Excerpt: ...rce the right to the fees. (Lindelli v. Town of San Anselmo (2006) 139 Cal.App.4 th 1499, 1505.) Thus, as Lindelli explained, an attorney who has an interest in obtaining attorney's fees pursuant to CCP section 1021.5 satisfies the factors for permissive intervention. One may also obtain a sufficient interest in an action, and a timely basis therefore, when a party to the action fails to prosecute or defend it. (Continental Vinyl Products Corp. v...

Excerpt: ... (1998) 18 Cal.4 th 739, 748, fn.6) In its opinion on the most recent consolidated appeal in this case, the Court of Appeal stated in part that “[t]he developer defendants shall recover their costs on appeal.” (See, 2018 WL 2252622 at *12, citing Cal. Rules of Court, rule 8.278(a)(1).) California Rule of Court 8.278 provides “[e]xcept as provided, the party prevailing in the Court of Appeal in a civil case…is entitled to costs on appeal.�...

Excerpt: ...r attorneys' fees pursuant to CCP section 425.16(c)(1) as the prevailing party on the anti-SLAPP motion, and the Court awarded Defendants $5,319.82 in attorneys' fees and costs. The Court also denied Plaintiff's motion to tax costs. Plaintiffs appealed the order granting Defendants' motion for attorneys' fees and costs and the order denying their motion to tax costs. MAC filed a request to dismiss its appeal and the order of dismissal was entered...

Excerpt: ...fenses (the “Answer”). This matter is on calendar for Plaintiff's motion to strike the Answer pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure (“CCP”) sections 435-437 on the basis that it is unverified and on the basis that the affirmative defenses are all irrelevant and therefore constitute immaterial allegations. Plaintiff's Motion is GRANTED with leave to amend due to the lack of verification but it otherwise DENIED. Defendant is required to file ...

Excerpt: ...“CCP”) section 2031.310 and for monetary sanctions. The Motion is GRANTED. Defendant served a CCP section 2031.030 Request for Vehicle Inspection (the “Request”) on April 23, 2018, noticing the inspection for June 11, 2018 in Healdsburg and indicating what Defendant intended to do, including a “test drive.” (Nassirian Decl. ¶ 3 & Ex. A.) Plaintiff served an objection to the Request via overnight mail on June 6, 2018, which objects to...

Excerpt: ... the declaration of Defendants' counsel acknowledges that “[o]n January 10, 2019, Plaintiff's counsel (Rick O'Hare) and I met and conferred by telephone to attempt to resolve issues, including the failure to produce documents, Plaintiff's objections to Requests, and amendment to Responses.” (See, Mervis Dec. at ¶12.) Accordingly, Defendants' “meet and confer” argument lacks merit. The requested documents clearly contain confidential fina...

Excerpt: ...004c00510003005700 00480057004c00520051[ of the Superior Court. Here Plaintiff's original claim of $22,000 was awarded plus $5,412.60 in interest. Additional claims have also been asserted which are contested by Defendant. Exercising its discretion, the Court allows discovery. Plaintiff's Motion to Compel Plaintiff filed a motion to compel compliance with a notice of deposition and corresponding request for documents; responses to requests for pr...

Excerpt: ...f Automatic Stay of “all trial court proceedings on the challenged claims”) divests the Court of subject matter jurisdiction to rule on TWC's current motion for summary adjudication, in whole or in part. (See,Varian Medical Systems, Inc. v. Delfino (2005) 35 Cal.4th 180, 193- 196 [the perfecting of an appeal divests the trial court of subject matter jurisdiction over any matter “embraced in” or “affected by” the appeal during the pend...

Excerpt: ...ty seeking settlement approval has the burden of showing the settlement to be fair and reasonable but “a presumption of fairness exists where: (1) the settlement is reached through arm's-length bargaining; (2) investigation and discovery are sufficient to allow counsel and the court to act intelligently; (3) counsel is experienced in similar litigation; and (4) the percentage of objectors is small.” (Dunk v. Ford Motor Co. (1996) 48 Cal.A...

Excerpt: ...who was handling the matter did not file a CMC and quit a day before the hearing, he was never made aware that his associate had not scheduled the court call, and that he missed the hearing because it was not scheduled on his calendar. (Shemtoub Decl. ¶¶ 4-7.) He contends that the failure to appear and to file a CMC statement was due to “mistake, inadvertence, mistake [sic] or excusable neglect” within the meaning of CCP section 473(b) and ...

Excerpt: ...de from the specific Plaintiffs' damages and they both involve the same question of liability. Allowing both cases to go forward separately would create a risk of inconsistent rulings and waste of time. Plaintiffs have some potentially valid concerns about the different complexity of issues and length of trials but these are uncertain and minimal compared to the factors supporting consolidation. Moreover, both are set to start trial soon. The pre...

Excerpt: ...ocedure section 438(c). It is not apparent as a matter of law that Cross-Defendants/Plaintiffs have not breached the alleged “Governing Documents” or “Declaration” or “Rules and Regulations” by continuing to take the position that they are paying “under protest” given the allegations and terms of the documents. It is also not apparent as a matter of law that these documents do not forbid vacation rentals as alleged. The mere fact ...

Excerpt: ... a fair trial and actually or effectively lost by default; 2) accident or surprise on the part of respondent which ordinary prudence could not have guarded against; and 3) respondent's mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect. A memorandum of points and authorities and supporting documents were filed by the respondent on February 19, 2019, 14 days later. Petitioner argues that this is untimely and a basis upon which to deny relief. C...

Excerpt: ... negligence; (2) intentional tort; and (3) premises liability. Plaintiff also seeks punitive damages. Demurrer Defendant Amber Hackett Johnson argues the allegations of the FAC are uncertain, ambiguous and unintelligible, and that plaintiff fails to state a cause of action. “A demurrer for uncertainty is strictly construed, even where a complaint is in some respects uncertain, because ambiguities can be clarified under modern discovery procedur...

Excerpt: ...n by defendant Chanate Property Owners Association (“Moving Defendant”) for leave to file an amended answer to the Complaint to include the affirmative defense of “recreational immunity” pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure (“CCP”) sections 473(a) and 576(a). The unopposed Motion is GRANTED. This matter is also on calendar for Moving Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment on the grounds that Moving Defendant owed no duty to Plaintiff ...

Excerpt: ...nd 7) injunctive relief. This matter is on calendar for a motion by Defendant pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure (“CCP”) section 428.50 for leave to file a cross-complaint against Plaintiff for: 1) breach of equitable servitudes; 2) trespass to land; 3) injunction; and 4) declaratory relief (the “Proposed Cross-Complaint”). The Zimmerman Declaration filed in support of the Motion explains that the failure to timely file a cross-complaint...

Excerpt: ...as Secretary of State of the State of California (“Respondent”), contended in his October 29, 2018 Opposition to Petitioner's Petition to Disqualify Sen. Dianne Feinstein that the Petition was filed in the incorrect venue under Elections Code (“EC”) section 13314(b). That statute provides in relevant part that venue for a proceeding under EC section 13314(a)(1), which allows an elector to seek a writ of mandate in connection with certain ...

Excerpt: ...�) Motion for Summary Judgment, or in the Alternative, Summary Adjudication. The Notice of Hearing solicited briefing on this issue, stating that parties wishing to be heard on the issue of “the propriety of including prejudgment interest in the judgment and, if proper, the amount of prejudgment interest” shall file their papers on or before March 4, 2019. No briefing was received. However, the Court is in receipt of, and has reviewed and con...

Excerpt: ...�) required that the OST “be served on all counsel by 3 pm on 3-1-19.” A proof of service filed on March 7 shows that Plaintiff timely served the OST. The unopposed Motion is GRANTED, except that sanctions are not awardable. Defendant is required to appear at a deposition at Plaintiff's counsel's offices at 10:00 am on Wednesday, March 20, except if March 20 is not convenient for Plaintiff, on another mutually convenient date on or before Mar...

Excerpt: ...Brenda Gormley; and (2) to instruct the trustee that if Gormley does not elect to rebuild and re-inhabit the dwelling on the property which was destroyed in the Tubbs fire, the property shall be sold and the sales proceeds, together with any fire insurance proceeds received related to the dwelling and structures, shall be distributed in accordance with section 6.2 of the Trust, as amended. In this motion, petitioner seeks further responses to two...

Excerpt: ...s and proceeded without them. Weeks' prevailed at trial. However, Weeks' motion to quash the subpoenas remains on calendar. Bowen argues that the motion was untimely filed, that Weeks failed to adequately meet and confer and that the motion is moot in any event. Weeks rejects these arguments. She claims the motion was timely filed and that Bowen mischaracterizes the meet and confer attempts. She further argues the motion is not moot because the f...

Excerpt: ...y 13, 2019 Minute Order.) According to the Court's record, Plaintiff has not filed a Second Amended Complaint as of the date of this tentative ruling. Therefore, the current Special Motion to Strike is MOOT. (See, Law Offices of Andrew L. Ellis v. Yang (2009) 178 Cal.App.4th 869, 878-879 [If plaintiff voluntarily dismisses the action after defendant files an anti-SLAPP motion, the court loses jurisdiction to rule on the motion.].) Here, because P...

Excerpt: ...will be necessary based on any new responses resulting from the motion on the requests for admissions. Moreover, while Defendant generally responded to each part of 17.1, many responses are vague “not applicable” or simple reiterations of the groundless objections. Sanctions awarded to the moving party for time actually spent, with more to be awarded on proof of additional reasonable time and expense. The amount awarded based on time spent so...

Excerpt: ...et forth clearly and distinctly with no apparent ambiguity. The provision thus appears to cover all of the claims between these two parties and, because of the terms of the provision, the statement from Brody in Exhibit 6 that the terms were the result of negotiation, and the nature of Brody's employment and position, there is no indication of procedural or substantive unconscionability. The moving party also demonstrates that the parties have al...

Excerpt: ...issory note marked “paid in full,” and has instructed the pledge holder of the SCAE shares not to turn the shares over to SCAE. Consequently, plaintiffs filed this action claiming Smith-Wahl breached agreements regarding the sale. Plaintiffs are SCAE, Howard Emigh, Jane Emigh and Raymond Neese. The Emighs and Neese were SCAE shareholders and directors who purchased Smith-Wahl's shares. In response to the complaint, Smith-Wahl filed a cross-co...