Excerpt: ...SAN MATEO INSURANCE COMMISSIONER OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA, Applicant, v. CALIFORNIA INSURANCE COMPANY, a California corporation, Respondent. ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) Case No.: 19‐CIV‐06531 Assigned For All Purposes to Hon. Danny Y. Chou ORDER DENYING RESPONDENT'S SPECIAL ANTI‐SLAPP MOTION TO STRIKE On November 4, 2019, this Court appointed Applicant the Insurance Commissioner of California (Commissioner) the Conservator of Respondent C...

Excerpt: ...in November 2020, the LLC's counsel substituted out of the case, leaving the LLC without counsel. Plaintiffs then filed this motion, seeking to strike the LLC's previously filed answer, on the groundsthat an LLC, like a corporation, cannot represent itself in litigation. (See, generally, Merco Constr. Engineers, Inc. v. Municipal Court (1978) 21 Cal. 3d 724, 727.) Although Plaintiffs are correct that the LLC cannot represent itself in this action...

Excerpt: ...ances,” however, a plaintiff may sue under fictitious names, such as “Jane Doe.” (See Doe v. Lincoln Unified Sch. Dist. (2010) 188 Cal.App.4th 758, 766‐67.) The Court finds that the circumstances of this action are sufficiently exceptional to justify allowing Petitioner to proceed under a fictitious name. In this action Petitioner seeks a ruling that the evidence did not support a finding that Petitioner engaged in child abuse. Although P...

Excerpt: ...st instruments”. It is Defendant's contention that the oral examination can be conducted remotely, but that some of the psychological tests cannot be conducted remotely. The Amended Notice lists a multitude of potential tests, and that the doctor “will use her judgment to administer any, all or none of the following test”. No specific evidence has been presented as to which specific tests the doctor has a good faith belief will actually nee...

Excerpt: ...d failed to serve this motion on RJ Leonard Painting, a pro per defendant who failed to serve any party with its answer. Per the Court's order, on February 17, 2021, A&B notified all parties of the continuance and served the motion on RJ Leonard Painting. “[O]nly when the good faith nature of a settlement is disputed it is incumbent upon the trial court to consider and weigh the Tech‐ Bilt factors … when no one objects, the barebones motion...

Excerpt: ...ple v. ConAgra Grocery Products Co. (2017) 17 Cal.App.5th 51. Judge Fineman also represented the County of San Mateo in In re Natural Gas Antitrust Cases (Price Indexing), San Diego County, Nos. JCCP4221, JCCP4224, JCCP4226, and JCCP4228. See Regents of University of California v. Superior Court (2008) 165 Cal.App.4th 672. Judge Fineman represented the County of San Mateo in other cases; she does not have the full names or case numbers for those ...

Excerpt: ...nor any facts suggesting Defendant engaged in “despicable conduct,” as is required by Section 3294. Specifically, Plaintiff alleges he dined at Defendant's restaurant, informed Defendant he had a peanut allergy, inquired whether the food he had ordered contained peanuts, and was told it did not. (Complaint, p. 5). Plaintiff alleges he became ill after consuming the food, which it turns out contained peanut ingredients. Id. For the reasons sta...

Excerpt: ...or Summary Judgment or in the alternative, Summary Adjudication, is ruled on as follows: Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment is DENIED since they have failed to establish that there are no triable issues of material fact as to an essential element for each cause of action. Summary Adjudication is DENIED as to the First, Second, Fourth, Sixth and Seventh Causes of Action and GRANTED as to the Third and Fifth Causes of Action for the reasons se...

Excerpt: ... confusion, the Court will refer to Equinix Services, Inc. as “PHI,” even though PHI is the company's prior name. The legal basis for the Court's exercise of personal jurisdiction over a Defendant is set forth in detail in the parties' moving and opposing papers, and will not be repeated at length here. Procedurally, when a non‐resident Defendant challenges personal jurisdiction, the burden is on the plaintiff to first demonstrate, by a pre...

Excerpt: ...led to comply with the terms of the parties' Settlement Agreement by failing to make payments due thereunder. The Agreement provided that Defendant was to make payments to Plaintiff's counsel's law firm. Mahfouz Decl., Ex. A. ¶ 6. Plaintiff's counsel's declaration states that no payments have been made. Mahfouz Decl., ¶ 9. As a result, Plaintiff has established Defendant is in default under the parties' Agreement. The terms of the Settlement Ag...

Excerpt: ...f Act precludes a court from finding a tenant guilty of unlawful detainer before July 1, 2021, absent certain exceptions. (See C.C.P. § 1179.03.5.) The Complaint does not allege that any of the exceptions under C.C.P. § 1179.03.5 apply to this unlawful detainer action. As a result, Plaintiff has failed to allege facts sufficient to support a cause of action for unlawful detainer. Leave to amend is not granted. Although leave to amend is routine...

Excerpt: ...ubdivision (b)(1). (Id., ¶ 8.) Plaintiff served Defendant with a 3‐day notice to quit that expired on December 7, 2020. (Compl., ex. 2.) The notice alleges that Defendant repeatedly harassed and disturbed neighbors, including Plaintiff's daughter, and states, in pertinent part, that: “This harassing and disturbing behavior, besides being a violation of your written rental agreement's rules and regulations, constitutes the maintenance of a nu...

Excerpt: ... AMEND, and SUSTAINED IN PART WITHOUT LEAVE TO AMEND. 1. Plaintiff's Causes of Action Against Apttus a. First Cause of Action for Breach of Contract The demurrer to Plaintiff's first cause of action for breach of contract against Apttus is OVERRULED. A demurrer to only a portion of a cause of action is “procedurally improper.” (PH II, Inc. v. Superior Court (1995) 33 Cal.App.4th 1680, 1682.) Apttus only argues that the conversion of Plaintiff...

Excerpt: ...IN AND FOR THE COUNTY OF SAN MATEO JEFFREY SANTELLICES; Plaintiff, v. APTTUS CORPORATION; PROJECT EVEREST PARENT, LLC; PARENT EVEREST HOLDINGS, LLC; and DOES 1 through 25, Defendants. ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) Case No.: 19‐CIV‐00821 Assigned For All Purposes to Hon. Danny Y. Chou ORDER DENYING DEFENDANTS' MOTION TO DISMISS FOR FORUM NON CONVENIENS Defendants Apttus Corporation (Apttus), Project Everest Parent, LLC, and Parent Everest Holdin...

Excerpt: ...n August 29, 2017, causing injury. Defendant contends the statute of limitations for any cause of action against Ms. Person has run, as Plaintiff did not name Ms. Person as a Defendant within two years of the date of injury, and the amendment does not relate back to the original filing because Plaintiff was not genuinely ignorant of Ms. Person's identity. As noted by Defendant, Plaintiff spoke with Ms. Person and took pictures of Ms. Person's dri...

Excerpt: ...ULED. Defendant's objection to evidence are OVERRULED. Plaintiffs' counsel, three different firms, seek their attorneys' fees of $304,274.25, which amount includes a .5 multiplier pursuant to the Song‐Beverly Act, Civil Code § 1794(d). The case settled for $170,000 after Defendant's failed to repair the car that Plaintiffs had purchased for $33,000. Plaintiffs have submitted declarations from counsel, verified billing statements, a National Co...

Excerpt: ...e Court finds that the same result is obtained under both California and Delaware law. Accordingly, the Court does not engage in a conflict of law analysis. The Court notes though that even if substantive Delaware law applies, California procedural law, including whether the pleadings are sufficient, are determined under California law. 3 Witkin, Cal. Proc. 5th Actions § 46 (2020) citing Restatement 2d, Conflict of Laws §§ 127, 128. Failure to...

Excerpt: ...ants) is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART. “A cause of action against a person arising from any act of that person in furtherance of the person's right of petition or free speech under the United States Constitution or the California Constitution in connection with a public issue shall be subject to a special motion to strike, unless the court determines that the plaintiff has established that there is a probability that the plaintiff will pr...

Excerpt: ... party to judgment on the cause of action. (Code Civ. Proc., sect. 437c, subd. (p)(1).) Once the plaintiff has met that burden, the burden shifts to the defendant to show that a triable issue on one or more material facts exists as to the cause of action or a defense thereto. (Ibid.) The defendant shall not rely upon the allegations or denials of its pleadings to show a triable issue; defendant must set forth the specific facts showing that a tri...

Excerpt: ...plained below, entry of judgment finding Defendant Raymond Wilson guilty of unlawful detainer in this action is currently barred by the COVID‐19 Tenant Relief Act of 2020 (Tenant Relief Act). Plaintiff filed this unlawful detainer action on January 31, 2020. (Compl. for Unlawful Detainer, filed 1/31/20.) In the Complaint, Plaintiff alleged, among other things, that: (1) Defendant agreed to pay Plaintiff $2,325.00 per month as rental for certain...

Excerpt: ...or Fraudulent Concealment, the Second Cause of Action for Fraudulent Misrepresentation, and Third Cause of Action for Fraudulent Inducement (collectively fraud claims) is SUSTAINED WITH LEAVE TO AMEND Defendants' demurrer to the fraud claims is sustained with leave to amend because they are not pled with sufficient particularity and because Plaintiffs failed to plead a duty to disclose on the part of Defendants. Fraud claims must be pled with suf...

Excerpt: ...rd Motor Company does not challenge Plaintiffs' right to costs, but in this motion challenges certain of those costs. Defendant has made ruling on this motion more difficult because of its failure to comply with California Rule of Court 3.1700(b)(2). Thus this Court's ruling does not correspond to the line item on the Cost Memorandum. After viewing the totality of the record and weighing all the factors, this Court exercises its discretion and ru...

Excerpt: ...ance with CCP § 2030.300(c). The parties' disagreement centers around the question of whether Plaintiff's responses to Defendant's special interrogatories, served on August 10, 2020, were properly verified with Plaintiff's electronic signature. According to Plaintiff's declaration, he completed his review of the discovery responses on August 10 and directed his attorney to electronically sign Plaintiff's name on the verifications. Makada Decl., ...

Excerpt: ...plaint. (See California Arbitration Act (“CAA”), codified in the Code Civ. Proc. Sect. 1281, et seq., and the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”), 9 United States Code Sect. 1, et seq.) Plaintiff argues that the arbitration agreement is void because he did not sign an arbitration agreement. (Opp. at 3:9‐15.) The arbitration agreement provided by Defendant, which reflects Plaintiff's signatures, is authenticated by Fatima Parayno, Defendant'...

Excerpt: ...c. (“Sedgwick”) and Plaintiff‐in‐Intervention Guadalupe Campillo‐Cortes (“Campillo”) are DENIED. Sedgwick's request for joinder is GRANTED. A. The Peculiar Risk Doctrine Applies Only to Hazardous Activities Under the peculiar risk doctrine, a property owner who hires an independent contractor to do “inherently dangerous work” can be held directly liable for damages when that independent contractor causes injury to others by negl...