Excerpt: ...murrer: A general demurrer should be sustained if the complaint fails to “state facts sufficient to constitute a valid cause of action.” CCP § 430.10(e). A demurrer can also be brought on the grounds that the pleading is “uncertain.” CCP § 430.10(f). A demurrer can be used to challenge defects that appear on the face of the complaint or from matters that may be subject to judicial notice. Blank v. Kirwan (1985) 39 Cal. 3d 311, 318. The ...

Excerpt: ...hed that resolves the objections to be raised in the motion to strike. CCP § 435.5(a). Plaintiff has provided a letter sent to Defendants on January 19, 2021. Ricks. Decl. ¶ 5, Exhibit B. The Court finds that Plaintiff has met their obligation to meet and confer. Motion to Strike Standard: A motion to strike can be used to attack the entire pleading, or any part thereof, including single words or phrases. Stearns Ranchos v. Atchison Topeka & Sa...

Excerpt: ...a settlement reached by a defendant/joint tortfeasor. A good faith determination bars any other joint tortfeasors or coobligors from any further claims for indemnity, comparative fault or equitable contribution. CCP § 877.6(c). The settlement must be within the reasonable range of the settling tortfeasors' share of liability taking into consideration the facts and circumstances of the case. Tech‐Bilt, Inc. v. Woodward‐Clyde & Associates (198...

Excerpt: ...ecember 3, 2020. The pending Motion for Final Approval of Class Action Settlement and Motion for Award of Reasonable Attorneys' Fees and Costs, Class Representative Service Award, and Settlement Administration Fees were filed on February 2, 2021 along with numerous supporting declarations. Both motions are unopposed. Final Approval of the Settlement: The terms of the settlement require defendant to fund a settlement package in the amount of $180,...

Excerpt: ..., the burden shifts to the plaintiff to establish his probability of prevailing on the claim. (HMS Capital, Inc. v. Lawyers Title Company (2004) 118 Cal.App.4th 204, 211.) A defendant meets his initial burden by demonstrating the act underlying the plaintiff's cause of action fits one of the categories spelled out in section 425.16, subdivision (e). (Navellier v. Sletten (2002) 29 Cal.4th 82, 88.) The “focus is not the form of the plaintiff's c...

Excerpt: ...nd confer at least five days before the date a motion to strike is filed. The Declaration of Robert P. Johnston provides evidence that the Parties met and conferred more than five days prior to the motion being filed. Requests for Judicial Notice. Both Parties request that the Court take judicial notice of the various pleadings contained within the Court's file for this case as well as the Appellate Opinion, Sumner v. Simpson University (2019) 27...

Excerpt: ...ction fails to state sufficient facts. CCP § 430.10(a) & (e). A demurrer can be used to challenge defects that appear on the face of the complaint or from matters that may be subject to judicial notice. Blank v. Kirwan (1985) 39 Cal. 3d 311, 318. The court “treat[s] the demurrer as admitting all material facts properly pleaded, but not contentions, deductions or conclusions of fact or law.” Hood v. Hacienda La Puente Unified School District ...

Excerpt: ...perty that is subject to litigation. The lis pendens can be expunged (removed) during the pendency of the action if the pleading on which the notice is based does not contain a real property claim. CRC § 405.31. A real property claim in the context of lis pendens is defined as “the cause or causes of action in a pleading which would, if meritorious, affect (a) title to, or the right to possession of, specific real property or (b) the use of an...

Excerpt: ...as not expressly raised it appears that Plaintiffs' counsel also represents Williams. An opposition has been filed but it expressly states that it is the Plaintiffs' opposition. There is no indication that the opposition was provided on behalf of Williams. No evidence in opposition has been filed by Williams or on behalf of Williams. As such the Court will continue this matter to allow for personal service on Williams. Today's hearing is continue...

Excerpt: ...priate pursuant to Evid. Code § 452 and the Court will take judicial notice of each of the document Plaintiff's Objections to Defendants' Exhibits. The objections are be overruled. Service. Defendant objects that the Motion was served electronically, rather than by mail or personal service. The Court notes that Emergency Rule 12, which would have required Defendant to accept electronic service was repealed November 13, 2020. The Motion was serve...

Excerpt: ...tain a FAC. However, upon receipt it was apparent that the FAC was filed in Federal Court, not State Court. Plaintiff is directed to file a FAC in this case so that the operative pleading is part of the official record. The proposed Class is defined as, “all current and former non‐exempt, hourly employees who worked for Defendant within California at any time during the Class Period,” which is defined as “the time period from January 3, 2...

Excerpt: ...ursuant to Evid. Code § 452(d). This request is granted. Merits of the Motion. A petition for leave to intervene may be made by noticed motion or ex parte application and must include a copy of the Proposed Complaint‐In‐Intervention set forth the grounds upon which intervention rests. CCP § 387(c). Under CCP § 387(d)(2), the Court has discretion to permit a nonparty to intervene in the action where “the person has an interest in the matt...

Excerpt: ...nt and Housing Act (FEHA) as well as whistleblower retaliation, failure to take corrective action and violation of the POBRA related to actions taken by unspecified employees on September 27, 28 and 29, 2019. On April 10, 2020, Defendant responded with a Notice of Insufficiency. The Notice stated it would take no action on the claim for 15 days in order to give Plaintiffs' an opportunity to amend. On May 4, 2020, Plaintiffs submitted an amended c...

Excerpt: ...�uncertain.” CCP § 430.10(f). A demurrer can be used to challenge defects that appear on the face of the complaint or from matters that may be subject to judicial notice. Blank v. Kirwan (1985) 39 Cal. 3d 311, 318. The court “treat[s] the demurrer as admitting all material facts properly pleaded, but not contentions, deductions or conclusions of fact or law.” Hood v. Hacienda La Puente Unified School District (1998) 65 Cal.App.4th 435, 438...

Excerpt: ...ws a party to move to set aside a void order or judgment. Defendant has submitted a declaration that he was never served with the FAC, and had no knowledge of it prior to November 24, 2020. The FAC was filed on August 18, 2020 and includes a proof of service stating that it was served by mail on Defendant Robert Blankenship on August 18, 2020. Based on the a proof of service indicating the FAC was served on August 18, 2020, the Court entered defa...

Excerpt: ...her burden of showing that a cause of action has no merit if the party has shown that one or more elements of the cause of action, even if not separately pleaded, cannot be established, or that there is a complete defense to the cause of action. Once the defendant … has met that burden, the burden shifts to the plaintiff … to show that a triable issue of one or more material facts exists as to the cause of action or a defense thereto….” C...

Excerpt: ...nsel show that good faith meet and confer efforts were made, but they were ultimately unsuccessful. Merits of the Motion. “[A]ny party may obtain discovery regarding any matter, not privileged, that is relevant to the subject matter involved in the pending action or to the determination of any motion made in that action, if the matter either is itself admissible in evidence or appears reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible...

Excerpt: ...heck that was provided by Plaintiffs as evidence that their home was cleaned following a prior insurance claim just prior the insurance claim which is the subject matter of this litigation. As Plaintiffs again received payment for cleaning as a result of the Carr Fire claim at issue in this litigation having represented to Defendants that the prior cleaning had been performed. When Check No. 1287 (the check for payment of cleaning services) was p...

Excerpt: ...ecified in the requests admitted. CCP § 2033.280(b). Failure to respond also waives any objections to the discovery propounded. CCP § 2033.280(a). Petitioner's moving papers sufficiently demonstrate that the Claimant has failed to respond to Plaintiff's Request for Admissions within the required time frame. The motion is GRANTED. A proposed order was provided as an exhibit to the motion. The Court cannot remove the proposed order because that w...

Excerpt: ... may promptly move for a protective order.” CCP § 2025.420(a). “The court, for good cause shown, may make any order justice requires to protect a party, deponent, or other natural person or organization from unwarranted annoyance, embarrassment, oppression, or undue burden and expense,” including but not limited to an order that the deposition not be taken at all, be taken at a different time, be taken only on certain specified terms and c...

Excerpt: ...eference for trial on the merits favors resolving doubts in favor of the moving party and relief should be granted except in cases of clear insufficiency of the “excuse” or unjustified delay in bringing the motion to the other party's prejudice. Elston v. City of Turlock (1985) 38 Cal.3d 227, 233–234. The Court should liberally exercise their power in setting aside default judgments. Carbondale Mach. v. Eyrand (1928) 94 Cal.App. 356, 360. A...

Excerpt: ...ear later. CRC 3.740 requires that these collection cases be served within 180 days of the complaint having been served. No efforts to obtain an extension of this time were ever requested. When the trial date arrived, no one appeared. Attorney C. W. Chase attempted to appear but he did not have an association of counsel and no association had been previously filed, thus the Court dismissed the case. CCP § 473 permits a court to set aside a judgm...

Excerpt: ...onse was provided on October 8, 2020. The instant motion seeks an order to compel further responses as to items 24‐27. Defendant objects to all four Demands on the basis of privilege. Asserting an objection related to a privilege requires that the party provide sufficient factual information which would allow the propounding to “evaluate the merits of the claim” as required under CCP 2031.240(c)(1). However, the privilege objection only 6 b...

Excerpt: ...fs filed an Opposition to the Motion. Meet and Confer. A motion brought under this section must include a declaration describing efforts to meet and confer in good faith. CCP § 2031.310(b)(2). The parties both provide evidence of their meet and confer efforts, however Plaintiffs indicate that the meet and confer requirement has not been met. Both parties cite Obregon v. Superior Court (1998) 67 Cal. App. 4th 424 as supporting their respective po...

Excerpt: ...” The Declaration Tyler Lalaguna, submitted in support of the Demurrer, shows sufficient efforts between the parties to meet and confer. Request for Judicial Notice. The Court takes judicial notice of the Trust Transfer Deed 2018‐0018021 that was recorded by the Shasta County Assessor‐ Recorder on June 28, 2018. As the Defendant is not requesting the Court to admit any of the statements therein for the truth of the matter, Plaintiff's objec...