Excerpt: ... 2023, seeking a total of $6,825.50 in costs: $1,ff9.50 for trial court costs, and $5,155.90 for appellate costs. Mr. Limon timely filed a Motion to Tax Costs. Circle K claims costs of $4,716.70 under Item No. 6 of the Memorandum of Costs on Appeal for transmitting, filing, and serving of record, briefs, and other papers. See Stiller Declaration, Exhibit B, Memorandum of Costs on Appeal. Mr. Limon is challenging $4,489.20 of these costs as unreco...

Excerpt: ...on v. Mohamad, case No. CV-22-00032. The Court views it as likely that it will DENY the motion and stay the Hodgson case. The Court is somewhat confused in that all of the pleading reference a jury trial. However, demands for specific performance are not entitled to a jury (See: Darbun Enterprises v. San Fernando Community Hospital (2015) 239 cal.App.4± 399.) If Khan is successful, Hodgson would have a right to have the remainder of the case hea...

Excerpt: ...SUSTAINED. The assertions are vague as to the manner in which this was received. Objection 4: The Foundational objection is SUSTAINED. The Court notes that the declaration asserts without evidence that this is a picture prior to the breaking of the dial. Plaintiff has demonstrated Mr. Buske's status as a retained consultant to Plaintiff's counsel prior to the designation of experts in the matter. Therefore, Defendants' right to obtain discovery f...

Excerpt: ...D, and unopposed; sanctions reduced. (a) The Court finds that Defendant entirely failed to respond to the subject discovery and all objections are waived. (Code Civ. Proc. SS 2030.290(a).) Therefore, Plaintiff is entitled to an order compelling Defendant to provide verified responses, without objection, within 30 days. (Code Civ. Proc. SS 2030.290(b).) The Court further finds that Plaintiff is entitled to an award of monetary sanctions in connect...

Excerpt: ... Court is mandated to seriously consider even unreasonably late amendments and to assess the potential prejudice of granting such an amendment. Defendants outline additional discovery that would need to be undertaken but concede that those issues would be resolved with a continuance of the trial date. Given the slight or non-existent prejudice due to the lateness of the filing, the Court believes it is constrained to grant the motion. There is a ...

Excerpt: ...a) The judgment may not be enforced; (b) All enforcement procedures pursuant to the judgment or to a writ or order issued pursuant to the judgment shall cease; and (c) Any lien created by an enforcement procedure pursuant to the judgment is extinguished. As an alternative to filing an application for renewal of judgment, Code Civ. Proc. § 683.050 allows for the bringing of an action on a judgment within the 10-year deadline as specified in Code ...

Excerpt: ...CACI 204 at trial. The use notes of CACI 204 encourage case-specific instructions. This may not have been intentional, but the evidence is likely sufficient for the issue to be analyzed by the jury. The history appears to be as follows: Crash: December 16, 2016. Traffic photos taken by ID tech Lavonne Nicolai: Same day. Traffic collision report provided to Plaintiffs: January 26, 2017. Plaintiff's counsel requested all Nicolai photographs from MP...

Excerpt: ...laimed Checks Non-Reversionary: State Controller's Office, Unclaimed Property Division, in name of each unclaimed payee. This is a wage and hour dispute. A separate case against Defendant had an approved PAGA settlement on July 29, 2022, which appeared to preclude many of Plaintiff's PAGA claims in this case. For good cause shown, the class is certified for settlement purposes only. (Cal. Rules of Ct., rule 3.769(c).) Based on the moving papers, ...

Excerpt: ...e 2020 ICF Report at the time the project was approved. Counsel now asserts this was in error. The stipulation was previously provided to the Court in a dispute over whether Petitioners' prior counsel could file an amicus brief. A party may not offer a fact for one purpose to its advantage, and then later ask the Court to disclaim that fact; if it were one party, it would be a judicial admission, but in this case both parties stipulated to the fa...

Excerpt: ...t is entitled to a greater amount of deposit. What evidence do I have to support either figure? The Court view the hardship on Plaintiff to be substantial and likely outweighs the hardship on Defendants. However, the County asserts in its reply that granting an extension to leave the house until August, 2023 will cause it hardship. What specific construction issues has the County shown that cause this to be unreasonable? The County must prove “...

Excerpt: ...urisdiction to make the finding. If Alvarenga Transport LLC wishes to argue that matter, the Court will hear it despite the lack of filed opposition. The Court finds that the notice of settlement, application for good faith determination and proposed order were timely filed and properly served, with proof of service timely filed, as provided by law. (Code Civ. Proc., § 877.6(a)(2); Cal. Rules of Ct., rule 3.1382.) The time in which any non-settl...

Excerpt: ...2 of the joint stipulation says that “Within thirty (20) [sic] calendar days after preliminary approval,” Defendant shall provide the names of class members to the settlement admistrator. Counsel also stipulates to mailing the Class Notice within 30 days of preliminary approval. I prefer to honor the parties accelerated schedule but I am uncertain as to how to effectuate this. The Court intends to find good cause to certify the class for sett...

Excerpt: ...make it easier to seek forgiveness than permission. 3. The Court notes it is tentatively unsympathetic to Defendant's argument as to the depositions of Robertson and Starr, as these appear to have been delayed not through the fault of Plaintiff. I will hear argument as to the objections to these depositions and the others. 4. There is a substantive alteration in the Dunlap declaration as to the hazard of the curve. Should the court consider this?...

Excerpt: ... attorney affidavit of fault and finds counsel's acceptance of blame to be laudatory. That said, as a matter of law, the mandatory provisions of the relief statute only apply, based on the plain meaning of the text, to defaults (including default judgments) or dismissals and their procedural equivalents. (Vandermoon v. Sanwong (2006) 142 Cal.App.4th 315, 321. The Court is sympathetic to counsel's problems, but is puzzled as to two things: 1. The ...

Excerpt: ...settlement includes attorney fees of $93,333.34, costs of $25,000.00, a class representative enhancement of $20,000.00 for the named plaintiff, administrative fees of $7,000.00 and $10,000.00 in PAGA penalty fees of which $7,500.00 goes to the LWDA. The Court has reviewed the declarations in this case and finds the proposed settlement is within the range of reasonableness and deemed to be presumptively valid, subject to any objections that may be...

Excerpt: ...the 9th Circuit case Ngo v. BMW (2022) 23 F.4th 942 without taking judicial notice. The Court sustains the objections to the declaration of Aaron Cohen in their entirety. Further, the Court seriously considered sanctioning Plaintiff's counsel for their efforts to put before this court the unpublished rulings from other trial courts in violation of Rule of Court 8.1115. (See TBG Ins. Service Corp. v. Superior Court (2002) 96 Cal.App.4th 443, 447, ...

Excerpt: ...o be a non‐jury issue to be determined by the Court while monetary issues could be determined by a jury. (See: Darbun Industries v. San Fernando Community Hospital (2015) 239 Cal.App.4th 399.) This case may therefore require separate trials on the jury and non‐jury issues depending on the parties' positions. This reduces the chance of inconsistent verdicts, but nonetheless the equitable portions of this proceeding requires decisions affecting...

Excerpt: ...en questioned the City's counsel in chambers. The city made representations as to what those documents were which were accurate in one case and inaccurate in another. Given the long history of these cases, providing the wrong set of documents to the Court was not best practice. The Court has determined that it needs the transcript of the last hearing. The Court intends to proceed as follows: 1. The Court will review the transcript. 2. The Court w...

Excerpt: ... Instead, the Court elects to reach the merits. On March 5, 2021, Plaintiff filed suit against Hillside Ag Management, LCC and Brian Caetano. On April 14, 2021, the lawsuit was served. In May, 2021, Brian Caetano and Del Valle Farm Labor Services, Inc. President Adrian Cruz signed a settlement agreement calling for Caetano to pay $73,406.95 per year every year from December 31, 2021 to December 31, 2025. Caetano didn't pay the December 31, 2021 i...

Excerpt: ...atthew Herrera and Does 1‐20. As to the issues involving Ali Nowaid, the Court overrules the demurrer. Nowaid is alleged to have acknowledged his ownership interest in the mobile home park to the California Housing and Community Development Agency, and he was also listed as an owner on a citation. These are the sort of specific factual allegations to clear the relatively low hurdle at the pleading stage that Nowaid is an owner‐in‐fact and h...

Excerpt: ... changed the law in response to contrary older cases. The parties agree that the Court can enter an order to enter the settlement agreement. To the extent that the Court needs to interpret the settlement agreement, the Court has authority to do so. Mailloux contends that the Court cannot now enforce the settlement. This is incorrect; he cites cases in which the motion is for entry of judgment, not enforcement of judgment. The Court can enforce se...

Excerpt: ... fees. The 40% requested is inadequately supported, and Plaintiff's submissions to this court caused the Court to consider permitting substantially less than it eventually awarded in fees. FACTS: Defendants operate a retirement community for those age 62 and over. On July 12, 2021, plaintiff filed this PAGA Complaint, alleging that defendants failed to pay overtime and minimum wages, failed to provide compliant meal and rest periods and associate...

Excerpt: ...case involving some of the same issues and potential class members as this case. No classes have been certified in any related case. This case does not have a PAGA action, but the federal case and a related state case do. This is a question of permissive intervention. With regard to permissive intervention “the trial court has discretion to permit a nonparty to intervene where the following factors are met: (1) the proper procedures have been f...

Excerpt: ...6‐ 31) and Defendant's Knowledge of Similar Defects (RFPs 32‐37). Plaintiffs' motion asks for further responses to RFPs 17‐33, 36, and 37, though the motion does not engage in a great deal of differentiation. Plaintiffs leave out crucial details in their motion. First, they contend that on October 12, (all dates are in 2022) “Defendant failed to produce a single responsive document requested,” which appeared to apply to all 37 requests....

Excerpt: ...compliant meal and rest periods and associated premiums, failed to pay timely wages during employment and upon termination of employment, failed to provide complete and accurate itemized wage statements, failed to keep complete and accurate payroll records, and failed to reimburse necessary business‐related expenses and costs. PROCEDURAL POSTURE: On March 29, 2022, the parties participated in a mediation, and the parties ultimately reached a se...

Excerpt: ...led for divorce in the Family Law case in April, 2017. A default was taken and set aside, and litigation commenced in earnest in April, 2019. After substantial litigation the parties, their attorneys, and the family law judge signed a stipulation and order which said, in part, as follows: With regard to the real property located at [address], Respondent does not seek any remedies in this action, under the California Family Code, and does not seek...

Excerpt: ...e assertion that on November 15, 2021 the matter was set for a case management conference on May 24, 2022, which is inaccurate. 4. The assertion that “on May 13, 2022, a Request to Continue the Case Management Conference was made, due to [an] ongoing trial.” This appears disingenuous. Counsel is and was aware he did not pay filing fees for that request and it was not clerically processed on those grounds. This does not make the Court optimist...

Excerpt: ...intiff, and administration costs of $25,000.00 to the settlement administrator Simpluris, Inc., thus leaving a net settlement fund of $1,237,209.00. The average estimated individual settlement share is $337.26, and the highest estimated individual settlement share is $9,185.13. Simpluris Declaration, paragraph 10. The settlement approval in class action settlements requires three distinct steps: (1) Preliminary Approval of the proposed settlement...

Excerpt: ...sition to the Motion for Summary Judgment/Adjudication: 1. Lewis declaration, paragraph 25: Sustained, hearsay. 2. Lewis declaration, paragraph 27: Overruled, relevant to the effect on the listener. 3. Price declaration, paragraph 22: Sustained, hearsay. 4. Price declaration, paragraph 24: Overruled, relevant to the effect on the listener. 5. Sustained. 6. Sustained. 7. Overruled. The Court will consider the late‐filed declaration. This case wa...

Excerpt: ...embers so noticed. Based on the Petition and the Declaration of Ron Clark, the Court has weighed all the factors required to grant the relief requested and finds the revised CC&R's to be reasonable and all factors sufficiently met. (Civ. Code, § 4275(c)(1)‐(6)) In Fourth La Costa Condominium Owners Assn. v. Seith (2008) 159 Cal.App.4th 563, the Court found that the predecessor statute to section 4275 was designed to assist homeowners' associat...

Excerpt: ...erplate is one non‐frivolous contention: that the declarations contain insufficient foundational basis for the attached exhibits. However, the declarants aver familiarity with the subjects of the declarations, including how the systems work, which is sufficient. Plaintiff alleges that she would not have entered the arbitration agreement with Lyft had she known, and does not think that she actually did. To the contrary, Lyft provides evidence th...

Excerpt: .... Price declaration, paragraph 22: Sustained, hearsay. 4. Price declaration, paragraph 24: Overruled, relevant to the effect on the listener. 5. Sustained. 6. Sustained. 7. Overruled. The Court will consider the late‐filed declaration. This case was originally filed in Fresno County in November, 2018. A First Amended Complaint was filed on February 26, 2020. In this case, Plaintiffs Lewis and Price allege that they worked for Defendant through ...

Excerpt: ...rt or through deliberate avoidance of service on Defendant's part. Plaintiff's late‐filed opposition contains no admissible evidence that Defendant's address was as asserted. Plaintiff's counsel declares that an investigator did research, but does not identify the investigator or the research. If it did include that information, it would be hearsay. Plaintiff's assertion that unrepresented parties should be treated the same as represented parti...

Excerpt: ...e service payment of $10,000.00. The average payment to participating class members is estimated to be $4,603.25, with the highest payment being $9,830.46. The attorney's fees of $166,666.67 are reasonable. This represents one third of the gross settlement amount, which is a standard benchmark in California for class action settlements. Chavez v. Netflix, Inc. (2008) 162 Cal. App. 4th 43, 66, fn. 11. One‐third of the total settlement amount is ...

Excerpt: ... considered sanctioning Plaintiff's counsel for its efforts to put before this court the unpublished rulings from other trial courts in clear violation of Rule of Court 8.1115. The Court has an affirmative obligation to deter rules violations and will be dismayed if this effort to do so is unheeded. (See TBG Ins. Service Corp. v. Superior Court (2002) 96 Cal.App.4th 443, 447, fn2.) The Court has authority to determine arbitrability. (Sargon Enter...

Excerpt: ...o not apply to page length restrictions, that pages 5‐21 are a one‐page overage. In fact, they are a two‐page overage, as 17 pages is two pages more than 15 pages. I note that simply subtracting the page numbers – like subtracting days or other countable numbers – gives an answer that is one off. I intend the sanction as educational. I would surely have granted additional pages had I been asked to do so. Flouting the Rules of Court is n...

Excerpt: ... GRANTED, and unopposed. Motions (a) – (b): The Court finds that each motion was properly noticed and timely served, that no opposition was filed by Plaintiff and that no responses were timely served by Plaintiff. Accordingly, Plaintiff is ordered to serve complete and verified responses, without objections, within fifteen (15) days of this Order. Motion (c): The Court finds that this motion was properly noticed and timely served, that no oppos...

Excerpt: ...tigate matters which pertain to the underlying Alameda County claims. Specifically, Intervenor cannot have a trial of any sort in this county in order to recover as a state representative under PAGA. This Court cannot – and will not – rule on those claims, or take any action which purports to interfere with Alameda County's jurisdiction. ...

Excerpt: ...Chowdhury, which outlines a rule for out‐of‐ commission stoplights. In this case, there was a power outage whose breadth is disputed, but there is no means. Plaintiff has the burden to identify new facts that would cure the defect. The Opposition alleges that the only traffic signals that were inoperable were at the subject intersection but power was working for the other lights in the neighborhood and houses. Regardless of the accuracy of th...

Excerpt: ...eacted negatively because he has had difficult experiences with people who represent themselves. Petitioner goes to great lengths to disparage counsel both in his reply brief and in e‐mails. None of this assists. The Court does not have jurisdiction in this case to stop a party from being represented by the attorney of its choice. Petitioner is strongly advised in the future to make an administrative complaint about an attorney or not rather th...

Excerpt: ...ndants and each of them failed to verbally discuss the risks of the left eye surgery with Plaintiff, or otherwise clearly communicate and/or ensure that Plaintiff understood the associated risks, benefits, and alternatives.” Plaintiff suggests this is sufficient, but it does not follow that Plaintiff was not given a clear written waiver which Plaintiff understood and agreed to. Plaintiff avers that he did not understand what was occurring, but ...

Excerpt: ...purposes of ruling. Given that there is no evidence, the Court cannot entertain a Motion for Reconsideration. The Represented Defendants allege that they have information indicating the subject emails were available to Plaintiff prior to the last hearing, and that they are in an exhibit. The Court does not have the exhibit. The Court notes that the declaration and motion are legally and factually frivolous, and appear to be done for the purposes ...

Excerpt: ...nce that a valid arbitration agreement exists. The arbitration agreement was signed electronically on November 5, 2020. Ms. Brummell's Declaration indicates it was signed when Gloria Kelley was admitted to the facility. However, the Complaint and Gilliam declaration indicate the admission was actually on October 29, 2020. Michael Kelley denies signing the document. Assuming the document was signed by Michael Kelley and that Ms. Brummell's declara...

Excerpt: ... but want to delay a permanent injunction based on attempts at compliance. At this stage, whether the attempts at compliance are in good faith or not, they simply have not complied with a court order that they stipulated to. Notably, Defendants refused inspections, did not file timely applications, and did not meet all of the conditions of the order. Defendants' refusal to allow inspections was a direct violation of the order. For example, after ...

Excerpt: ...ntrols. Defendant suggests the Family Law Court executed a void order. As Kerns notes, I have no authority to reach the issue. The order in place is absolutely binding on me, and I cannot reach a contrary conclusion. If jurisdiction were only by stipulation, I would be free to make determinations, but in this case jurisdiction has been conferred by court order. The Court continues the case to give Defendant the opportunity to pursue whatever reme...

Excerpt: ...0, 21, 23, and 26 are OVERRULED. Objections 7, 8, 9, 15, 16, 18, 19, 22, 24, 25, 27, 28, 29, 30, and 31 are SUSTAINED. Notably, Defendant's objections to the attempt to bootstrap this case and the Wright case are granted. The Court will not consider the Trial Brief in the Wright matter, as does not meet the requirements for a judicial admission. A statement made to gain an advantage in a prior case cannot be walked back later; here Defendant made...

Excerpt: ...r's Request for Judicial Notice of a 2012 declaration is DENIED. First of all, the Court orders the parties to stop the ad hominem attacks. Intervenor wants the Court to take judicial notice of a press release critical of Plaintiff's firm. Plaintiff notes, entirely correctly, that this is grossly inappropriate, and follow up by asking for judicial notice of a 2012 declaration which may well be critical of Intervenor's lawyers but which the Court ...

Excerpt: ...isqualify Attorney Thomas E Lewis; d) Defendant Stanislaus Regional Housing Authority, Barbara S Kauss, Bernadette Reynolds and Mildred C Collings' Demurrer and Motion to Strike to Plaintiffs' Second Amended Complaint for Damages – a) STRICKEN. The purported removal was void. The Court sets aside the clerical designation of removal; it was void ab initio. b) As no good cause has been shown, Plaintiff Magdaleno is held in contempt for violation ...

Excerpt: ...s unhelpful to the Court reaching a decision on the merits of the issues. In this case, the parties appear to agree that the Court must engage in a weighing test to make determinations on what should be released. Defendants' procedural objections as to a meet and confer and separate statement requirement are incorrect. As to the meet and confer effort, Code Civ. Proc. 1985.6(f)(1) relating to a motion to quash does not include any such requiremen...

Excerpt: ... appellate courts reaching different conclusions. Those cases, Turrieta v. Lyft and Moniz v. Adecco USA Inc., both appear carefully considered. For background, PAGA actions are a dispute between the state and the employer, with the aggrieved employee effectively deputized to pursue the case on behalf of the state. (Iskanian v. CLS Transportation Los Angeles, LLC (2014) 59 Cal. 4 th 348.) Turrieta v. Lyft (2021) 69 Cal. App. 5 th 955 (review grant...