURT –...

Excerpt: ...tion 452.) Ruling on Motion In the current request, plaintiffs seek the issuance of a preliminary injunction to prohibit defendant from removing improvements they made to an encroachment area. A preliminary injunction may be issued where it appears from the complaint that the plaintiff is entitled to the demanded relief and the plaintiff will suffer irreparable injury if the enjoined action were allowed to proceed. (Code of Civil Procedure sectio...

Excerpt: ...on. (Code of Civil Procedure section 430.10(e).) The demurrer functions as a test regarding the legal sufficiency of the pleading; it does not address the truth of the allegations or accuracy of the described conduct. (Bader v. Anderson (2009) 179 Cal.App.4th 775, 787.) For the purposes of a demurrer, the allegations in the pleading are deemed to be true no matter how improbable they may seem. (Del E. Webb Corp. v. Structural Materials Co. (1981)...

Excerpt: ...(Code of Civil Procedure section 430.10(e).) Further, a challenge PLACER COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT THURSDAY, CIVIL LAW AND MOTION DEPARTMENT 42 THE HONORABLE CHARLES D. WACHOB TENTATIVE RULINGS FOR SEPTEMBER 5, 2019 AT 8:30 A.M. PLACER SUPERIOR COURT – DEPARTMENT 42 Thursday Civil Law and Motion – Tentative Rulings Page 14 of 15 that a cause of action is barred by res judicata is available by demurrer if that ground appears on the face of the com...

Excerpt: ...limited to extreme cases of discovery misuses that are so pervasive a less drastic sanction will 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 p...

Excerpt: ...ure §437c(c).) The trial court engages in a specific analysis when reviewing a motion for summary judgment. First, it must define the scope of the motion by looking to the operative pleading. The pleadings serve as the “outer measure of materiality” for a motion for summary judgment in addition to determining the scope of the motion. (Government Employees Ins. Co. v. Superior Court (2000) 79 Cal.App.4th 95, 98; Laabs v. City of Victorville (...