Excerpt: ...o meet and confer in good faith as ordered may result in sanctions. The Court also notes that it has reviewed motions and oppositions at issue. Based on the tone of the documents, the Court finds it is necessary to remind all counsel that civility and professionalis m among counsel should be the norm and not the exception. Counsel need not always agree, but their disagreements, especially when relayed to the Court, should be free of rancor unbec...

Excerpt: ...alleges, amon g other things, that the City, and other public entities, are liable for wrongful death and the decedents' fatal injuries for a dangerous condition of public property. The Complaint alleges that on the evening of December 28, 2022, the two vehicles collide d at or near the intersection of Fred Waring Drive and Adonis Drive in the City of Palm Desert, California. (Complaint, ¶ 20.) It alleges that while the vehicle transporting the ...

Excerpt: ...ause of action for re stitution of money paid “pursuant to the Agreement” (Cross -Complaint ¶ 12). The basis of the Cross -Complaint is that The Altum Group is not a licensed contractor and that a contractor's license was required in order to lawfully perform the construction ser vices at issue in the Agreement. (Cross- Complaint ¶¶ 4, 5, 9, 12.) The Altum Group demurrers arguing that both causes of action are uncertain or insufficiently p...

Excerpt: ...ntiary and/or terminating sanctions. (Code Civ. Proc., § 2023.030(a) -(d).) The court has discretion to issue a terminating sanction in response to a misuse of the discovery process. (Code Civ. Proc., §§ 2023.030(d), 2030.300(e).) Terminating sanctions can take the form of (1) striking out the party's pleading or part thereof; (2) staying further proceedings by that party until he or she obeys the court order; (3) dismissing that party's actio...

Excerpt: ...l distress. Plaintiff argues that this motion should be denied because the arbitration agreement is unconscionable is prohibited under the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act, 9 U.S.C. §§ 401, 402. The Court agrees and denies the motion. The parties agree that the agreement at issue is governed by the Federal Arbitration Act, which favors enforcement of arbitration provision in any contract “evidencing a tran...

Excerpt: ...mitted to th e Court as Exhibit 1 to the Edelstein declaration of February 29, 2024. On July 20, 2023 Defendant Apollo was named as Doe 1 in the action filed by Desert Concepts Construction, Inc. It was defaulted on September 7, 2023. Default was entered based on the r epresentation that Apollo was properly served. The proof of service that Desert Concepts filed states that the First Amended Complaint was personally served on Apollo Venture's A...

Excerpt: ...case, the Wac hters argue that Defendants should not recover their post -offer expert fees because Defendants' 998 Offer was made jointly to the Wachters, and failed to specify the sum offered to each Plaintiff individually. (Motion, 2:5 -9; 4:20 -22; 5:10- 12.) The Wachter s also argue that, even if the section 998 Offer is deemed valid, a significant portion of the fees should still be stricken or taxed as nonrecoverable, because they were inc...

Excerpt: ... Amended Compla int, which is entitled “fraudulent inducement -concealment,” alleged as against Ford, and the sixth cause of action for negligent repair alleged as against Fiesta Ford. To withstand a demurrer the complaint must contain “a statement of the facts constituting the cause of action, in ordinary and concise language.” (Code Civ. Proc., § 425.10.) “[T]he complaint need only allege facts sufficient to state a cause of action, ...

Excerpt: ...alleges, among other things, that the City, and other public entities, are liable for wrongful death and the decedents' fatal injuries for a dangerous condition of public property. The Complaint alleges that on the evening of December 28, 2022, the two vehicles collide d at or near the intersection of Fred Waring Drive and Adonis Drive in the City of Palm Desert, California. (Complaint, ¶ 20.) It alleges that while the vehicle transporting the d...

Excerpt: ...tion. Plaintiff has not addressed the deficiencies identified in the Court's ruling on the prior demurrer. In ruling on the demurrer to the First Amended Complaint, the Court finds that it did not sufficiently plead facts to support an inference that EMC had the re quisite intent, or facts from which could reasonably infer that they denied, or withheld Marshall's care by way of oppression, fraud, or malice, or extreme recklessness. The Court e...

Excerpt: ...nit and made repairs to common areas, all of which were paid by the HOA's insurer. Later, LaPay's sister, Plaintiff here, became Trustee of her brother's Trust and eventually sued the HOA and its Manager for breach of governing documents, negligence, conversion, nuisance, trespass, breach of fiduciary duty, and declaratory relief. The HOA now seeks to recover prevailing -party attorneys' fees under Civil Code sections 1717 and 5975, Code of Civi...

Excerpt: ...al relationship giv ing rise to a duty to disclose. To withstand a demurrer the complaint must contain “a statement of the facts constituting the cause of action, in ordinary and concise language.” (Code Civ. Proc., § 425.10.) “[T]he complaint need only allege facts suffic ient to state a cause of action, each evidentiary fact that might eventually form part of the plaintiff's proof need not be alleged. (C.A. v. William S. Hart Union High ...

Excerpt: ...ior demurrer brought on similar grounds. Plaintiff's First Amended Complaint now alleges causes of action for: (1) fraud; (2) misrepresentation; (3) violations of the Unfair Competition Law; and (4) elder abuse. Plaintiff alleges in the FAC that she executed a promis sory note and a deed of trust to the originating lender, and challenges Defendants' authority to pursue a non -judicial foreclosure on the ground that the originating lender is the o...

Excerpt: ...supervision. It moves, alternatively, for summary adjudication of the following issues: (1) Enterprise had no duty to warn because the condition was open and obvious; (2) any failure to warn by Enterprise was not a substantial factor in bringing about Plainti
¯'s injuries; and (3) Enterprise's conduct was not a substantial factor in bringing about Plainti
¯'s harm and Plainti
¯'s own negligence is the sole cause of her injuries. Summary judgme...

Excerpt: ...t leave of court, wrongfully re-Þlled their cross-complaint, which the Court previously dismissed. An attorney or unrepresented party who presents a pleading, motion, or similar paper to the court makes an implied certiÞcation as to its legal and factual merit, and a violation of this implied certiÞcation may result in sanctions. (Code Civ. Proc., § 128.7; Murphy v. Yale Materials Handling Corp. (1997) 54 Cal.App.4th 619,623; see also Code Ci...

Excerpt: ... Radiology. Plainti
¯ argues the subpoenas are overly broad in time and scope as they seek any and all records from February 1, 2011 to the present. Plainti
¯ argues she sustained injuries to her head, back, shoulders neck, ankle and leg, and that any subpoenas should be quashed in their entirety. The court is authorized to order that a subpoena be quashed, modiÞed, or that compliance be directed, with or without limitations, on the Þling of ...

Excerpt: ...h his LLC 1801 Boulevard Holdings, LLC, is alleged to have wrongfully taken Plainti
¯s' property at 1817 Pintura Circle West. Plainti
¯s' case against Bordewick and the LLC was Þled in 2019 and tried before Judge John Vineyard in September 2021. That case resulted in a verdict in favor of Bordewick and the LLC, and a statement of decision explaining that Plainti
¯s' transfer of the 1817 Pintura property was supported by adequate consideration...

Excerpt: ...nt of Horizon Mobile Village and RV Park, which is owned or operated by Defendant Laguna and, it appears, Horizon, which was added into the action as Doe 2. On December 17, 2020, another tenant, Raymond Bernal, stabbed McKee when McKee intervened to stop Bernal from assaulting another tenant. McKee asserts that moving Defendants breached a duty of care owed to the Plainti
¯ by creating a dangerous condition, failing to warn of danger, and failin...

Excerpt: ...of need not be alleged. (C.A. v. William S. Hart Union High School Dist. (2012) 53 Cal.4th 861, 872.) Generally, a plainti
¯ need only plead facts necessary “to acquaint a defendant with the nature, source and extent of his claims.” (Doe v. City of Los Angeles (2007) 42 Cal.4th 531, 549550.) A demurrer on the ground of uncertainty will only be sustained where a defendant cannot reasonably determine what issues must be admitted or denied, or ...

Excerpt: ...rator, Doe 3, demurrers once again to the only cause of action against it, for negligent hiring, supervision, and retention. The Court previously sustained a similar demurrer to the Complaint. Plainti
¯ has now addressed the deÞciencies in the prior complaint. Doe 1 contends that Plainti
¯'s third cause of action is barred by the applicable statute of limitations under Code of Civil Procedure section 340.1. Doe 1 contends that nothing in the F...

Excerpt: ...s to the breach of contract that was the subject of the Complaint. Khodaverdian's counsel declares in support of the motion that he learned in November 21, 2023, for the Þrst time through discovery responses that Eisenhower Defendants contend that the ConÞdential Separation Agreement and Release of all Claims, the subject of the sole existing cause of action for breach of contract, does not apply to acts by Wilson, and that Wilson is not part o...

Excerpt: ...t the fifth cause of action is not stated with particularity, that it fails to allege a transactional relationship giving rise to a duty to disclose. To withstand a demurrer the complaint must contain "a statement of the facts constituting the cause of action, in ordinary and concise language." (Code Civ. Proc., S 425.10.) "[T]he complaint need only allege facts sufficient to state a cause of action, each evidentiary fact that might eventually fo...

Excerpt: ...wer within 20 days. Plaintiffs have filed this post-foreclosure action against their mortgage lender alleging that Defendant Gateway wrongfully foreclosed on their property. Plaintiffs allege Defendant wrongfully foreclosed on their property located at 83065 El Greco Avenue, Coachella, CA 92263, through a trustee's sale upon Plaintiffs' default on their mortgage payments. (First Amended Complaint ["FAC"], 1, 9.) Plaintiffs allege that, beginning ...

Excerpt: ...ly identified deficiencies in the pleading, as explained below. The Court declines to award sanctions on fts own motion, but this does not preclude Defendants from filing a separate motion under Section 128.7, after complying with all safe harbor and other requirements of that section, if appropriate. Defendants again demurrerto the first cause of action for breach of written contract, the second cause of action for breach of oral contract, and t...

Excerpt: ...ion is granted, but responses are limited to documents from 2020, 2021, and 2022. All further responses are ordered to be served within 30 days of service of notice. (CCP S 2031.310). Plaintiff has made a factspecific showing of relevance as to these Demands, with the limitations noted above, and Defendant EMC has not justified its objections. The Court notes that with respect to objections based on the fact that requests are unduly burdensome, E...