Excerpt: ...uest for Judicial Notice. The court takes judicial notice of four plea agreements entered in federal cases between the United States government and Jeffrey Carpoff, Paulette Carpoff, Ronald Roach, and Alan Hansen. (Evid. Code, §452(d).) Specific Jurisdiction. California courts may exercise personal jurisdiction “on any basis not inconsistent with the Constitution of this state or of the United States.” (Code Civ. Proc., § 410.10.) The exerc...

Excerpt: ...OR LIVING, ET AL. Case No. FCS057259 Defendant's Petition to Compel Arbitration; TENTATIVE RULING Petition to Compel Arbitration Defendant's petition to compel arbitration is granted. The relevant issue is not whether Plaintiff's daughter, Sandra Aguilar, was authorized to admit Plaintiff to Defendant's residential care facility, but whether Aguilar was authorized to agree to arbitrate disputes. (Theresa D. v. MBK Senior Living LLC (2021) 73 Cal....

Excerpt: ...hy leave is proper, when facts supporting amendment were discovered, and why leave was not requested earlier. (Cal. Rules of Court, rule 3.1324(b).) Plaintiff does not include a declaration stating when he discovered the facts supporting any of his new allegations, particularly as to the new allegations against DUNCAN and KADOYA, and why those facts could not have been discovered and alleged earlier. Further, Plaintiff's government claim as prese...

Excerpt: ...wing six exhibits: (A) a New York Times article dated April 27, 2020; (B‐C) two California Public Records Act requests Petitioner has made concerning the set of land use approvals known as the “Fairview at Northgate Project” (the “Project”); (D) Respondent CITY OF VALLEJO's (“VALLEJO”) response to Exhibit B; (E) a proposed deed restriction; and (F) the unredacted version of a June 9, 2020 letter sent to the Vallejo City Counsel. A r...

Excerpt: ...state estate. That petition was assigned case number FPR048670. The petition identified the home as an asset of the estate, and in addition to Plaintiff also identified two adult sisters as potential heirs. The probate case was dismissed by the court in January, 2019, after continued failure of the petitioner to perfect defects. Plaintiff's opposition contends that he has plead the existence of damages and that based upon his reliance that he wou...

Excerpt: ...vidence. In ruling on a motion for summary adjudication the court need only rule on those evidentiary objections that it deems material to its disposition of the motion. (Code Civ. Proc., § 437c, subd. (q).) Moving Defendants' objections to Plaintiff's separate statement of undisputed facts on the basis of materiality and relevance are overruled. Legal Standard. A defendant may move for summary judgment on the basis that the plaintiff cannot est...

Excerpt: ...ither on the face of the pleadings or upon facts of which the court may take judicial notice. C.C.P. § 438(d); see California Evidence Code § 452. Other extrinsic evidence, such as discovery admissions controverting the pleadings, cannot be considered on a motion for judgment on the pleadings. Weil & Brown, Civil Procedure Before Trial § 7:322, p. 7(I)‐92. PLAINTIFF only relies on the discovery admissions in this case to argue that there are...

Excerpt: ...Court on December 17, 2019. (Complaint, par. 1). Plaintiff clearly had notice of the potential joint responsibility of the Superior Court as a potential owner of the sidewalk given that she expressly plead that she was leaving the court building when she tripped “directly in front of the Solano County Superior Court.” (Complaint, par. 1). Government Code, section 915(c) clearly specifies the manner in which a claim against a superior court sh...

Excerpt: ...022, which was expressly stipulated to by the parties. The untimely opposition is stricken. 3 Parties to appear to discuss procedural aspects of this case including the stipulation to amend the complaint discussed on the record on April 23, 2021. This case was returned on remittitur after the trial court granted summary judgment. However, the court understands that the causes of action that were returned by the appellate court were solely a cause...

Excerpt: ...oversy and that a party to the agreement refuses to arbitrate. (Code Civ. Proc., § 1281.2.) In ruling on a petition to compel arbitration, the trial court shall order parties to arbitrate if it determines that a valid agreement to arbitrate the controversy exists by utilizing principles of California contract law. (Luxor Cabs, Inc. v. Applied Underwriters Captive Risk Assurance Co. (2018) 30 Cal.App.5th 970, 977.) Though California and federal l...

Excerpt: ...dants' motion to strike punitive damages as to minor defendant CHARLES THOMAS PAUL is denied. A motion to strike challenges pleading issues that are usually not addressable on a demurrer, including “irrelevant matter.” (Weil & Brown, Civil Procedure Before Trial, §§ 7:179, 7:182, pp. 7(1)‐76, 7(1)‐77.) Irrelevant matter includes demands for judgment requesting relief not supported by the allegations of the complaint. (CCP § 431.10) A m...

Excerpt: ...ative decision to demonstrate wherein the proceedings were unfair, in excess of jurisdiction, or showed ‘prejudicial abuse of discretion'”].) Nothing in the administrative record lodged with the court suggests that Petitioner was not given adequate notice of the pendency of the action or that he was denied an adequate opportunity to present his objections. (Doe v. Regents of Univ. of Cal. (2016) 5 Cal.App.5th 1055, 1077.) The court notes that...

Excerpt: ...igation is not absolute” and counsel has a duty to “not withdraw from employment until [s]he has taken reasonable steps to avoid foreseeable prejudice to the right of [her] client.”. (Vann v. Shilleh (1975) 54 Cal.App.3d 192, 197.) “It [is] the duty of the trial court to see that [the client is] protected, so far as possible, from the consequences of [counsel's] improper abandonment of [her] client.” (Ibid.) At the September 20, 2021, c...

Excerpt: ...ts have not demonstrated adequate prejudice from the proposed amendment and the liberal rule of allowance must prevail. (Kittredge Sports Co. v. Superior Court (1989) 213 Cal.App.3d 1045, 1048; Higgins v. Del Faro (1981) 123 Cal.App.3d 558, 564.) Plaintiff has agreed to submit to a subsequent deposition (Decl. of Buchanan (1/4/22), ¶ 3) and Defendants have made no showing that they are not capable of completing the additional written discovery r...

Excerpt: ...il to agree upon or advance litigation. This case was filed in 2016 and is past the deadline for discretionary dismissal for failure to prosecute. In addition, given the inability of the litigants to provide direction to counsel, the court questions the individual capacity and desire of the litigants to maintain this action. An Order to Show Cause why this case should not be dismissed and the lis pendens vacated shall issue to Plaintiffs' counsel...

Excerpt: ...of this suit and settlement negotiations. In lieu of a court‐supervised winding up, the parties agreed that Defendants JAMES and VALERIE INGLEBRIGHT would be solely responsible for winding up the corporation. Neither party made indemnification of unknown third‐party claims or unknown tax liabilities a condition of settlement. However, it was clear that Defendants JAMES and VALERIE INGLEBRIGHT assumed exclusive responsibility for winding up th...

Excerpt: ...Code § 26038 which would entitle them to judgment on the causes of action1 . (Code Civ. Proc. § 437c(p)(1).) It is undisputed that in order to operate a cannabis business in the Benicia City limits, the Benicia Municipal Code requires a valid use permit. (See Benicia Municipal Code, § 17.84.040.) It is also undisputed that the defaulting defendant, EVERGREEN RELIEF, entered into a commercial lease with Defendant landowner TUTTLE FAMILY LIVING ...

Excerpt: ...he Vallejo Police Department, it is undisputed that Petitioner WHITNEY was an at‐will employee. Under the 14th Amendment, a public employee discharged for a reason which might seriously impair his or her opportunity to earn a living, or which might seriously change his or her standing or associations in the community, is entitled to a name‐clearing hearing. (Lubey v. City and County of San Francisco (1979) 98 Cal.App.3d 340.) In addition to t...

Excerpt: ... personal service of the summons and complaint. However, substitute service by serving a competent member of the household and mailing the summons and complaint to the defendant at the address at which the defendant resides is also an effective form of service. Defendant acknowledges that she lived at the home in which substitute service was perfected. Other evidence also supports the existence of notice to Defendant of the judgment and renewal o...

Excerpt: ... now moves for class certification in this action against Defendants WAHOO LOGISTICS, LLC (“WAHOO”), MOTION EXPRESS (“MOEX”), and FEDEX GROUND PACKAGE SYSTEM, INC. (“FEDEX”). Plaintiff seeks certification of the following class: “All hourly truck loaders/unloaders and delivery drivers employed by Defendants to work at the FedEx Ground Package branch located at 5191 Fermi Drive, Fairfield, California during the period of four years p...

Excerpt: ...contention cannot support liability for negligence. As a host, ELLSWORTH is subject to immunity by statute. (Civ. Code, § 1714.) A “social host who furnishes alcoholic beverages to any person” cannot “be held legally accountable for damages suffered by that person, or for injury to the person or property of … any third person, resulting from the consumption of those beverages.” (Civ. Code § 1714(c).) An exception to this immunity exis...

Excerpt: ...he proceeding.” (Mandell v. Superior Court (1977) 67 Cal.App.3d 1, 4.) “The right of counsel to withdraw from pending litigation is not absolute” and counsel has a duty to “not withdraw from employment until [s]he has taken reasonable steps to avoid foreseeable prejudice to the right of [her] client.”. (Vann v. Shilleh (1975) 54 Cal.App.3d 192, 197.) “It [is] the duty of the trial court to see that [the client is] protected, so far as...

Excerpt: ...hin 2 years, where summons does not result in actual 2 notice]; Civil Code §1788.61(a)(3) [6 years on an action by a “debt buyer” is an outer limitation]; C.C.P. §473(d) [held by courts to impose a 2 year deadline from entry of default judgment, if judgment is valid on its face, but is void for improper service (Edmon & Karnow (Weil & Brown), Civil Procedure Before Trial, §§5:491 and 5:492, p. 5‐141). Defendant's motion here was filed i...

Excerpt: ...d Amended Complaint to include claims through the present, and the large proposed class including 16,000 workers. While Defendants dispute liability, the difference in the potential amount versus the settlement is significant. How many employees did Six Flags have during this period of time that are not covered by the settlement? What is the potential liability for an average worker? What will an average worker actually receive? The record must e...

Excerpt: ...nant. Having tried highly complex cases that have been given statutory priority, the court genuinely appreciates the concerns expressed by Defendants NEW IMAGE 3 LANDSCAPE CO. and CITY OF FAIRFIELD regarding the intrinsic difficulties with preparing a serious matter for jury trial within 120 days. While the court appreciates the concerns, the concerns are a matter for the Legislature, not the Court. The only barrier at this juncture to granting s...

Excerpt: ...es if not sham allegations. Here, the Second Amended Complaint (“SAC”) now alleges that Plaintiff said at the time of the accident that she was driving 120 miles. Defendant's criticism that this allegation should have been included with the original complaint is valid, but does not render this amended allegation a sham. Plaintiff also explains that the allegation follows sworn deposition testimony given by Anthony Avanessian and the expert op...

Excerpt: ...w Cause and Motion to Strike filed by COMPASS BANK, the answers filed on behalf of suspended corporations FAIRFIELD IMPORTS TWO, LLC; VALLEJO IMPORTS, LLC and VALLEJO CJD, LLC. were withdrawn. The Court granted Plaintiff's motion for summary judgment on February 26, 2021 as to Defendant FAIRFIELD CJD, LP and Guarantor Defendant HASSANALLY. In that ruling, Plaintiff was awarded $18,286,232.90 in principal, $1,917,480.29 in interest as of July 24, ...

Excerpt: ...ck loaders/unloaders and delivery drivers employed by Defendants to work at the FedEx Ground Package branch located at 5191 Fermi Drive, Fairfield, California during the period of four years prior to the filing of this action through the present.” Plaintiff seeks certification of the following subclass: “All hourly truck loaders/unloaders and delivery drivers employed by Defendants to work at the FedEx Ground Package branch located at 5191 Fe...

Excerpt: ...'s Motion to Deem Matters Admitted. Defendant MIKE TALKINGTON's unopposed motion to deem facts admitted is granted. Plaintiff MIKE LOWRIE TRANSPORT, INC., shall be deemed to have admitted all propounded Requests for Admission (Set Two). Defendant MIKE TALKINGTON's Motion to Compel Responses to Form Interrogatories (General) The motion to compel Plaintiff MIKE LOWRIE TRANSPORT, INC. to respond to written responses to form interrogatories filed by ...

Excerpt: ...emurrer based on uncertainty is disfavored, unless if renders the pleading impossible to know what charge is to be answered, or to determine how to investigate the charge through discovery. Edmon & Karnow (Weil & Brown), Civil Procedure Before Trial, §§7:85 and 7:86, p. 7(I)‐41. 5 The court does not find the 2nd cause of action here sufficiently “uncertain” to justify sustaining CHURCH's demurrer on that basis. The court sustains CHURCH's...

Excerpt: ...ion communications between the parties and putative class members to ensure fairness in class actions. (Barriga v. 99 Cents Only Stores LLC (2020) 51 Cal.App.5th 299, 307‐308.) The court has broad authority to make appropriate orders 2 that protect the integrity of the class and the administration of justice. (Id. at p. 328, citing O'Connor v. Uber Technologies, Inc. (N.D. Cal., May 1, 2014, No. C‐13‐3826 EMC) 2014 U.S.Dist. LEXIS 61066 at ...

Excerpt: ...on may have been delayed to the point in time when Plaintiff knew, or reasonably should have known, that CALIBER would not grant him successor in interest status and/or a loan modification. (Fox v. Ethicon Endo‐Surgery, Inc. (2005) 35 Cal.4th 797, 806‐807.) Plaintiff's complaint alleged that CALIBER continued to encourage him to make the loan payments and continued to ask him to submit documents to evaluate his request for successor in intere...

Excerpt: ...se with MedMark, knew that Plaintiff is an employee of MedMark, and, as evidenced by their tender in 2019, was well aware of the role of Medmark in this litigation. At the case management conference (“CMC”) on May 7, 2021, the court was informed by one or more parties that the reason the mediation did not take place as previously agreed and ordered was that Destan Investments unilaterally pulled out of the mediation at the last minute citing ...

Excerpt: ... relevant to the pending petition to compel arbitration. Opening up discovery to the potential class makes no sense and imposes the costs of significant discovery on Defendant in a case in which Plaintiff may not be able to serve as a representative in one or more aspects of this case and in which a petition to compel arbitration is pending. Further, without a prior court order and/or agreement by Plaintiff that engaging in this expanded scope of...

Excerpt: ... deposition testimony if the opposing party has no notice or expectation that the expert will offer the new testimony or if notice of the new testimony comes at a time when deposing the expert is unreasonably difficult. (Dozier v. Shapiro (2011) 199 Cal.App.4th 1509, 1519; Kennemur v State of California citing Easterby v. Clark (2009) 171 Cal.App.4th 772, 780; Boston v Penny Lane Cts., Inc. (2009) 170 Cal.App.4th 936, 952.) The parties agreed, an...

Excerpt: ...endant shall notify the court and opposing party by October 2, 2021 at 10 a.m. (As this case is scheduled with statutory priority to commence October 6, 2021, the parties have informed the court they will be working through the weekend.) Motion for Summary Judgment on Case Specific Grounds Defendant's motion for summary judgment on case specific grounds or, in the alternative, summary adjudication, is continued to October 6, 2021 at 10:30. Defend...

Excerpt: ...ter July 23, 2020, when DAYTON was mailed the challenged final administrative decisions on two parking citations. Review under Code of Civil Procedure section 1094.5 is not available for parking citations. Those are handled entirely under Vehicle Code section 20400 et seq., which states that parking tickets “shall be governed by the civil administrative procedures set forth in this article.” Division 17, Chapter 1, Article 3 of the Vehicle Co...

Excerpt: ...onduct and Plaintiffs' damages from experiencing childhood leukemia. (CCP, § 598.) In reaching this decision, the court understands that this case is distinct from cases involving non‐Hodgkins lymphoma (“NHL”) which has been definitively linked by the IARC to the substantial exposure to glyphosate based upon studies. Unlike NHL, Plaintiff's expert (a member of the IARC) testified that IARC has not linked ALL to exposure to glyphosate in ei...

Excerpt: ...'s Motion to Deem Matters Admitted. Defendant MIKE TALKINGTON's unopposed motion to deem facts admitted is granted. Plaintiff MIKE LOWRIE TRANSPORT, INC., shall be deemed to have admitted all propounded Requests for Admission (Set Two). Defendant MIKE TALKINGTON's Motion to Compel Responses to Form Interrogatories (General) The motion to compel Plaintiff MIKE LOWRIE TRANSPORT, INC. to respond to written responses to form interrogatories filed by ...

Excerpt: ...ritten settlement agreement on March 16, 2017 that provided that judgment for $11,320.00 would not be entered against Mr. Garza if he paid to Bank of America a minimum of $75.00 monthly from March 20, 2017 through August 20, 2018 followed by a minimum of $150.00 from September 20, 2018 until the balance of $11,320.00 was paid in full. The agreement further provided that in the event of default that Bank of America could move for a judgment for wh...

Excerpt: ...ng further meet and confer. During the July 9, 2021, hearing, Mr. Amin objected to the Receiver and GlassRatner being paid $172,000 in aggregate fees in the BMO matter. The Receiver and Mr. Amin were directed to further meet and confer and the Receiver to provide Mr. Amin with supporting documentation for the fees incurred. The court ordered that following meet and confer if specific objections to the fees persisted, HASSANALLY was required to su...

Excerpt: ... portion of Defendants' motion constitutes an improper disguised motion for reconsideration. (See, Morite of Cal. et al. v. Superior Court (1993) 19 Cal.App.4th 485, 490 [a motion for reconsideration pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure section 1008 is the exclusive means for a party to seek modification, amendment, or revocation of an interim order].) Defendants' demurrer to the third cause of action for negligence is sustained without leave to a...

Excerpt: ...Santa Clara Street, Ste 278, Hayward, CA 94544 (510) 266‐5826. Defendant served the motion upon Plaintiff and assignee. 4 COLLECTRIX subsequently filed an untimely opposition to this action. Further, a pro per cannot appear on behalf of a limited liability corporation as to do so constitutes an unauthorized practice of law. The court strikes the Opposition. The record shows that Mr. Childs had actual notice of the lawsuit. The lawsuit was maile...

Excerpt: ...ported by evidence and law. (See, e.g., Grappo v McMills (2017) 11 Cal.App.5th 996, 1013.) Plaintiff is awarded reasonable attorneys' fees of $21,381.02 in securing the default judgment as to Quinto, as calculated using the schedule of attorneys' fees in default matters provided by local rule. (Local Rules of Court, rule 9.1, subds. (a), (d).) Plaintiff has not established that the award of a higher amount is warranted or reasonable under the cir...

Excerpt: .... There are two essential elements to the issuance of a writ of mandate: 1) a clear, present, and usually ministerial duty upon the part of the respondent and 2) a clear, present, and beneficial right in the petitioner to the performance of that duty. (Venice Town Council v. City of Los Angeles (1996) 47 Cal.App.4th 1547, 1558.) Although the duty to screen an inmate appeal is ministerial, the decision to reject or cancel an inmate appeal is a dis...

Excerpt: ...is premature. There are numerous legal and/or factual issues that must be determined before the court can properly evaluate the motion to compel AAA appointment of a third appraiser, including, but not necessarily limited to, whether delivery of sealed appraisals to a mutually agreed‐ upon escrow agent was excused because of impossibility when the parties did not mutually agree upon an escrow agent; whether Defendants' refusal to consent to the...

Excerpt: ...this action. A central component of the discovery process is the identification of potential witnesses and the disclosure of names and addresses is generally considered to be a routine and essential part of pretrial discovery. (Puerto v. Superior Court (2008) 158 Cal.App.4th 1242, 1249‐1250.) Name and address information, while personal, is not particularly sensitive and may not arise to the level of a significant invasion in comparison to “m...

Excerpt: ...ilure to effectuate service on Plaintiff and defense was brought to the attention of Plaintiff's counsel. An amended motion was filed June 30, 2021, which did not supplement prior declarations in response to issues raised by the court on June 24, 2021, and again was not accompanied by any proof of service on Plaintiff's client or the counsel for defendants. Further, deficits with respect to representation of Plaintiff's interests were pointed out...

Excerpt: ...led they solely concern the payment of rents by individuals who are not parties to this case. As to Defendants, the demurrer is sustained without leave to amend. Specific Performance. The facts Plaintiff presents in its opposition brief concerning Defendants' alleged default on loan payments occurring after the first amended complaint was filed support leave to amend to allege a breach of contract cause of action but do not defend against the ins...

Excerpt: ...3AC ¶¶ 3‐4, 11‐14.) She alleges she objected directly to BRANSON who then used his position as her supervisor to harass and retaliate against her. (3AC ¶¶15‐16.) Subsequently, she complained to BRENDEN THEATRE's general manager and alleges that thereafter BRENDEN THEATRE failed to timely and properly investigate her complaint, and wrongfully discharged her while retaining BRANSON. (3AC ¶¶ 17‐18.) Plaintiff further alleges that durin...