Excerpt: ... other managing member and owner of CQ, has breached his loyalty and business obligations to Plaintiffs as set forth in CQ's Operating Agreement (“the Agreement”). Clay and Quiles are allegedly founders and, currently, the only owners and co- managers of CQ, which has its principle place of business in Cotati and allegedly owns a patent on a folding doorstop called “The Pocket Stop” (“the Doorstop”). Allegedly, Clay is a 53.3% member ...

Excerpt: ...djudication of one or more causes of action, affirmative defenses, claims for damages, or issues of duty if the party contends that the cause of action has no merit or that there is no defense to the cause of action, or that an affirmative defense has no merit, or that there is no merit to a claim for damages “as specified in” Civil Code section 3294, or that a party did or did not owe a duty. Code of Civil Procedure section 437c(f)(1). As th...

Excerpt: ...certain, as set forth below. The Arguments Defendants demur to the complaint on the grounds that it fails to state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action and is uncertain. They contend that the default under the terms of the Note occurs if they fail to make required payments and that no allegation shows that any payment occurred after February 2, 2012. This, they claim, indicates that the four-year statute of limitations under Code of C...

Excerpt: ...ion to compel further responses has been made, the responding party has the burden to justify objections or incomplete answers. Coy v. Superior Court (1962) 58 Cal.2d 210, 220- 221. A party moving to compel further responses to a production request, however, must demonstrate “good cause" for seeking the items. Code of Civil Procedure section 2031.310(b)(1). This requires a showing that the items are relevant to the subject matter of the litigat...

Excerpt: ...ailure on the part of the County of Sonoma properly to perform and fulfill its responsibility for road condition, design, inspection, maintenance, and repair, and otherwise, was the direct and proximate cause of those conditions,” Plaintiffs did not assert a separate cause of action against the County at that time. On July 13, 2018, Plaintiffs filed a First Amended Complaint which added a cause of action for general “negligence” against the...

Excerpt: ...suant to Code of Civil Procedure sections 435 and 436 and seeks to strike Plaintiff's prayer for punitive damages in the FAC at 18:1-2 and 19:11-12. Plaintiff filed a late opposition to both the demurrer and motion to strike on May 20, 2019, which Defendant apparently did not receive before he filed his reply, on May 22, 2019. In the oppositions and supporting declarations, Plaintiff concedes that she has early onset Alzheimer's Disease and she h...

Excerpt: ...released half the fire insurance proceeds to defendant Mary Durand pending trial on plaintiff's claim that he holds an insurable interest in the proceeds along with Ms. Durand. It was undisputed that Ms. Durand was entitled to at least half the proceeds. Plaintiff now moves to have the remaining half of the insurance proceeds released to him pending trial. However, the parties are not similarly situated. Plaintiff was a named insured on the polic...

Excerpt: ...prevailing” party is the party who recovered greater relief in the action on the contract. Here, plaintiff recovered greater relief and achieved his litigation objectives by reducing the May 2016 promissory note amount, cancelling the April 2016 promissory note, expunging the short form deed of trust and assignment of rents recorded against the Spring Street property and expunging the notice of default recorded against the County Manor property...

Excerpt: ...ffs move to compel further responses to their second set of requests for production of documents numbers 44 through 50, 79 through 81 and 99. Request Numbers 44-50 seek documents “evidencing, describing, or tracking repair presentations by owners of 2013 Kia Sorento vehicles in which the dealer” found evidence of problems oil sludge, oil contamination, engine seizing, excessive oil consumption, engine knocking, engine failure or engine rattle...

Excerpt: ...arily on objector Susan Mills' deposition testimony in which she states she met with Norton and Johnston on decedent's behalf, petitioners argue that decedent was the client of Norton and Johnson. Norton contends that Mills is her client, but Johnston appears to agree with petitioners. Johnston states in his declaration that: “It is my belief that Mills was the authorized representative of Silvestri at the time I met with her. Further, it is my...

Excerpt: ...posed requests for judicial notice are granted. [1] Cross-complainant Sunderland McCutchan, LLP (“McCutchan”) represented Abel and other plaintiffs in Sonoma County Superior Court case no. SCV-245738. Abel later filed this legal malpractice action against McCutchan. McCutchan then filed a cross-complaint against Abel alleging that plaintiffs in SCV-245738 failed to pay McCutchan $75,136.82 in attorney fees plus 15% of all amounts collected on...

Excerpt: ...on the same subject: 13. During or about August of 201 5, RAMOS requested a written agreement in furtherance of the oral agreement, and to memorialize the terms of the Option Agreement in writing. The parties drafted a written agreement signed by JONATHAN RAMOS and WALLAHAN hereinafter referred to as the LEASE OPTION; WALLAHAN kept the only copy, saying that before delivery to Plaintiffs, he would need to have his CPA and Attorney look it over. F...

Excerpt: ... form interrogatories, special interrogatories and requests for production. In the opposition, petitioner agreed to amend his responses to Form Interrogatories, Nos. 2.1, 2.2 and 2.6. As to the remaining, disputed discovery responses, the court rules as follows: Form Interrogatories Petitioner objected to form interrogatories, nos. 12.1 (witnesses), 12.4 (photographs, films, videotapes), 12.5 (diagrams, reproductions, or models) & 12.7 (scene ins...

Excerpt: ...Plaintiffs argue they have adequately alleged facts supporting application of the delayed discovery rule, as well as fraudulent concealment and/or equitable estoppel. Plaintiffs further assert they have stated facts sufficient to allege their fraud causes of action. Plaintiffs also argue the economic loss rule does not bar their fraud claims. Accepting the factual allegations as true, the court finds the fraud causes of action are not time-barred...

Excerpt: ...0. Plaintiff's medical insurer has purportedly imposed a lien for approximately $200,000. In cases in which a judgment is obtained against a public entity defendant, the court has discretion to reduce pre-trial benefits that fall under the collateral source rule by up to one-half of the net recovery. (Gov. Code, §985, subd. (f) & (g).) “Government Code section 985 represents a compromise between public entities, which would like to have juries...

Excerpt: ...d does not appear to actually seek further responses but moves to “strike” two general objections made in the requests for admissions. As above in relation to the form interrogatories, Mary Durand argues plaintiff waived any objections by serving untimely responses. The court agrees that plaintiff has waived objections to these requests for admissions. Special Interrogatories, First Set Special interrogatories, nos. 3, 4 & 5 seek information ...

Excerpt: ...in terminating sanctions. The court set the matter on this calendar to review compliance. The parties have filed documents in preparation for this hearing; which the court has reviewed. It appears that Plaintiff is largely in compliance with the orders of the court, however, Plaintiff's responses to the written discovery are inadequate. As pointed out by Defendant, Plaintiff's responses interpose objections, which were waived by her untimely resp...

Excerpt: ...which appears doubtful, or which does not appear to be proper on its face. [Citation.] However, “[i]f the items appear to be proper charges, the verified memorandum is prima facie evidence that the costs, expenses and services therein listed were necessarily incurred by the defendant [citations], and the burden of showing that an item is not properly chargeable or is unreasonable is upon the [objecting party].” [Citations.] The court's fi...

Excerpt: ...nth. Pursuant to the TRO plaintiffs have been paying that monthly sum, but they are not residing at the property because it required post-fire repairs to make it habitable. Plaintiffs assert – at least in their moving papers – that the home is now habitable and seek a mandatory preliminary injunction requiring Wallahan to let them move back in pending resolution of their claims at trial. As cited in Davenport v. Blue Cross of California (1997...

Excerpt: ...r (2016) 2 Cal.App.5th 1092, 1106.) However, the response was untimely served and filed, therefore, the court has not considered it. “In order to comply with the purpose of expeditious resolution of disputes through arbitration, time limits in which to challenge arbitration awards must be strictly enforced.” (Knass v. Blue Cross of California (1991) 228 Cal.App.3d 390, 395.) Per Code of Civil Procedure section 1290.6, the response must be ser...

Excerpt: ...13. (Burnstad Decl., ¶5, Exh. 5.) The court's order specifically retained jurisdiction over the parties under Code of Civil Procedure section 664.6 to enforce the settlement. Defendant defaulted on monthly payments required under the settlement agreement. (Burnstad Decl., ¶7.) The settlement agreement provides that upon default, the unpaid balance, less any amount paid prior to default shall be accelerated and become due and payable. (Burnstad ...

Excerpt: ...led in the two cases is granted. On the merits, the court is inclined to grant the motion. Consolidation appears proper under Code of Civil Procedure section 1048 as the actions involve common questions of law and fact. Additionally, the motion is timely made, consolidation would not make the case too complex for the jury and it would not prejudice the parties. However, the motion is procedurally defective because it fails to substantially comply...

Excerpt: ...Defendant contends it was not obligated to reimburse Plaintiff because California regulations provide an exception to the reimbursement rule if the employee's wages are at least two times the minimum wage. Plaintiff moves to compel further responses to his Requests for Production of Documents Nos. 1-9. The court finds Plaintiff's motion is well-taken as CRC's responses are not code- compliant. Specifically, as argued by Plaintiff, CRC has failed ...

Excerpt: ...ounty now moves for attorney fees pursuant to Government Code section 25845(c) and Sonoma County Code section 1-7(b). The County contends it is the prevailing party and seeks a total of $38,964.50 in attorney fees. Those fees were incurred between December 2016 and April 2018. Defendant opposes the motion. He argues “the issue of prevailing party is not clear, and can be equally claimed by defendant.” (Opposition, 2:10-11.) Defendant further ...

Excerpt: ...n that she was wrongfully terminated and suffered retaliation from Aurora for internal and external whistleblowing related in part to hospital staffing levels. She also alleges workplace health and safety violations under California's OSHA laws through the enforcement mechanism of the Private Attorneys General Act in the Labor Code. Defendants contend Plaintiff's job performance at Aurora was inadequate, she did not demonstrate adequate knowledge...