Excerpt: ...ckground This is an action for defamation and intentional interference with contractual relations. Paladin is a shareholder and the president of APTFrame and Arcsona, Inc. (“Arcsona”). (5AC, ¶¶ 1‐2, 12.) Paladin was also employed by APTFrame as a Senior Program Manager for NetApp pursuant to a Statement of Work. (Id. at ¶ 12.) APTFrame, defendant Global Anchorage, Inc. (“GA”), and Appirio, Inc. (“Appirio”) each provided temporary...

Excerpt: ...facts to allow the Court to conclude that he would be able to amend his complaint to state a viable claim, or to support any argument that the demurrer was not properly sustained. By virtue of the demurrer filed by Defendant that challenged Plaintiff's complaint, it was not reasonable for Plaintiff to expect a settlement and then fail to oppose the demurrer and choose not to appear at the hearing. Moreover, Defendant presented evidence that it co...

Excerpt: ...he allegations of the SAC, Plaintiff is the owner and voting member of fifty percent of Casa Alondra Mobile Home Park, LLC (the “LLC” of “CAMPH”) and brings the instant action in both a derivative and representative capacity on behalf of the LLC and in his own right as an intended beneficiary. (SAC, ¶ 1.) On June 9, 2014, Defendants undertook to provide legal services for the LLC and its three named members until they were discharged on ...

Excerpt: ...�), Acuity Ventures II, LLC (“Ventures II”), Eric Hardgrave (“Hardgrave”), and Larry Hootnick (“Hootnick”).1 Plaintiffs allege AMC, a general partner of the Partnership, as well as Ventures I and Ventures II were formed for the purpose of early‐stage investment in technology companies. They claim Hardgrave defrauded them into investing in these venture funds and that he and Hootnick thereafter mismanaged the funds throughout their o...

Excerpt: ...and exchanged confidential communications” subject to an oral joint defense agreement as part of a regulatory action, and that oral agreement was breached by the Lunardis and GCI, resulting in damage to Swallow. (See FAXC, ¶¶ 33, 82‐84.) In response to discovery seeking persons with knowledge of the alleged breach, Swallow identified his attorney, Allen Ruby. (See Harrington decl. in opposition to motion to quash, ¶ 2.) On February 21, 201...

Excerpt: ...tively, “Defendants”) arises from the fact Defendants own, manage, or allow to continue, a marijuana business. According to the allegations of the Complaint, Coachella is a marijuana distribution business that has operated at 2142 The Alameda in San Jose, California (“the Property”) since May 2017. The other defendants are all in some way related to the ownership or operation of Coachella. Foxx and Nemcov are owners, operators, or manager...

Excerpt: ... statement which was contained in Plaintiff's moving papers. “The objections made assumed that Dr. Lowenberg performed surgery on April 29, 2013 when it has been clearly demonstrated that this was impossible unless Dr. Lowenberg was insane or under the influence or attempting to commit a criminal assault”. (Motion 4:1‐ 3) The Court admonishes Plaintiffs' counsel that these sort of statements are unprofessional, disrespectful, and very inapp...

Excerpt: ...s motion for summary adjudication is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART. The motion is GRANTED as to the second, third and fourth causes of action and DENIED as to the first cause of action. With respect to the first for breach of contract, the Court finds that triable issues of material fact exist regarding the terms of the agreement between the parties, including whether the provisions alleged to have been incorporated by reference in PRT's pur...

Excerpt: ...ential Care Facility.2 There was a water tower on the property that supplied well water to the facility. Plaintiff leased space on the water tower to Defendants for the purpose of affixing telecommunications equipment and infrastructure. Plaintiff alleges Defendants unplugged a heating coil on the water tower thereby causing the pipes to freeze. As a result, Plaintiff suffered $3,000,000 in damages and had to shut down the nursing home. Plaintiff...

Excerpt: ...ome in Discovery Bay, California.1 When the subprime mortgage crisis unfolded the following year, Miley could not sell his home to pay back the loan. Miley resigned from Ross's construction company in 2009 and has not made any loan payments since. Ross seeks to recover the principal amount of $600,000 as well as $336,023.98 in interest. In the second amended complaint (“SAC”), Ross asserts causes of action against Miley for: (1) breach of ora...

Excerpt: ... now issues its tentative ruling. In the Complaint, filed March 14, 2018, Plaintiff alleges that Crowdstar Inc.'s directors, controlling shareholders, and their representatives breached their fiduciary duties in various ways. Plaintiff alleges six causes of action: (1) Breach of fiduciary duty; (2) Aiding and abetting breach of fiduciary duty; (3) Intentional interference with contract; (4) Intentional interference with prospective economic advan...

Excerpt: ...8, at 11:00 a.m. in Department 5 (Complex Civil Litigation), the Honorable Thomas E. Kuhnle presiding. The Court now issues its tentative ruling as follows: I. INTRODUCTION This action arises out of alleged trade secret misappropriation. The First Amended Complaint, filed on January 19, 2018, sets forth the following causes of action: (1) breach of contract; (2) breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing; (3) unfair business practices;...

Excerpt: ...that order. Plaintiffs now move for final approval of the settlement and approval of their attorney fees, costs, and enhancement awards. Their motion is unopposed. I. Legal Standard for Approving a Derivative Settlement “A court reviewing a settlement agreement considers whether the proposed settlement is fair and reasonable in light of all relevant factors. [Citations.] A court reviews the settlement of a derivative suit as a means of protecti...

Excerpt: ...TATIVE RULING RE: DEMURRER TO PLAINTIFF'S AMENDED STOCKHOLDER DERIVATIVE COMPLAINT; MOTION TO SEAL PLAINTIFF'S FIRST AMENDED COMPLAINT; MOTION TO SEAL EXHIBITS 25‐26, 28‐33, 36‐37, AND 39 TO DEFENDANTS' REPLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF DEMURRER TO FIRST AMENDED COMPLAINT The above‐entitled action comes on for hearing before the Honorable Thomas E. Kuhnle on July 20, 2018, at 9:00 a.m. in Department 5. The Court now issues its tentative ruli...

Excerpt: ...p Subscriptions with Apple, and Apple both delivers and charges subscribers for associated content. (TAC, ¶ 21.) However, Apple does so without complying with various provisions of Business & Professions Code sections 17600‐ 17604, which govern automatic renewal and continuous service offers to consumers in California (the “Automatic Renewal Law” or “ARL”). In order to make purchases from Apple's online store, consumers are first requi...

Excerpt: ... Background According to the operative Second Amended Complaint (“SAC”), defendant advertised its Apple TV 2.0 and 3.0 products as having “HD” or high definition capabilities, when in fact the devices' performance did not meet the industry‐accepted definition of HD, developed by the Advanced Television Systems Committee (“ATSC”). Specifically, Apple did not disclose that Apple TV 2.0 “only supported the H.264 codec with a Main Pro...

Excerpt: ...to the Shadafni Action, defendants Sharon Ajlouni and Karen Ajlouni (collectively, “Ajlounis”) filed a lawsuit against Hawari, Searles and SCI in Santa Clara County Superior Court, case number 1‐13‐CV‐242018 (“Ajlouni Action”). (Complaint, ¶¶6 – 8.) Defendant Michael Prozan (“Prozan”), a California licensed attorney, represented Shadafni and the Ajlounis in their respective actions against Hawari and others. (Complaint, ¶¶...

Excerpt: ...he purchase of a home. According to the allegations of the FAC, Plaintiff has difficulty understanding and managing his own financial affairs and therefore his son and daughter‐in‐law, Defendants, offered to help him purchase a home. (FAC, ¶ 1.) On March 24, 2011, Plaintiff and Defendants purchased a residential property (the “Property”) located in Gilroy. (Id., ¶ 2.) When the Property was purchased, title was taken by the parties as jo...

Excerpt: ...es I”), Acuity Ventures II, LLC (“Ventures II”), Eric Hardgrave (“Hardgrave”), and Larry Hootnick (“Hootnick”).2 Plaintiffs allege the Management Company, a general partner of the Partnership, as well as Ventures I and Ventures II were formed for the purpose of early‐stage investment in technology companies. They claim Hardgrave defrauded them into investing in these venture funds and that he and Hootnick thereafter mismanaged the...

Excerpt: ...entered into an agreement with after the merger with Aemetis was terminated. As alleged in the third amended complaint (“TAC”), Edeniq was formed in 2008 and is the inventor and exclusive licensor of valuable technology that converts corn fiber into cellulosic ethanol. (TAC, ¶ 8.) This technology would be worth hundreds of millions of dollars if approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) but Edeniq was consistently unab...

Excerpt: ... Both motions are GRANTED. The Court finds the objections asserted are not supported, and that the responses are not responsive and do not comply with the requirements of Code of Civil Procedure §§2031.210‐2031.250. The moving papers establish good cause for production of the requested documents under §2031.310(b). Verified further responses which comply with §§2031.210‐2031.250 must be served by Arriaga (Line 4) and by Arriaga & Associa...

Excerpt: ...d that Defendant had a 50% ownership interest, Katherine Lee had a 10% interest, Jannelle Yoon had a 15% interest, Peter Lee had a 10% interest and Plaintiff had a 10% interest. (See complaint, ¶ 9.) The agreement also prohibited the transfer or disposition of any interest of the subject property without written consent of all parties. (See complaint, ¶ 10.) In early 2016, Defendant informed his other siblings that he had sold the subject prope...

Excerpt: ...quently filed doe amendments naming, among others, defendant Cushman & Wakefield of California, Inc. (“CWCI”), who was the property manager at the campus. CWCI filed a cross‐complaint asserting causes of action against cross‐defendants DoorKing, Inc. (“DoorKing”), Nortek Security & Control (“Nortek”), and Able Engineering Services, Inc. (“Able”) for equitable indemnity, contribution, declaratory relief, and negligence. CWCI ad...

Excerpt: ...ages. The Cross‐ Complaint was deemed filed as of January 23, 2018 by order of the Court (Hon. Pierce). The only copy of the Cross‐Complaint existing in the Court's file is a copy of the then proposed cross‐complaint attached as exhibit A to the November 27, 2017 declaration of Blue Shield counsel Craig Rutenberg in support of the motion for leave to file a cross‐complaint. The Cross‐Complaint states five causes of action: 1) Breach of ...

Excerpt: ...Realty Investments, Inc., dba Insight Realty Company (“Insight”) and its manager and co‐founder Vincent Woo (“Woo”) (collectively “Defendants”) arises from Defendants' purported scheme to destroy Plaintiffs' business. According to the allegations of the First Amended Complaint (“FAC”), Plaintiffs were in negotiations to purchase real property in downtown Mountain View from Kent Yu (“Yu Transaction”). (FAC at ¶ 14.) Plaintif...