Excerpt: ...s well as a code‐compliant separate statement of material facts. Plaintiff appears not to have filed any evidence in support of the opposition, in violation of CRC 3.1350(3). The clerk's office has confirmed that it is not in receipt of any of Plaintiff's evidence. Further, the Court notes that Plaintiff's separate statement is 515 pages. The separate statement sets forth pages of narrative in response to each of Defendant's undisputed facts an...

Excerpt: ...§ 437c. The parties agree that Privette v. Superior Court (1993) 5 Cal.4th 689 and its progeny apply to the facts, but disagree as to the result. In general terms, the California Supreme Court's decision in Privette limits the liability of the hirer of an independent contractor for on‐the‐job injuries sustained by the independent contractor's employees. Id. As the Supreme Court explained in subsequent case law, however, the Privette doctrine...

Excerpt: ...tively, Summary Adjudication, to the Complaint of Plaintiffs Sherlene and Lawrence Wong is ruled on as follows: Stillwater has brought this motion for summary judgment on two grounds: (1) that there was no direct physical loss to property as described in Coverage C of the policy; and (2) any loss was not covered by one of the sixteen perils covered under the policy. Defendants then claim that the other causes of action fail because they depend on...

Excerpt: ...and the forum state to justify imposition of personal jurisdiction. Elkman v. National States Ins. Co. (2009) 173 CA4th 1305, 1313. In this case, Plaintiffs contend the Court has specific personal jurisdiction over Defendants Hart and HME Legal because Defendants (1) accepted payment out of funds administered in California; (2) intentionally offered their services to Plaintiffs in California; and (3) proposed California dispute resolution in a te...

Excerpt: ... Darrow (“Plaintiff”) and Defendant providing that any action arising out of the agreement be brought in Florida. (See Barnes Decl., Exh. A, ¶ 18.f.) A mandatory forum selection clause is valid and enforceable absent a showing that enforcement of such a clause would be unreasonable. (CQL Original Products, Inc. v. National Hockey League Players' Assn. (1995) 39 Cal.App.4th 1347, 1353–1354.) The plaintiff bears the burden of demonstrating t...

Excerpt: ...ch the demurrer was sustained. (See Harris v. Wachovia Mortgage, FSB (2010) 185 Cal.App.4th 1018, 1023 [holding that plaintiff may not amend complaint to add a new cause of action without having obtained permission from the court to do so].) Here, Plaintiff's Second Amended Complaint (SAC) alleges several new causes of action and a new defendant that were not included in his First Amended Complaint (FAC). Specifically, Plaintiff alleges new cause...

Excerpt: ...3, plus late fees and loan costs of $1,432.81. Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment is DENIED. Plaintiff contends that it is entitled to summary judgment or, in the alternative, summary adjudication on its breach of contract claims. As explained below, Plaintiff is entitled to summary adjudication on its breach of contract claims but not summary judgment. The essential elements of a claim for breach of contract, whether express or implied, are...

Excerpt: ...Act (CLRA) is SUSTAINED WITHOUT LEAVE TO AMEND. Defendant's demurrer to the seventh cause of action for violation of the Unfair Competition Law (UCL) and eighth cause of action for violation of the False Advertising Law (FAL) are SUSTAINED WITH LEAVE TO AMEND. Sixth Cause of Action for Violation of the CLRA In sustaining the demurrer to the cause of action for violation of the CLRA in the FAC, the Court found that “Plaintiff has not alleged com...

Excerpt: ... other responsive pleading on or before five days after service upon him of the notice of entry of the order denying the motion to quash. In unlawful detainer actions, the filing of a motion to quash “extends the defendant's time to plead until five days after service upon him of the written notice of entry of an order denying his motion[.]” C.C.P. § 1167.4(b). Defendant filed a motion to quash on March 4, 2020. The Court denied the motion t...

Excerpt: ...2 Cal.App.4th 1234); Weil & Brown, Civil Procedure Before Trial ¶6:94‐¶6:96. Plaintiffs appearing pro per drafted and filed their Complaint on December 21, 2018, alleging claims for negligence and personal injuries arising from a vehicle collision on January 2, 2017. In the caption, Plaintiff identified “AAA Insurance (American Automobile Association)” as Defendant. Throughout the body of the Complaint, Plaintiffs addressed their negligen...

Excerpt: ...e answer. Sebago, Inc. v. City of Alameda (1989) 211 Cal.App.3d 1372, 1379. “The grounds for a motion for judgment on the pleadings must appear from the face of the complaint or from a matter of which the court may take judicial notice.” RichardsonTunnell v. Schools Ins. Program for Employees (2007) 157 Cal.App.4th 1056, 1061 (disapproved on other grounds by Quigley v. Garden Valley Fire Protection Dist. (2019) 7 Cal.5th 798). Here, Plaintiff...

Excerpt: ... to Defendants' Merger Agreement. Further, the only portion of the Agreement that is relevant to Defendants' demurrer is a brief passage on page 22 of the Merger Agreement; the remainder of the Agreement's contents are not relevant to the demurrer for which Defendants cite the Agreement. For these reasons, the Court finds that (1) There exists an overriding interest that overcomes the right of public access to the record; (2) The overriding inter...

Excerpt: ...t notes that he threw the papers away without looking at them and asserts that “[t]his is not outside the realm of normal behavior for a small business owner who is inundated with paperwork and has limited time to response to administrative issues.” (Id., at p.6.) Defendant bears the burden of showing that he is entitled to relief pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure section 473, subdivision (b). In the absence of an attorney affidavit of faul...

Excerpt: ...(See Code of Civ. Proc. § 395.5.) “In tort, ‘liability arises where the injury occurs….'” (Mission Imports, Inc. v. Sup.Ct. (Monterey Bay Co., Inc.) (1982) 31 Cal.3d 921, 929.) Injury refers to a wrongful invasion of rights. (Black Diamond Asphalt, Inc. v. Sup. Ct. (2003) 109 Cal.App.4th 166, 172.) The burden is on Defendant to overcome the presumption that the venue selected by Plaintiffs Yolanda S. Recania and Vernon Recania (“Plaint...

Excerpt: ...oc. § 430.10(e). On 9‐11‐20, the Court granted Defendants' Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings (MJOP) with leave to amend, directed to the original Complaint's asserted causes of action for (1) actual fraudulent transfer, (2) constructive fraudulent transfer, (3) common law fraudulent transfer, (4) declaratory relief, and (5) accounting. Plaintiff thereafter filed the FAC, reasserting the same first four causes of action, but dropping the a...

Excerpt: ...tiff paid $15,000 against a surety bond it issued to Defendant. Plaintiff contends it is entitled to reimbursement of the $15,000 payment on the grounds that it made payment out of the surety bond in good faith, that Defendant waived his right to contest the payment when he failed to specifically instruct Plaintiff not to make payment, and that Plaintiff has a statutory right to reimbursement under Civil Code section 2847. However, the pleadings ...

Excerpt: ... Concealment, Breach of Fiduciary Duty, Negligence, and Civil Conspiracy.  This case involves a number of related corporate entities in both China and California, and alleges fraud and theft of corporate assets. As alleged, Plaintiff China New Era Group Corporation (CNEGC), based in Beijing, was engaged in various business ventures world‐wide, and in 2015, CNEGC entered into agreements with third parties to pursue a real estate development p...

Excerpt: ... wrongful eviction, and other related claims, arising out of an oral subletting of garage unit in East Palo Alto that allegedly was un‐permitted and unlawfully converted to a small rental unit. The Causes of Action asserted are: 1. Tenant Relocation Assistance, Violation of CA Health & Safety Code §§ 17975‐17975.2 2. Tenant Relocation Assistance, Violation of East Palo Alto Municipal Code §§ 14.02.130, 14.02.150, 14.06.080 3. Tenant Haras...

Excerpt: ...e negligence action on a Judicial Council Form Complaint, and appears to arise out of a dispute over Defendants' August 22, 2020 refusal to provide security tape footage to Plaintiff of an altercation Plaintiff had with a third party outside Defendants' hotel property. Defendants here demur to the Complaint as uncertain and failing to state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action.  In his confusing pleadings, Plaintiff seems to claim ...

Excerpt: ...he Court. Defendant Daniel Brian Schatt's unopposed Demurrer to Plaintiff James Alexander's First Amended Complaint, filed October 15, 2020, (“FAC”) is SUSTAINED WITH LEAVE TO AMEND for the following reasons: The demurrer to the first cause of action for declaratory relief is SUSTAINED WITH LEAVE TO AMEND. This claim is predicated on Plaintiff's other causes of action. Because the FAC fails to state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of a...

Excerpt: .... Plaintiff's opposition is long on argument, but does not indicate what specific allegations in the SAC describe extrinsic fraud, and the Court has not located any. The allegations of wrongdoing describe, at most, intrinsic fraud. It is Plaintiff's burden to offer a showing that he can amend his pleading to state a cause of action. Plaintiff's Opposition makes no showing of possible amendment. The motion is DENIED as to the third through sixth c...

Excerpt: ... Fraudulent Transfer based on failure to allege facts sufficient to support this claim against it. Defendant asserts that the allegations show it was not a transferor or transferee of any alleged fraudulent transfer, and therefore cannot be liable for conspiracy to commit fraudulent transfer. Defendant argues that the controlling authority here is Applied Equipment Corp. v. Litton Saudi Arabia Ltd. (1994) 7 Cal.4th 503 (“Applied Equipment”). ...

Excerpt: ...ion for breach of contract, the motion is DENIED. As with a demurrer, a motion for judgment on the pleadings “does not lie to a part of a cause of action.” Grieves v. Superior Court (1984) 157 Cal.App.3d 159, 163. Here, Plaintiff's Second Cause of Action alleges multiple breaches of the 2017 Operating Agreement, not all of which appear to hinge on the parties' dispute regarding LLC ownership percentages. Complaint, ¶¶82‐92. The Second Cau...

Excerpt: ...,000 in American Express Company. Plaintiff American Express National Bank's unopposed “Motion for Order Vacating Dismissal and Entering Judgment against Defendant,” filed 10‐2‐ 20, is GRANTED. Code Civ. Proc. § 664.6. Per the parties' “Stipulation for Conditional Entry of Judgment” filed 10‐22‐18 (signed 10‐19‐ 18), the parties settled their dispute and Defendants agreed to make a series of payments to Plaintiff per a paymen...

Excerpt: ...Cal.App.3d 703, 710. Where discovery is required to oppose a jurisdictional challenge, a defendant may conduct that discovery without being considered to make a general appearance in the action. Factor Health Management, LLC v. Superior Court (2005) 132 Cal.App.4th 246. Specially Appearing Defendant may therefore participate in jurisdictional discovery without waiving their jurisdictional arguments. Plaintiff is authorized to conduct jurisdiction...