Excerpt: ...n v. Parliament Escrow Co. (1989) 190 Cal.App.3d 1051, 1062.) Lodestar is the objective starting point to determine if attorney's fees are reasonable. (Nichols v. City of Taft (2007) 155 Cal.App.4th 1233, 1242.) Lodestar is calculated by assessing the reasonable rate for comparable services in the local community, multiplied by the reasonable number of hour spent on the case. (Id.) Lodestar requires the court to determine what a reasonable rate a...

Excerpt: ... issue whether a special relationship exists giving rise to a duty to protect (or warn) comprehends consideration of the same factors underlying any duty of care analysis.” (Hansra v. Superior Court (1992) 7 Cal.App.4th 630, 646.) The existence and scope of a landowner (or possessor's) duty turns on whether the third‐party conduct could reasonably be anticipated. (Robison v. Six Flags Theme Parks, Inc. (1998) 64 Cal.App.4th 1294, 1300‐1305)...

Excerpt: ...nt agreements for sexual harassment cases in California Defendants still did so.” Information is regarded as relevant if it might reasonably assist a party in evaluating the case, preparing for trial, or facilitating settlement. (See Lipton v. Superior Court (1996) 48 Cal.App.4th 1599, 1611; Gonzalez v. Superior Court (1995) 33 Cal.App.4th 1539, 1546.) Importantly, admissibility is not the test, and information, unless privileged, is discoverab...

Excerpt: ... informed Plaintiff that she would be filing a motion for judgment on the pleading and would follow up with a meet and confer letter. (Declaration of Heather K. Cox [“Cox Decl.”], ¶2.) On April 30, 3021, Defendant's counsel sent a letter to Plaintiff, indicating that the Complaint fails to state any claim against Defendant, especially in light of the recent ruling of the Court granting the special motion to strike in favor of Defendants Jime...

Excerpt: ...1) the defendant concealed a material fact; (2) the defendant had a duty to disclose the fact to the plaintiff; (3) the defendant intentionally concealed the fact with intent to defraud; (4) the plaintiff was unaware of the fact and would not have acted had she or he had knowledge of the concealed fact; and (5) the plaintiff sustained damages as a result of the concealment. (Blickman Turkus, LP v. MF Downtown Sunnyvale, LLC (2008) 162 Cal.App.4th...

Excerpt: ...f's prosecution of the action was not in good faith.” The CLRA does not define the term “prevailing plaintiff” and courts have employed different approaches in deciding that issue to award CLRA fees and costs. (Kim v. Euromotors West/The Auto Gallery (2007) 149 Cal.App.4th 170, 178‐179; see e.g., Reveles v. Toyota by the Bay (1997) 57 Cal.App.4th 1139, 1149 (the prevailing party is the “party with the net monetary recovery” as general...

Excerpt: ...dure Before Trial (The Rutter Group 2020) (“Weil & Brown”), § 8:598.) “At a hearing on a motion to quash, the court must determine whether the party seeking the discovery has made a showing of good cause for the production of said matters and whether the items sought are material and relevant to the case.” (M.C.A. v. State of California, (1982) 128 Cal.App.3d 225, 232‐33.) A. The Subpoena Requests Are Narrowly Tailored and Seek Documen...

Excerpt: ...ement must identify each material fact in respect to the cause of action. (Cal. R. Ct. 3.1350(d)(1)(B).) It should only include material facts and not facts that are not relevant to the disposition of the motion. (Cal. R. Ct. 3.1350(d)(2).) “The separate statement serves two important functions in a summary judgment proceeding: it notifies the parties which material facts are at issue, and it provides a convenient and expeditious vehicle permit...

Excerpt: ...“If, after service of a deposition notice, a party to the action … without having served a valid objection under Section 2025.410, fails to appear for examination …, or to produce for inspection any document …, the party giving notice may move for an order compelling the deponent's attendance and testimony, and the production for inspection for any document … described in the deposition notice.” (Code Civ. Proc., §2025.450(b)(2), ita...

Excerpt: ...as it had nothing to do with the state of the asphalt. The elements of a negligence claim are: (1) legal duty owed to plaintiffs to use due care; (2) breach of duty; (3) causation; and (4) damage to plaintiff. (County of Santa Clara v. Atlantic Richfield Co. (2006) 137 Cal.App.4th 292, 318.) To the extent that this is based on premises liability, it is also a form of negligence. Accordingly, the elements of a claim for injuries suffered by an inv...

Excerpt: ...d wages while employed by Zhang. As such, there appears to be no bad faith on Lan Zhao's part. Zhang contends that Lan Zhao did act in bad faith, but she provides no evidence to support this assertion. In order to establish that good faith does not exist, substantial evidence must be presented. Silver Orgs. v. Frank (1990) 217 Cal.App.3d 94, 99‐100. Under C.C.P. § 473(a),“[t]he court may, in furtherance of justice, and on any terms as may be...

Excerpt: ...ry 24, 2017 regarding the adoption of Ordinance 771.2 amending Ordinance 771. The Court takes judicial notice of this document under Evid. Code §452(b), which permits judicial notice of regulations and legislative enactments issued by or under the authority of the United States or any public entity in the United States Demurrer: Except as otherwise provided by statute, a public entity is not liable for an injury, whether such injury arises out o...

Excerpt: ...t. (Dec.Janssen ¶3; Dec.Johnson ¶16; and Notice of Lodgment [NOL] Ex. “11” [arbitration agreement.]) Defendants assert that since Decedent was unresponsive and sedated upon admission, Anthony necessarily signed the documents as Decedent's agent and bound all claims to be resolved in arbitration. Anthony Sanchez declares that he was informed by Defendants' staff that as his mother's sons, any of them could sign on her behalf. (Oppo., Dec.Ant...

Excerpt: ...party required to serve and file a request for dismissal within 45 days after the dismissal date specified in the notice does not do so, the court must dismiss the entire case unless good cause is shown why the case should not be dismissed.” (Cal. R. Ct. 3.1385(c)(2).) This is the basis of the dismissal. “The only decision before the court at a rule 3.1385 hearing is whether to dismiss the case or restore it to the civil active list.” (Irvi...

Excerpt: ...” whether the offer for reinstatement was for a job substantially equivalent to her prior position, and whether the rejection of the offer was reasonable. Defendant's motion is also procedural defective because Defendant failed to show summary adjudication would dispose of all of Plaintiff's claim for economic damages, as opposed to lost income only. A motion for summary adjudication can be granted only if it completely disposes of the cause of...

Excerpt: ...submitted with the original declaration without explanation, and is therefore untimely, is stricken, and has not been considered by the Court. A motion for preliminary injunction must show (1) a probability of prevailing on the merits, and (2) that the balance of hardships favors issuance of the injunction. (O'Connell v. Superior Court (2006) 141 Cal.App.4th 1452, 1463.) However, “[t]he applicant must demonstrate a real threat of immediate and ...

Excerpt: ....) The motion by the defaulting party based on equitable grounds may be made at any time, provided the party acts with diligence upon learning of the relevant facts. (Trackman v. Kenney, 187 Cal.App.4th at 181; County of San Diego v. Gorham (2010) 186 Cal.App.4th 1215, 1226‐1230.) Extrinsic fraud usually arises when a party is denied a fair adversary hearing because he has been “deliberately kept in ignorance of the action or proceeding, or i...

Excerpt: ...that the defendant's conduct was deceptive and the deception caused plaintiff harm. (Massachusetts Mutual Life Ins. Co. v. Superior Court (2002) 97 Cal.App.4th 1282, 1292.) Plaintiff alleges that TOD violated the CLRA by: (1) misrepresenting the Vehicle's condition; (2) concealing the Vehicle' s condition; (3) telling Plaintiff the Vehicle was in excellent condition when it was not; (4) telling Plaintiff the Vehicle was a certified vehicle, when ...

Excerpt: ...f alleges that the District discriminated against him by siding with Sanchez and terminated him without a proper investigation because she is a woman. (Compl., ¶13, 14, 17.) The District argues that Plaintiff was terminated based on the allegations and subsequent investigation and findings of theft. However, other than vague statements made by Plaintiff, the District produced no evidence of the investigation. Plaintiff does not dispute that the ...

Excerpt: ...duct by subjecting him to unnecessary and unwarranted police investigations. (Compl., ¶31.) He asserts that Sanchez published a false accusation of grand larceny. (Ibid.) Sanchez argues that this conduct was not outrageous because the accusations were true based on Plaintiff's guilty plea in the criminal proceedings. Plaintiff testified that he pled guilty to misdemeanor embezzlement in the criminal matter concerning the alleged stolen property....

Excerpt: ...l's Remittitur states that Plaintiff is entitled to recover costs on appeal. That is incorrect. The Remittitur states “The parties shall bear their own costs on appeal.” That is also in the Opinion's Disposition at p. 10 (“The parties shall bear their own costs on appeal”). Although Plaintiff does not expressly seek recovery of anything but attorney's fees, the motion includes (Exhibit 2) documentation regarding $485.26 in “disbursement...

Excerpt: ...case, and this motion, the Court tentatively finds that Moving Party Carol Pulliam is a vexatious litigant pursuant to CCP 391(b)(3) and sets the following Order to Show Cause: Carol Pulliam is Ordered to Appear and Show Cause as to why she should not be declared a vexatious litigant pursuant to CCP 391(b)(3) and why the Court should not require her to obtaining a prefiling order, per CCP 391.7(a), before she may be allowed to file any further li...