Excerpt: ...ttlement check has not been cashed due to a need for a signature from the Guardian Ad Litem. No response to the OSC was received, nor was a response received for the prior OSC issued in the amount of $250.00 on October 19, 2021. Although an attorney hired by the Guardian Ad Litem has the primary responsibility for pursuing the minor's claim, hiring the attorney does not relieve the guardian of all responsibility for pursuing the claim. Brandon G....

Excerpt: ...evance should generally be resolved in favor of permitting discovery. Colonial Life & Acc. Ins. Co. v. Sup. Ct. (1982) 31 Cal.3d 785, 790. Boilerplate objections are not proper objections and cannot be used indiscriminately to evade discovery obligations. Korea Data Sys. Co. v. Sup. Ct. (1997) 51 Cal.Ap.4th 1513, 1516. 2 This is an action brought under the Song‐Beverly Act. Civil Code § 1790 et seq. To succeed on a claim, a plaintiff bears the...

Excerpt: ...Civil Procedure] section 877.6 require that a number of factors be taken into account” when evaluating whether a settlement between a plaintiff and joint tortfeasor is in good faith, including (1) a rough approximation of plaintiffs' total recovery and the settlor's 3 proportionate liability; (2) the settlement amount, (3) allocation of the settlement proceeds among multiple plaintiffs, if applicable; (4) recognition that a settlor should pay l...

Excerpt: ...e § 11470. The judicial and/or administrative procedure for forfeiture is laid out generally in Health and Safety Code §§ 11488.4 and 11488.5. For a judicial forfeiture the District Attorney's Office (or other agency) is required to file a Petition for Forfeiture. Health and Safety Code § 11488.4(a). The Petition for Forfeiture must be served on the individuals from whom the property was seized. Health and Safety Code § 11488.5(c). This serv...

Excerpt: ...e can be used to attack the entire pleading, or any part thereof, including single words or phrases. Stearns Ranchos v. Atchison Topeka & Santa Fe Railway (1981) 19 Cal.App.3d 24. It is proper for the Court to strike any irrelevant, false or improper matter. CCP § 436(a). The Court can also strike any part of a pleading that is not drawn or filed in conformity with California law. CCP § 436(b). Damages for emotional distress and general damages...

Excerpt: ...Court. If requested by the parties, the Court also retains jurisdiction over the parties to enforce the settlement until performance in full of the terms of the settlement. Id. The parties signed a Stipulation for Settlement that was filed with the Court on March 10, 2021. After the matter was dismissed, the parties signed an Amended Stipulation for Settlement that was not filed with the Court, but attached as Exhibit 1 to the Declaration of Coun...

Excerpt: ...claration of Tristan P. Espinosa provides sufficient evidence of Plaintiff's meet and confer efforts. Request for Judicial Notice. Plaintiff requests the Court take judicial notice of the Answer filed by Defendants, Plaintiff's Motion to Deem Admissions, and the Court's ruling and Order granting Plaintiff's Motion to Deem Admissions. Plaintiff provided a copy of each. Pursuant to Evid. Code §§ 452(d) and 453, the Court grants the request. Merit...

Excerpt: ...n the same date, the Court issued an Order Granting Stipulation for Binding Arbitration and Stay of Action. The Stipulation includes an agreement to submit the entire Action to the arbitrator (¶ 1) and that the parties would split the costs of arbitration equally (¶ 5). The parties went to arbitration on August 31 and September 1, 2021. On October 25, 2021, the 4 arbitrator rendered an Arbitration Decision. The Arbitration Decision resolved all...

Excerpt: ...attorney's fees pursuant to CCP § 425.16(c) if they prevail on the motion. Merits of Motion: Code of Civil Procedure section 425.16, subdivision (b)(1), provides that “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 or California Constitution in connection with a public issue shall be subject to a special motion to strike, unless the ...

Excerpt: ...ower of the court to apply the ultimate sanction of default against a litigant who persists in an outright refusal to comply with his discovery obligations.” Deyo v. Kilbourne (1978) 84 Cal.App.3d 771, 787. On December 15, 2021, the Court issued an order granting Defendant's motion to compel further responses. To date, the further responses have not been provided. Court awarded sanctions have also not been paid. The Court order did not provide ...

Excerpt: ... a ruling made in California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection v. Eunice E. Howell, et al. Defendant did not object to the request and the ruling is a record of a court. The Court will take judicial notice pursuant to Evid. Code §§ 452(d) and 453. Meet and Confer Efforts. Both parties have provided substantial evidence regarding meet and confer efforts. The Court finds that the meet and confer efforts were sufficient. Merits of the Mot...

Excerpt: ...hat there is no triable issue of material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. “A plaintiff…has met his or her burden of showing that there is no defense to a cause of action if that party has proved each element of the cause of action entitling the party to judgment on the cause of action.” CCP § 437c(p)(1). Once a plaintiff has met its burden, the burden shifts to the defendant to show a triable issu...

Excerpt: ... for the purpose of determining whether an agreement can be reached that would resolve the objections to be raised in the demurrer. If an amended complaint, cross‐complaint, or answer is filed, the responding party shall meet and confer again with the party who filed the amended pleading before filing a demurrer to the amended pleading. (1) As part of the meet and confer process, the demurring party shall identify all of the specific causes of ...

Excerpt: ... were not necessary. Ibid. If the items appear to be proper charges, the verified memorandum of costs is prima facie evidence that the items were reasonably incurred. Oak Grove School Dist. v. City Title Ins. Co. (1963) 217 Cal.App.2d 678, 698. Conclusory and unsubstantiated objections to a cost are insufficient to rebut the presumption that they were reasonably and necessarily incurred. Ladas v. California State Auto. Ass'n (1993) 19 Cal. App. 4...

Excerpt: ...against the plaintiff, such party may not thereafter in any other action assert against the plaintiff the related cause of action not pleaded.” “Related cause of action” is defined as “a cause of action which arises out of the same transaction, occurrence, or series of transactions or occurrences as the cause of action which the plaintiff alleges in his complaint.” CCP § 426.10(c). Causes of action are related if there is a logical rel...

Excerpt: ...r to be attempted responses to the OSC. Although nothing in the correspondence was in an appropriate format for filing, and some appeared to be ex parte communications, as Plaintiff is the only party to have made an appearance in this case, in the interest of justice the Court chose to consider the correspondence. However, the numerous letters sent to the Court do not provide a sufficient excuse for not effectuating service in this case, especial...

Excerpt: ...clearly qualified by the responding party; 2) deny so much of the matter involved in the request as is untrue; or 3) specify so much of the matter involved in the request as to the truth of which the responding party lacks sufficient information or knowledge. CCP § 2033.220(b)(1‐3). A propounding party may move for an order compelling further responses to request for admissions if the responses are evasive/incomplete or the objections are with...

Excerpt: ...ding Motion for Final Approval of Class Action Settlement was filed on November 19, 2021 along with supporting declarations. The motion is unopposed. Final Approval of the Settlement: The parties have agreed to settle the case for $575,000.00. The breakdown of the settlement is: Total Settlement Amount $575,000.00 Proposed Attorneys' Fees (33 1/3%) $191,666.67 Litigation Costs and Expenses $21,239.57 Settlement Administration Costs $6,500.00 PAGA...

Excerpt: ...ium. Defendants are alleged to have breached that promissory note which has an outstanding principal balance of $12,100. Merits of Motion: CCP § 438(c)(1)(A) provides a plaintiff may move for judgment on the pleadings if the complaint states sufficient facts to constitute a cause of action and the answer does not state facts sufficient to constitute a defense to the complaint. Here, Plaintiff has alleged indemnity and breach of promissory note c...

Excerpt: ...opment Group Holdings, LLC (“DGH”) did not file a Memorandum of Costs. Timing. The Lockwoods and DGI each filed a Memorandum of Costs on October 18, 2021 and both were personally served on the Eatmons' counsel, Douglas Wright, on the same date. “Any notice of motion to strike or to tax costs must be served and filed 15 days after service of the cost memorandum.” CRC 3.1700(b)(1). The Eatmons timely filed their Motion to Strike Memorandum ...

Excerpt: ...Item No. 1 (filing and motion fees) $809.00  Item No. 5 (service of process) $80.00  Item No. 16 (other) $373.00 2 Merits of Motion: The Song‐Beverly Act; specifically, Civil Code Section 1794(d) states “If the buyer prevails…the buyer hall be allowed by the court to recover as part of the judgment a sum equal to the aggregate amount of costs and expenses…determined by the court to have been reasonably incurred by the buyer in conne...

Excerpt: ... 2 CRC 2.551. The Court finds good cause to seal the documents. The motion is GRANTED. A proposed order was lodged with the Court which will be executed. The clerk is instructed to seal the documents. Tentative Ruling on Motion to Compel and Competing Motion for Protective Order: Defendants Jas. D. Easton, Inc. and Easton Technical (hereinafter “Defendants”) move for a protective order to prevent the inspection of their manufacturing process....

Excerpt: ...th and Safety Code § 11470. The judicial and/or administrative procedure for forfeiture is laid out generally in Health and Safety Code §§ 11488.4 and 11488.5. For a judicial forfeiture the District Attorney's Office (or other agency) is required to file a Petition for Forfeiture. Health and Safety Code § 11488.4(a). The Petition for Forfeiture must be served on the individuals from whom the property was seized. Health and Safety Code § 1148...

Excerpt: ...and body of the complaint as a Defendant. On July 20, 2021, Plaintiffs filed their FAC which omits OES. References to OES in the caption and as a Defendant were removed from the FAC. An amended complaint that omits a defendant named in the original complaint, serves as a dismissal without prejudice as to that defendant. Kuperman v. Great Republic Life Ins. Co. (1987) 195 Cal.App.3d 943, 947. Based on the foregoing, the Court finds that OES has be...

Excerpt: ...torney's fees. Civ. Code § 1794(d). The attorney's fee award is limited to the amount the court determines was reasonably incurred by the buyer in commencing and prosecuting the action, based on actual time expended. The prevailing buyer has the burden of proving the fees were both reasonably necessary to conduct the litigation and reasonable in amount. Civil Code § 1794(d); Robertson v. Fleetwood Travel Trailers of California, Inc., (2006) 144...