Excerpt: ...n this matter and does not file any opposition to the Plaintiff's application for writ of possession. Additionally, Plaintiff caused the clerk to enter Defendant DTL Logistics Inc.'s default on 4/21/22. Based on its review of the Plaintiff's application, the declaration filed in support of the application and the operative complaint in this matter, the Court finds Plaintiff has established the probable validity of its claim to possession of the p...

Excerpt: ...nes associated with new tax liens incurred from 2018 forward. Motion to augment the judgment is DENIED without prejudice. Although the Judgment entered on 01/25/12 indicates that it “may be amended nunc pro tunc to include any and all additional [fees/fines] for the 2010/2011 and subsequent tax years” (see Para 5, emphasis added), this was a default judgment and the operative pleading does not include any claim for debts that accrued from 201...

Excerpt: ... Court this day are two plaintiff motions for order compelling further responses to Special Interrogatory Nos 14, 25, 40‐ 45, 51‐63, 65, and further responses to Document Production Nos 1‐3, 9, 13‐16, 17, 31, 37‐78, 84‐87. The motions are GRANTED in part, and DENIED in part. Regarding the Special Interrogatories, while the defendant is correct that – to some extent – these motions (like many in the lemon law field) are an exaltati...

Excerpt: ... terms of that settlement, which this Court subsequently confirmed on 12/17/21. There is a genuine concern regarding this Court's continued jurisdiction to resolve this motion in light of plaintiff's dismissal with prejudice entered 11/12/21, Victoria's failure to personally request jurisdiction reserved, and the previously pending appeals. See Mesa RHF Partners, L.P. v. City of Los Angeles (2019) 33 Cal.App.5th 913, 916‐ 919; Cunningham v. Mag...

Excerpt: ...ion for final approval of the settlement. The gross settlement amount (“GSA”) is $225,000.00, which is intended to cover 149 class members. This represents an average payout of just under $800.00. This is a non‐reversionary settlement (meaning nothing goes back to the defendant). Based on the whole of the record, this Court concludes that the gross settlement amount is fair and reasonable in light of the pertinent factors to consider. See J...

Excerpt: ... WITHOUT PREJUDICE. Although the underlying motions to compel were served upon defendant personally, notice of this Court's 12/10/21 order was only served upon defense counsel (who had just emerged from suspension). The current motion for terminating sanctions was also served only on defense counsel, despite his 11/29/21 declaration indicating that he had COVID, his secretary died from COVID, and his office was – to put it politely – in shamb...

Excerpt: ...rogatories, Set Two Propounded on Plaintiff Raven Sharp and Request for Monetary Sanctions – This is a business dispute between putative partners in a marijuana dispensary, with a sprinkling of alleged attorney self‐dealing. Before the Court this day are three defense motions seeking orders compelling further responses to special interrogatories and requests for production of documents (the motion set for 04/28/22 is included herewith). At is...

Excerpt: ...der barring defendants from selling the property before plaintiff's right to purchase can be fully vetted on the merits. Within 10 days after service of a written notice of entry of an order, an aggrieved party may make a motion to reconsider the order based upon new or different facts, circumstances, or law. CCP §1008(a). The moving party must demonstrate something new or different for the court to consider, and a satisfactory explanation for n...

Excerpt: ... Before the Court this day is the hearing on plaintiff's application for final approval of the settlement. The gross settlement amount (“GSA”) is $925,000.00, which is intended to cover 2,469 class members. This is a non‐reversionary settlement (meaning nothing goes back to the defendant). Based on the whole of the record, this Court concludes that the gross settlement amount is fair and reasonable in light of the pertinent factors to consi...

Excerpt: ...sel, class representative, third‐party administrator), preliminary approval of settlement, and approval of a PAGA portion. Since the last hearing, plaintiff has addressed the concerns raised by this Court, including payment of the $75 filing fee per § 2699.3(a)(1)(B), submission of the actual proposed settlement to the LWDA per §2699(l)(3), and provision of a conformed copy of the complaint to the LWDA within 10 days of filing per §2699(l)(1...

Excerpt: ...ice staff in failing to provide a conformed copy of the complaint to the LWDA within 10 days of filing per §2699(l)(1). This Court will forgive the error since no prejudice is shown. Plaintiff has provided the requested information supporting the request for reimbursement of litigation costs, as well as a declaration from plaintiff supporting his request for an enhancement. Since plaintiff actually attended the mediation, his request for $7,500....

Excerpt: ...pposed demurrer to plaintiff's complaint, which does not effectively state any cause of action. The demurrer is SUSTAINED with 20 days leave to amend. Injunctive relief is not itself a cause of action, but rather a remedy attendant a properly‐framed substantive claim. Department of Fair Employment and Housing v. Superior Court (2020) 54 Cal.App.5th 356, 384‐ 385. The pleading here might be one for declaratory relief pursuant to CCP §1060, or...

Excerpt: ...y “first look” at the records and authority to redact as warranted. The motion is in essence a CCP §1008 request for reconsideration of that 06/08/21 order, and shall be viewed as such. A motion for reconsideration is only timely if presented “within 10 days after service upon the party of written notice of entry of the order,” subject to challenge. CCP §1008(a). There is no notice of entry in this Court's registry, and no evidence of a...

Excerpt: ...ed. While this was previously sufficient inandof itself to seek withdrawal, the current rule requires counsel to “given the client a reasonable warning after the breach that the lawyer will withdraw unless the client fulfills the agreement or performs the obligation.” Compare CRPC 3‐700(C)(1)(f) with CRPC Rule 1.16(b)(5). There is no statement regarding client consent or proposed order with the motion. See CRC 3.1362(c) and (e). Motion DENI...

Excerpt: ... Motion to Strike Portions of First Amended Complaint; e) DMC Defendants' Demurrer to First Amended Complaint; f) Hospitalists of Modesto Medical Group Inc., Arun Monoharan MD, and Li Huang, MD's Demurrer to Plaintiff's First Amended Complaint – This is a business dispute between an oncologist and the hospital with which is works. The operative pleading is the First Amended Complaint filed 11/15/21, which includes eight (8) causes of action aga...

Excerpt: ...ng the principal record of transactions between a debtor and creditor arising out of a contractual relationship between the two. CCP §337a. Defendant filed an answer denying all allegations of wrongdoing, and asserting a number of defenses to the debt – including at its core that she did not request or “accept” the credit card. There is no opposition filed to the motion. The moving papers do appear to have been mail ‐served on defense co...

Excerpt: ...nopposed demurrer to plaintiff's pleading, which defendant describes as a disguised writ of mandate. The demurrer is SUSTAINED with 20 days leave to amend. Injunctive relief is not itself a cause of action, but rather a remedy attendant a properly‐framed substantive claim. Department of Fair Employment and Housing v. Superior Court (2020) 54 Cal.App.5th 356, 384‐385. The pleading here might be one for declaratory relief pursuant to CCP §1060...

Excerpt: ...y be set aside on grounds implicating the validity of the sister‐state judgment (CCP §1710.40), and CCP §473.5 is generally inapplicable to motions attacking domestication of a sister‐state judgment. See Conseco Marketing, LLC v. IFA & Insurance Services, Inc. (2013) 221 Cal.App.4th 831, 844; Airlines Reporting Corp. v. Renda (2009) 177 Cal.App.4th 14, 21. However, before drilling down into the merits, this Court notes that there is no proo...

Excerpt: ...7 (hereinafter “Pena”). Pena is a class action lawsuit against the same defendant, based on the same wage/hour violations. A PAGA cause of action was added to that case on 01/07/22. The case at bar is not a class action, but instead a straight PAGA action. The case at bar was filed 12/07/21 – after Pena was commenced but before the PAGA cause of action was added. Courts wrestling with this issue have looked to pleas in abatement, the policy...

Excerpt: ...successful Vietnamese farmers), Harpreet Dhaliwal (gas station operations), and Amanda Bui (attorney and investment advisor). The “defendant group” includes Nirmal Singh (successful businessman), his long‐standing attorneys, and various persons/entities associated with his business. Before the Court this day is the continued hearing on defendants' special motion to strike seven of the eight causes of action in the Master Complaint. As previ...

Excerpt: ...w regarding the sufficiency of the allegations set forth in the complaint. The challenge is limited to the “four corners” of the pleading (which includes exhibits attached and incorporated therein), or from matters outside the pleading which are judicially noticeable. The complaint is read as a whole. Material facts properly pleaded are assumed true, but contentions, deductions or conclusions of fact/law are not. In general, a pleading is ade...

Excerpt: ...e accident. The motion to quash is DENIED, but a protective order is GRANTED limiting the reach of the subpoenas to just five years pre‐ accident. Plaintiff's request for sanctions is DENIED because the demand to limit the records to “parts of the body” impacted is not reasonable given the type of injuries claimed, and a good faith meet and confer (CCP §§ 1987.1, 1985.3, 2017.020, 2025.420(a)) should have led to some resolution without ju...

Excerpt: ... a traditional writ of mandate under CCP §1085. Traditional mandamus is used to review adjudicatory decisions made without conducting evidentiary hearings required by law. Scott B. v. Board of Trustees of Orange County High School of Arts (2013) 217 Cal.App.4 th 117, 122‐124. It is most commonly used to compel an agency to exercise either a ministerial, or a discretionary, duty. See Keyes v. Bowen (2010) 189 Cal.App.4 th 647, 657‐ 661. An ac...

Excerpt: ...�Doe” and seeking leave to amend the pleading with that party's true name. CCP §474. Ignorance relates to either the defendant's identity (his name) or the capacity/manner in which the defendant may be responsible for the wrongdoing described in the operative pleading. McOwen v. Grossman (2007) 153 Cal.App.4 th 937, 942‐943. Ignorance as to “who” or “in what capacity” must be real, not feigned. See A.N. v. County of Los Angeles (2009...

Excerpt: ...d as follows: Delores Gates (hereinafter “decedent”) was an 88 year‐old elderly woman afflicted with dementia, and residing full‐time at defendant's senior memory care facility in Modesto since the summer of 2019. On the evening of 05/06/20, staff members applied a prescription lice treatment to decedent's scalp in the hopes of eradicating an on‐going (at recurring) lice infestation. The topical treatment was to have been rinsed out tha...