Excerpt: ...efendant WUSD has provided adequate responses and proper objections to these discovery requests. Plaintiff's motion to compel further responses to special interrogatories, set two, from defendant WUSD is GRANTED IN PART. (Code Civ. Proc., § 2030.300.) While defendant WUSD's vague and overbroad objections are proper, a responding party must answer an interrogatory to the extent possible. (Code Civ. Proc., § 2030.220, subd. (b).) Accordingly, def...

Excerpt: ... Plaintiff's failure to shut off power to the school building undergoing the power surges when other power strips in the building began to fail. The failure to the power strip was a secondary cause because it merely permitted the loss. Plaintiff argues, to the contrary, that the surge protector was itself the direct cause of the fire, so that the doctrine does not apply at all. The Court is persuaded that the failure of the surge protector was a ...

Excerpt: ...e product of dividing the net settlement by the number of class members. The Court also would like an explanation of how the settlement administrator will hold and/or invest the settlement funds as they are paid in over a 21 month period. Finally, the Court questions whether it is appropriate to give final approval to the settlement before the settlement proceeds are distributed to the class members. Counsel should be prepared to discuss these is...

Excerpt: ...sclose, both technical matters that can be easily corrected. Otherwise, the 2 nd, 3 rd, 4 th and 5 th causes of action are pleaded in sufficient detail. The Demurrer as to the 2 nd, 3 rd, 4 th and 5 th causes of action is therefore sustained. The Demurrer as to the 10 th and 11 th causes of actions is overruled. Plaintiff is not required to plead specifically which business it lost on what contracts. The Demurrer as to the 13 th and 14 th causes ...

Excerpt: ... of “mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect” to warrant vacating the default judgment under Code of Civil Procedure section 473, subdivision (a). b) Defendants' Demurrer and c) Defendants' Motion to Strike – The Demurrer is SUSTAINED with leave to amend and the Motion to Strike is GRANTED. Plaintiff has not alleged any facts tending to prove that the moving Defendants acted in concert or conspiracy with the defendants who wer...

Excerpt: ... Complaint by producing evidence of each element of the cause of action asserted therein. (Code Civ. Proc. §437c(p)(1).) The burden then shifts to Defendant to demonstrate that a triable issue exists as to one or more material facts as to the cause of action or a defense thereto. Defendant has failed to carry her burden in this regard and has produced no controverting evidence. Moreover, Defendant's opposition is deficient in that she entirely f...

Excerpt: ... off calendar, and the parties will be required to re-notice those motions when the stay expires. The Court further GRANTS IN PART AND DENIES IN PART Plaintiff's request for a determination regarding the tolling of the 5 year statute contained in Code of Civil Procedure section 583.310. The Court finds that Code of Civil Procedure section 583.340 requires that the five-year time period be computed excluding any time during which the litigation wa...

Excerpt: ...ficant interest in proceeding expeditiously and the potential for prejudice exists due to the delay that would be imposed by a further two-year stay of the entire civil proceeding. Therefore, the Court orders that all discovery proceedings directed to Defendant shall be stayed until such time as the criminal action has been dismissed with prejudice. Discovery directed to the corporation and/or non-party witnesses may proceed, subject to the Court...

Excerpt: ...President during the relevant time. However, Plaintiff has failed to make any case that Dr. Herr bears such responsibility. There is no genuine issue of material fact regarding Dr. Herr's lack of liability for Plaintiff's claims, and summary judgment is therefore appropriate. Defendant Natalyn Bergman, on the other hand, testified via declaration that she saw Defendant only once to discuss one of his medications, and that this was her “one and ...

Excerpt: ...orp. (2004) 34 Cal.4 th 979. The Robinson Helicopter courtdid not rule that a fraud cause of action is barred against the manufacturer of a product that causes economic injury, and such is not California law. (See, e.g., Harris v. Atlantic Richfield Co. (1993) 14 Cal.App.4 th 70, 78 (“when one party commits a fraud during the contract formation or performance, the injured party may recover in contract and tort”).) Plaintiff is also correct in...

Excerpt: ...e anything to do with Wiley Chandler for fear that he will sue. Second, Foster complains of invasions of its own privacy and that of its directors and stockholders. Third, Foster questions the relevance of the documents sought. Finally, Foster argues that the subpoena is governed by Evidence Code section 1560, and thus that sanctions are not available to CEMG. First, Mr. Chandler waived any objection he might have to Foster's production of docume...

Excerpt: ... arbitrators if the method selected by the parties fails (Code Civ. Proc., § 1281.6); grant a provisional remedy, “but only upon the ground that the award to which an applicant may be entitled may be rendered ineffectual without provisional relief” (Code Civ. Proc., § 1281.8, subd. (b)); and confirm, correct, or vacate the arbitration award (Code Civ. Proc., § 1285). Absent an agreement to withdraw the controversy from arbitration, however...

Excerpt: ...causes of action for negligence, fraud, breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, breach of the Business and Professions Code and to quiet title, and she is entitled to attempt to do so. In addition, Plaintiff's third cause of action, for an accounting, fails to set forth any relationship between her and Defendants that would give rise to an entitlement to that relief, but, again, she may be able to do so. Plaintiff is theref...

Excerpt: ...te causes of action for negligence, fraud, breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, breach of the Business and Professions Code and to quiet title, and she is entitled to attempt to do so. In addition, Plaintiff's third cause of action, for an accounting, fails to set forth any relationship between her and Defendants that would give rise to an entitlement to that relief, but, again, she may be able to do so. Plaintiff is the...

Excerpt: ...majority of the hours claimed were reasonably incurred and substantially contributed to the ultimate successful result. (Ketchum v. Moses (2001) 24 Cal.4th 1122, 1132; Horsford v. Board of Trustees of Calif. State University (2005) 132 Cal.App.4th 359, 394.) This includes time spent to prepare this motion and to oppose Defendants' Motion to Tax Costs. In its determination of reasonable hourly rates, the Court has considered the skill and experien...

Excerpt: ... determined to rule on the merits of the demurrer, as follows: Based upon review of the moving and supporting papers, the Court SUSTAINS Defendant 7/11, Inc.'s Demurrer to the First Cause of Action in its entirety. The Complaint admits that Plaintiff was injured during the course of his employment with 7/11, Inc.; therefore, Plaintiff's exclusive remedy lies in the Worker's Compensation system. As Plaintiff has not opposed the demurrer and it doe...

Excerpt: ...While a trial plan might be useful in determining whether a class should be certified in the first instance, as discussed in Duran, in this case the class was certified by Order dated June 25, 2019. Defendant's motion is thus an attempt to challenge the Court's decision to certify the class when the time to bring a motion for reconsideration has passed and there is no new evidence or new law to serve as a basis for such a motion. That said, a tri...

Excerpt: ... a judgment on equitable grounds due to lack of due process or extrinsic fraud or mistake also does not apply here. (Kulchar v. Kulchar (1969) 1 Cal.3d 467, 471-473.) ...

Excerpt: ...are listed in Code of Civil Procedure section 430.10. Because section 430.10 does not authorize demurrer on the ground that a cause of action is “duplicative,” the court is disinclined to consider the demurrer to the first three causes of action. The court notes, however, that the opinion in Barris v. County of Los Angeles (1999) 20 Ca1.4th 101 acknowledged the existence of a cause of action for violating 42 U.S.C. section 1395dd. To the exte...

Excerpt: ...ntiff Karen Stephanie Jones's Motion to Compel Defendant Valley First Credit Union to Provide Further Responses to Plaintiff's Request for Production of Documents (Set One) and Request for Monetary Sanctions – a) GRANTED, sanctions of $960 imposed against defense counsel. The kind of pre-certification discovery Plaintiff seeks is routinely allowed in California. (See, e,g., Crab Addison, Inc. v. Superior Court (2008) 169 Cal. App. 4th 958; Puer...

Excerpt: ... in Department 22. As this Court's previous rulings have indicated, the Court is inclined to order at least some amount of production of documents in response to the two motions to compel by Cross-Defendant Doctors Medical Center (DMC). However, in light of the opposition by the County of Stanislaus to the motions that request that it respond to DMC's requests for production of documents, the Court has developed concerns that a conflict of intere...

Excerpt: .... (Code Civ. Proc., § 2024.020, subds. (a), (b).) Objector has failed to demonstrate that the court intended to reopen discovery when it continued trial on May 10, 2019. The declaration in support of that motion and the motion itself do not mention a need for discovery beyond that which the court had already compelled, and the court granted all of the relief objector sought with respect to the trial date. In addition, the court denies objector's...

Excerpt: ...tion for Protective Order – DENIED. Defendant Amazon.com, Inc. moves to quash the deposition of the manager of its Tracy facility, and plaintiff moves to compel the same deposition. The court finds this deposition is relevant to plaintiff's claim for punitive damages, even though defendant now concedes liability on compensatory damages. Defendant has failed to support its claim that having the manager sit for deposition would be unduly burdenso...

Excerpt: ...ition, he never explicitly testified that this alleged failure was the cause of plaintiffs' injuries. D&D's only other evidence on this point is a set of discovery responses by the Huff defendants, but D&D may not use discovery responses by the Huff defendants against plaintiffs on this motion. (Code Civ. Proc., § 2030.410.) The court also questions the usefulness of discovery responses that are made in relevant part on information and belief. (...

Excerpt: ...ot support its motion with affirmative evidence negating an essential element of the plaintiff's case. Instead, the moving defendant may point to the absence of evidence to support the plaintiff's case. Defendant Open Door Services, Inc. has done so here, and thus, the burden shifted to the Plaintiff to present evidence demonstrating there is a triable issue of material fact. In opposition, and despite Defendant's objections to the evidence Plain...