Excerpt: ...cedure sections 472, 473. A party may amend any pleading “once … of course, and without costs, at any time before the answer or demurrer is filed, or after demurrer and before the trial of the issue of law thereon ....” Code of Civil Procedure section 472, emphasis added. Defendant Eduardo Juarez Espinosa (“Espinosa”) has already answered and this pending hearing is on for only a motion to strike, not a demurrer. The Court therefore fin...

Excerpt: ...i (1979) 93 Cal.App.3d 669, 679. The protection is not absolute and the information is discoverable where the need for discovery outweighs the privacy concerns. Palay v. Sup. Ct. (1993) 18 Cal.App.4th 919, 933; see also, Britt v. Sup. Ct. (1978) 20 Cal.3d 844, 859-862. To overcome the privacy right, the party seeking the information must show a particularized need and that the information is “directly relevant” to a cause of action or defense...

Excerpt: ...y privilege set forth in Evidence Code section 1014. Roe v. Sup. Ct. (1991) 229 Cal.App.3d 832, 837. When seeking information that potentially falls under the right of privacy, the party demanding disclosure must show a particularized need for the confidential information. Merely being relevant to the subject matter is not enough, and the moving party must show that the information is directly relevant to the case, in other words that it is essen...

Excerpt: ...t: $7,322.15. However, the moving party relies on the wrong statute: CCP §701.020. CCP §701.020 falls under the chapter governing enforcement of money judgments by execution, not the chapter governing earnings withholdings orders. “Except as otherwise provided by statute, this chapter governs enforcement of a money judgment by a writ of execution.” (CCP §699.010.) And, as the Law Revision Commission Comments to section 699.010 state: “Se...

Excerpt: ...ards, shall authorize, in writing, George Montana Hartley to deal with the County of Sonoma regarding the process of and obtaining the permits necessary to legalize the barn at 310 Pleasant Ave., Santa Rosa, CA as a dwelling unit so he can continue to reside in the barn for 10 years after 6/28/14, as intended by the Settlor. 7. George Montana Hartley may attempt to legalize the barn as a dwelling unit, and shall pay all expenses incurred to make ...

Excerpt: ...Insurance Company had a duty under a homeowners policy to pay them for their losses due to the destruction of their home in the Tubbs fire. Mid-Century, in turn, moves for summary judgment or adjudication on the ground that there was no insurance policy in effect at the time of plaintiffs' loss, therefore, plaintiffs cannot prove any of their claims. Mid-Century's request for judicial notice of the complaint is granted. Plaintiffs' residence was ...

Excerpt: ...t all times mentioned in this complaint, [defendant] GUEN as a professional acupuncturist, treated plaintiff as a patient for which such treatment on May 18, 2016 the State of California Department of Consumer Affairs Acupuncture Board disciplined GUEN for “having sexual relations with a patient.” The issue of duty in a negligence action is a question of law and may be determined on a motion for summary judgment. (J.L. v. Children's Institute...

Excerpt: ...ition to Plaintiff's motion for attorney's fees and he and his family went out of town for 10 days; at the hearing on Plaintiff's motion on August 16, 2019, Plaintiff never mentioned the outstanding discovery, which had been served in July and the due date for which was fast approaching; after the deadline had passed, Plaintiff did not contact him about the discovery. He shows that once he found the discovery requests in September 2019, after the...

Excerpt: ...r demurs as follows: (1) Plaintiff Lynmar demurs generally to the twenty-ninth affirmative defense in the Third Amendment to Answer of Gould Evans, Inc. and Douglas Thornley to Second Amended Complaint of Lynmar; (2) As to Douglas Thornley and Gould Evans, Inc., Lynmar demurs on the basis that the twenty-ninth affirmative defense fails to state facts sufficient to constitute a defense. Lynmar Winery, LLC's request for judicial notice, filed on Oc...

Excerpt: ...tute a cause of action against Evariste; (3) The Fourth Cause of Action fails to state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action against Evariste. For the reasons discussed below, defendants' demurrer to the 2nd COA (promissory fraud) and 4th COA (promissory estoppel) are OVERRULED. Defendants' demurrer to the 3rd COA (cancellation of instrument) is SUSTAINED WITH LEAVE TO AMEND on the grounds that the record owner of the property (SNG Eva...

Excerpt: ... 425.16(e)(1) and (2) respectively make the anti-SLAPP statute applicable to causes of action arising from “any written or oral statement or writing made before a legislative, executive, or judicial proceeding, or any other official proceeding authorized by law;” and to “any written or oral statement or writing made in connection with an issue under consideration or review by a legislative, executive, or judicial body, or any other official...

Excerpt: ...e claim for punitive damages in the FAC and the court granted the motion. The court found that alleging the defendant drove while intoxicated and caused an accident where the plaintiff was injured, even seriously, is an insufficient basis for punitive damages under Civil Code §3294. The denial of plaintiff's Petition for Writ of Mandate, filed after the above ruling, included the reasoning that since plaintiff could move “to amend his complain...

Excerpt: ... C. White; and Terran B. Broussard “that if [they] came out to work in California, Defendant Pride Contracting Inc. would provide seventeen to twenty-four months of fulltime work at $25 per hour, plus a per diem of $125 per day and a personal vehicle expense reimbursement of $8 per hour for every hour driven.” (Id. at ¶¶16-18.) Finally, Defendants allegedly promised plaintiffs Timothy Tingle and Peter Anderson “twenty-four months of full-...

Excerpt: ...rior. The matter is now on calendar for a motion for determination of good faith settlement filed by Black Diamond Paving, Inc. (“Black Diamond”) and Earl Boland dba Sawcor Pavement Striping (“Sawcor”), collectively “Cross- Defendants.” According to the motion, Cross-Defendants have reached a settlement with Plaintiff whereby Plaintiff agrees to release all claims against both cross-defendants and in exchange, Black Diamond has agreed...

Excerpt: .... However, the information sought in request for admission #4 is improper and discovery is not the method by which to test the nature or number of causes of action in a pleading. The motion is thus denied as to request for admission #4 but granted in all other respects. The objection filed with the reply is OVERRULED. Any request for sanctions is denied as both sides have acted partially with, and partially without, substantial justification. Whe...

Excerpt: ...y judgment or summary adjudication Defendant Kalene Birdsall moves for summary judgment or, in the alternative, summary adjudication of plaintiff's sixth cause of action for violation of business and professions code section 17200. Plaintiffs have filed notice of non-opposition to this motion. From July 2016 to April 2017, Kalene Birdsall worked for Christine Cline, a State Farm insurance agent. Ms. Birdsall had no employment relationship with St...

Excerpt: ...�� (“GLV”) and Percy Miller, aka Master P (together “Plaintiffs”). For the reasons discussed below, the motion for summary adjudication is DENIED. 1. First Cause of action for Breach of Oral Contract; Second Cause of action for Breach of Implied Contract Defendants argue Privateer is entitled to summary adjudication on GLV's causes of action for breach of an oral and implied contract because the alleged contract is invalid under the statu...

Excerpt: ...t 3.1350(e). “‘Failure to comply with this requirement of a separate statement may constitute a sufficient ground, in the court's discretion, for granting the motion.' [Citation.]” (Oldcastle Precast, Inc. v. Lumbermens Mutual Casualty Co. (2009) 170 Cal.App.4th 554, 568.) Additionally, plaintiffs submitted papers responding to defendants' reply documents. Such “sur-reply” papers are not authorized, but even if the papers were allowable...

Excerpt: ...force the Settlement against the Sunhill Defendants, recognizing that it may not be enforceable against the Trustee. Plaintiff demonstrates that the terms at issue are obligations of Sunhill, Sunhill breached them, and Plaintiff wishes to enforce the Settlement against Sunhill because of Sunhill's breaches. Defendants do not dispute this and no term in the Settlement appears to require all parties to sign it or render it unenforceable against the...

Excerpt: ... case which stated that the case would be dismissed no later than November 7, 2018 conditioned on “the satisfactory completion of specified terms that are not to be performed within 45 days of the date of the settlement.” On February 2, 2019, Plaintiff filed a second notice of settlement which stated the case would be dismissed by March 25, 2019. On March 25, 2019, Plaintiff filed a lis pendens with respect to the property and on May 1, 2019,...

Excerpt: ...x rel. Gow v. Mitchell Brothers' Santa Ana Theater (1981) 118 Cal.App.3d 863, 870-871. In the context of CEQA, the court in County of Inyo v. City of Los Angeles (1976) 61 Cal.App.3d 91, at 100, stated that “[w]e draw a distinction between the relatively limited scope of the main action and the effective range of an interim injunctive order. A court exercising injunctive power may do so upon conditions that protect all—including the public—...

Excerpt: ...pecified deposition notice. This Motion was set for hearing pursuant to the July 30, 2019 order granting Plaintiff's ex parte application for leave to file this Motion. Discovery closed on June 21, 2017 and this case is set for trial on October 15, 2019. The basis for the Motion is Cal. Code Civ. Proc. (“CCP”) § 2024.050, which provides that the Court may grant leave to complete discovery or reopen discovery following the discovery cut-off. ...

Excerpt: ...98 offer”). The 998 offer was accepted by defendants on June 28, 2019. Only counsel for the parties signed the 998 offer. As an initial matter, it is unclear why plaintiff resorts to CCP §664.6 at all when plaintiff presumably could have obtained entry of judgment by filing the 998 offer and acceptance. As CCP §998(b)(1) provides: “If the offer is accepted, the offer with proof of acceptance shall be filed and the clerk or the judge shall e...

Excerpt: ...l District (“District”) from his position as principal of a local high school to classroom teacher. Behrens filed his complaint on May 21, 2018, asserting causes of action for (1) writ of mandate, (2) violation of his constitutional right to due process (42 U.S.C. §1983) and (3) unlawful retaliation in violation of California Labor Code Section 1102.05, subdivision (c). On May 9, 2019, the court denied Behrens's petition for writ of mandate,...

Excerpt: ... action arises from an approximately 13- year relationship and co-habitation between Plaintiff and Hammer from approximately 2004 to 2017. In the complaint, Plaintiff asserts an interest in real property located at 4303 Parker Hill Road, Santa Rosa, which the parties jointly acquired during their relationship. Additionally, Plaintiff claims an interest in Western, a company the parties started during their relationship. Plaintiff contends that sh...