Excerpt: ...ty and to each cause of action on the ground that each fails to state sufficient facts to constitute a cause of action against it. For the reasons set forth below, the special demurrer and general demurrer are SUSTAINED, in full, with 30 days' leave to amend . Uncert a int y This is one of the rare cases where sustaining a special demurrer on the grounds of uncertainty is warranted. Defendant GBS was added to the pleading in place of Doe 1. No ot...

Excerpt: ...r granting preliminary approva l. Having considered the unopposed motion herein and the supporting declarations and evidence, the Court finds that the settlement was entered into good faith, is fair, reasonable, and adequate, and satisfies the standards for final approval under Californ ia la w . (Civ il Co d e § 1 7 8 1 ; Co d e Civ . Proc. § 382; Cal. R. Ct., rule 3.769.) Good cause appearing to the satisfaction of the Court, the proposed set...

Excerpt: ...e h ic le warranty. ( Jensen v. BMW of Nort h America , Inc. (1995) 35 Cal.App.4th 112; Ro d r i g u e z v . F C A U S , LLC (2022) 77 Cal. App. 5th 209.) In this regard, the Court notes that the California Supreme Court granted review of Ro d r ig u e z , supra, in July 2022, explicitly allowing the opinion to continue to be cited both for persuasive value and for the limited purpose of establishing the existence of a conflict in authority which...

Excerpt: ...s. The Court therefore GRANTS the preliminary injunction on t h e f o llo w in g c o n d it io n s : 1. P la in t if f is o n n o t ic e t h a t it s o n ly p r iv ile g e is f o r in g r e s s a n d e g r e s s o n t o it s own lands. The Court clarifies that this means Plaintiff's members may NOT cross Defendants' land in order to access current BLM lands. Plaintiff is charged with ensuring its members understand that whatever hunting and o t h...

Excerpt: ...eiro and Darlene Marie Ribeiro, located at 3951 Davis Avenue in Modesto, County of Stanislaus, by eminent domain for the construction of its planned State Route 108/ North County Corridor Phase 1 Project for the public benefit and for all uses necessary, incidental, and convenient thereto pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure section 1255.410 . The Court further finds Plaintiff has, based on an appraisal, deposited the sum of $87,700.00 into the St...

Excerpt: ...d - CONTINUED, to 5/ 3/ 24 at 8:30 am in Department 22; c) Plaintiff's Motion to Quash Deposition Subpoena Seeking Plaintiff's Employment Records from Smithfield Packaged Meats and for Monetary Sanctions again Defendant and/ or it's Attorneys of Record – CONTINUED, to 5/ 3/ 24 at 8:30 am in Department 2 2 a-c) The motions are procedurally defective. A separate statement is required for a motion “”[t]o compel or to quash the production of do...

Excerpt: ...t in the county where the defendants or some of them reside at the commencement of the action is the proper court for the trial of the action. ” Plaintiff cites no authority for his assertion that liability under Labor Code § 558.1 is the equivalent of alter -ego liability and that the venue rules for alter ego therefore apply. Without such authority, the Court declines to extend alter -e go venue rul es to possible liability under Labor Code ...

Excerpt: ...�the superior court in the county where the defendants or some of them reside at the commencement of the action is the proper court for the trial of the action. ” Plaintiff's argument in opposition relies heavily on Labor Code § 558.1. The Court notes that this argument fails on its face because the current iteration of this pleading (the First Amended Complaint) does not allude at all to that statute, let alone contain a cause of action based...

Excerpt: ...itting all material facts properly pleaded, but not contentions, deductions or conclusions of fact or law. [Citation.] The courts “also consider matters which may b e ju d ic ia lly n o t ic e d . ” ( Serra no v. Priest (1971) 5 Cal.3d 584, 591. ) Fir s t Ca u s e o f Ac t io n Defendants contend that the statute at issue does not authorize a reverse validation action. Water Code § 10726.6(a) states, “A groundwater sustainability agency th...

Excerpt: ...e of the claim. Defendants can now use discovery to uncover the specific, evidentiary facts that Plaintiff contends supports the ultimate fact. As for the element of hostility, that is a question for the trier of fact. Second Cause of Action Overruled. The fact that Plaintiff alleged in another complaint the existence of another easement to the same parcels of land is not a conclusive admission that such easements ever existed or do in fact exist...

Excerpt: ... merits, Moving Party objects on the grounds of (1) privacy, and (2) lack of standing. Neither argument is persuasive. One of the chief allegations in this case is that Respondent abused the power-of-attorney agreement to use the proposed conservatee's funds and assets for his own benefit. That makes the information sought quite relevant to this case. While there is a state constitutional right to privacy applicable to financial records, that rig...

Excerpt: ...$82,845 for attornevs fees and $2,810.45 in costs. Paragraph 5 of the Settlement Agreement allows Plaintiffs Counsel to recover his fees and costs for both actions from Defendant Bob Harkrader & Sons Trucking, Inc., with a guaranty from Jacob Harkrader and Robin Harkrader. The Court deems the appropriate market rate in this case to be $450 per hour, taking into account Counsel's experience and the risks inherent in these types of cases. The numbe...

Excerpt: ... the beneficiary of another 1/3 of 40% through the Trust (although William Jackson is seeking to exercise the option he was given to purchase the Trust's interest). Because this inspection is outside of the Discovery Act, if a member has an issue with the inspection, then the appropriate procedural mechanism is for the member to file a civil pleading seeking a writ of mandate against the company—NOT try to shoehorn the issue through a trust pro...

Excerpt: ...Request for Production of Documents, Set Two and Request for Sanctions —GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED IN PART. d) Plaintiff's Motion to Compel Further Responses of Defendant Secret River, Inc. to special Interrogatories, set one and Request for sanctions -GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED IN PART. e) Plaintiff's Motion to Compel Further Responses of Defendant Smart Management & Co., Inc. to Special Interrogatories, set one and Request for sanctions - GRA...

Excerpt: ... Special Interrogatories, Set One and Request for Sanctions —GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED IN PART; d) Plaintiff's Motion to Compel Further Responses of Defendant Secret River, Inc. to Request for Production of Documents, Set Two and Request for Sanctions —GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED IN PART; e) Plaintiff's Motion to Compel Further Responses of Defendant Smart Management & Co., Inc. to Special Interrogatories, Set One and Request for Sanctions �...

Excerpt: ...ave not yet received the Bills of Sale. Without the Bills of Sale, performance cannot occur, and the cause of action for breach of contract has not yet accrued. Defendants therefore have defeated their own sham pleading argument because their admissions demonstrate that the correct cause of action here is anticipatory breach, not actual breach. The cause of action is not barred by the statute of limitations. The statute of limitations on a cause ...

Excerpt: ...ubstantial probability exists that the overriding -nterest will be prejudiced if the record is not sealed; (4) The proposed sealing is narrowly tailored; and (5) No less restri ctive means exist to achieve the overriding interest. The overriding interest here is the "highly confidential" and "commercially sensitive" information contained in the declarations filed by Mr. Hughes and Mr. Retsloff in support ofthe settlement negotiations between Plai...

Excerpt: ...rified that when — as is the case here - a petition challenges the disinheritance of a beneficiary from a trust, the petitioner has "limited stand-ng" to challenge the validity of the trust instrument which disinherited him. Therefore, the Court must first decide the "threshold issue" of the validity of the trust instrument which disinherited Petitioner here the Second Amendment to the Trust. If the trust amendment pursuant to which the benefic...

Excerpt: ...12/29/23 at 8:30 am in Department 22 is ADVANCED and CONTINUED to 1/12/24 at 8:30 am in Department 22, to be heard concurrently with the motion to award costs. MOTION FOR NEW TRIAL: The Court will hear arguments on the following issues: 2. Special Verdict Form Responses re Vicarious Liability: The Court notes that Plaintiff failed to address this argument in his opposition. The Court would like to hear from the parties on this Issue. Damages Awar...

Excerpt: ...Viejo Emergency Medical Associates v. Beta Healthcare Group (2011) 197 Cal.App.4th 1146, 1153-1154.) The Court finds that Plaintiff has failed to demonstrate that the agreement should not be enforced herein. Specifically, Plaintiff has demonstrated only a slight degree of procedural unconscionability in connection with the adhesive nature of the agreement, and that alone is insufficient to render the agreement unenforceable. Plaintiffs arguments ...

Excerpt: ...bode" means the place defendant holds out as his or her principal residence and where he or she is most likely to receive actual notice. Zirbes u Stratton (1986) 187 cal.App.3d 1407, 1415-1417. In Zirbes v. Stratton the plaintiff left copies of the summons and complaint against Wife (i) at the restaurant she owned with estranged Husband (but she did not work there); and (ii) at her mother's home (listed as her residence on her drivers license). T...

Excerpt: ... or usual place of abode" means the place defendant holds out as his or her principal residence and where he or she is most likely to receive actual notice. Zirbes u Stratton (1986) 187 cal.App.3d 1407, 1415-1417. In Zirbes v. Stratton the plaintiff left copies of the summons and complaint against Wife (i) at the restaurant she owned with estranged Husband (but she did not work there); and (ii) at her mother's home (listed as her residence on her...

Excerpt: ...convenient Forum — a, b and c- DENIED. California favors contractual forum selection clauses so long as they are entered into freely and voluntarily, and their enforcement would not be unreasonable. (Smith, Valentino & Smith, Inc. v. Superior Court (1976) 17 Cal.3d 491, 496.) However, a forum selection clause will not be enforced if doing so would bring about a result contrary to the public policy of this state. (Smith, supra, at pp. 496-497; C...

Excerpt: ...y in the notice of motion and be repeated, verbatim, in the separate statement of undisputed material facts." The issues as stated in the notce of motion and moton do not duplicate the issues set forth in the separate statement. Because they are different, Defendants did not have fair notice of which issues to address, and the Court is unclear on what issues it should be deciding. Assuming the issues as set forth in the separate statement are the...

Excerpt: ...the statutory limits placed on motions for summary adjudication in this instance. Additionally, Plaintiff's previous motion for summary adjudication was denied on the merits— thus she is not entitled to a second bite at the apple. In determining the previous motion, the Court properly applied the statutory limits set forth in Section 437c and found that the issue on which the Plaintiff was attempting to secure summary adjudication would not com...