Excerpt: ...ion practice since the action was commenced on January 22, 2018. The jury trial date is February 3, 2020. Plaintiffs have sued Defendant for the loss of certain items of clothing and damage to other clothing items entrusted to Defendant for cleaning. Defendant advises the Court that Plaintiffs provided counsel with an inventory of their losses which total $26,738.47. Plaintiffs have no other claims against Defendant in this action. Based on its r...

Excerpt: ...t [Dhaliwal] Law Group" (Complaint, ¶ 11), and a director or officer of a corporation does not incur personal liability for torts of the corporation "merely by reason of their official position, unless they participate in the wrong or authorize or direct that it be done." (Memo., p. 4, citing 3 Witkin, Sum. of Cal. Law (7th ed. 1960) § 48(c), and Frances T. v. Village Green Owners Assn. (1986) 42 Cal.3d 490, 505.) As established in the cited au...

Excerpt: ...uction of documents, against defendant and/or cross-complainants Pathos Management Group, LLC, Nicholas Eftimiou, John Eftimiou and Anna Eftimiou" ("Cross-Complainants"). (Notice of Motion, p. 2.) Though the notice of motion does not specify the particular requests for production ("RPDs") to which Movants seek responsive documents, the memorandum addresses RPD No. 24 to Nicholas, RPD No. 21 to John and Anna, and RPD Nos. 1- 13, 15-18, 20-23, 29, ...

Excerpt: ...ated at 530 24th Street in Oakland. Cohen and the LLC hired SG to be the property manager for the Apartments. This is a consolidated proceeding with two operative complaints, the Guerrero Third Amended Complaint ("GTAC"), which was filed December 13, 2018, and the Sabino Third Amended Complaint ("STAC"), which was filed June 15, 2018. Moving Defendants' arguments are directed only to the GTAC, which is the relevant pleading for purposes of this m...

Excerpt: ...ter shall be specified in the notice of motion, or in the supporting points and authorities, except as the court may otherwise permit." (C.C.P. § 437(b).) The instant motion is not accompanied by a request for judicial notice. Instead, it is based on matters set forth in a Declaration of Philip E. Yeager, Defendant's counsel. A "defendant cannot base a motion to strike the complaint on affidavits or declarations containing extrinsic evidence.......

Excerpt: ...n March 28, 2019. Regarding the documents related to Dr. Polfiet's examination of Plaintiff on March 28, 2019, the court finds that Plaintiff is entitled to Item No.1, requesting all documents related to Plaintiff's examination, Item No. 2, requesting all reports prepared regarding Plaintiff and Item No. 3 regarding all of the raw scores, T scores, and scales pertaining to Plaintiff's examination. Such documents are exempt from the attorney work ...

Excerpt: ...e in reply. (See Jay v. Mahaffey (2013) 218 Cal.App.4th 1522, 1537.) Defendant also correctly pointed out that the evidence proffered by Plaintiff in support of the Motion papers was not competent evidence. First, the supporting declaration did not correctly track the language of Code of Civil Procedure section 2015.5. (Kulshrestha v. First Union Commercial Corp. (2004) 33 Cal.4th 601, 609- 618; accord Bombardier Recreational Products, Inc. v. Do...

Excerpt: ..., Inc., et al., Alameda County Superior Court, Case No. RG16843879 STANDARD OF LAW "[T]he power of a court to stay proceedings . . . was inherent at common law and is now vested in the superior courts of this state." (Bailey v. Fosca Oil Co. (1963) 216 Cal. App. 2d 813, 817.) "The case management tools available to trial courts, including the inherent authority to stay an action when appropriate . . . can overcome problems of simultaneous litigat...

Excerpt: ...ion under Code of Civil Procedure section 436 to strike portions of the complaint. In order to state a prima facie claim for punitive damages, a complaint must set forth the elements as stated in the general punitive damages statute, Civil Code section 3294. (College Hospital, Inc. v. Superior Court (1994) 8 Cal.4th 704, 721.) These statutory elements include allegations that the defendant has been guilty of oppression, fraud or malice. (Civ.Code...

Excerpt: ...04.3, 211-4-211.3, 214.1, and 216.1; Special Interrogatories Nos. 5-10, 12, 15, 18, 21, 23, 24, 26-109; and Requests for Production of Documents, Set One, Nos. 2-5, 10, 12, 13-15, 17, 18- 23, 25-40, 44-49, and 54-103. (Code Civ. Proc. §§ 2030.300(a), 2031.310(a).) Plaintiff's Motion to Compel is also treated as a Motion to Compel Compliance and as such is GRANTED as to all of the foregoing Requests for Production of Documents. (Code Civ. Proc. ...

Excerpt: ... opposition. Nevertheless, Essex was able to substantively respond to Plaintiff's arguments in reply, so the Court shall consider both parties' papers. This action arises from a flooding incident in a unit occupied by Plaintiff Maureen McFadden ("Plaintiff") at the Essex House Condominiums (the "Property") in Oakland, California in November 2017. Essex seeks an order compelling further responses to certain interrogatories in its Form Interrogator...

Excerpt: ...f filed her first lawsuit on or around February 28, 2013 in the Superior Court of California, County of Alameda as Case No. RG13669175 ("Initial Action"). In the Initial Action, Plaintiff alleged causes of action for violations of California Civil Code sections 2924(a)(6) and 2924c, negligence, breach of contract, misrepresentation, fraud, and elder abuse. Fannie Mae was awarded summary adjudication of several issues on March 26, 2015 and, after ...

Excerpt: ...served several sets of written discovery requests on Plaintiff's counsel on May 2, 2018. Defendant advises that Plaintiff's attorney did not comply with his obligation to serve timely responses that complied with the requirements of CCP §§ 2030.210 et seq. and 2031.210 et seq. Defendant, however, did not request judicial relief until it filed its Motion to Compel on October 31, 2018. Defendant advised that Plaintiff's attorney made repeated pro...

Excerpt: ... 19, 2019. Plaintiff states that due to medical issues she was unable to file a timely opposition. Nevertheless, Essex was able to substantively respond to Plaintiff's arguments in reply, so the Court shall consider both parties' papers. This action arises from a flooding incident in a unit occupied by Plaintiff Maureen McFadden ("Plaintiff") at the Essex House Condominiums (the "Property") in Oakland, California in November 2017. Essex served it...

Excerpt: ...tion should be exercised liberally in favor of amendments, for judicial policy favors resolution of all disputed matters in the same lawsuit." (Kittredge Sports Co. v. Superior Court (1989) 213 Cal.App.3d 1045, 1047, citing Nestle v. Santa Monica (1972) 6 Cal.3d 920, 939.) Such liberality in allowing amendments is to be exercised "at any stage of the proceedings, up to and including trial," absent prejudice to the adverse party. (Atkinson v. Elk ...

Excerpt: ... for settlement purposes. The Court has a "fiduciary responsibility as guardian[] of the rights of the absentee class members when deciding whether to approve a settlement agreement." (Duran v. Obesity Research Institute, LLC (2016) 1 Cal.App.5th 635, 646.) The Court is obligated to ensure that the "agreement is not the product of fraud or overreaching by, or collusion between, the negotiating parties, and that the settlement, taken as a whole, i...

Excerpt: ...er natural person or organization from unwarranted annoyance, embarrassment, or oppression, or undue burden and expense." (CCP § 2025.420(b).) A protective order may include instructions "[t]hat the deposition not be taken at all," "[t]hat the deposition be taken only on certain specified terms and conditions," "[t]hat certain matters not be inquired into," and/or "[t]hat the scope of the examination be limited to certain matters[.]" (Id.) In ad...

Excerpt: ...no triable issue of material fact and that he is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." (Aguilar v. Atl. Richfield Co. (2001) 25 Cal. 4th 826, 850.) "That is because of the general principle that a party who seeks a court's action in his favor bears the burden of persuasion thereon." (Id.) Further, "the party moving for summary judgment bears an initial burden of production to make a prima facie showing of the nonexistence of any triable issue...

Excerpt: ...es of action within an action . . . if the party contends that the cause of action has no merit. . . ." (CCP sec. 437c(f)(1).) "[T]he party moving for summary judgment bears the burden of persuasion that there is no triable issue of material fact and that he is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." (Aguilar v. Atl. Richfield Co. (2001) 25 Cal. 4th 826, 850.) "[T]he party moving for summary judgment bears an initial burden of production to mak...

Excerpt: ...INATING SANCTIONS AND MOTION TO COMPEL A terminating sanction is generally a "last resort" where other lesser sanctions would not be effective to address the discovery misuse. (See, e.g., Weil & Brown et al., Cal. Prac. Guide: Civ. Proc. Before Trial (TRG 2011 ed.) ¶¶ 8:1211-8:1215.1, and cases cited therein.) "If a lesser sanction fails to curb abuse, a greater sanction is warranted: continuing misuses of the discovery process warrant incremen...

Excerpt: ... the court shall order the petitioner and the respondent to arbitrate the controversy if it determines that an agreement to arbitrate the controversy exists, unless it determines that: (a) the right to compel arbitration has been waived by the petitioner; or (b) grounds exist for the revocation of the agreement." (Code Civ. Proc. sec. 1281.2; see also 9 USC secs. 1 et. seq.) Plaintiff filed his Complaint on November 29, 2018 alleging various caus...

Excerpt: ...of Ramos on April 18, 2018. On an unopposed motion by Nationwide, the Court ordered the Lemus and Mendez actions consolidated for all purposes on July 30, 2018. Plaintiff Michelle Carter filed another case on February 15, 2019, alleging that she was injured in the same accident. (RG19007188.) Nationwide, as defendant- intervenor, now moves to consolidate the Carter case with the already-consolidated Lemus/Mendez case. Plaintiffs Lemus and Carter ...

Excerpt: ...reek, respectively. Judge Warren issued his decision and award on February 20, 2019, awarding no damages to either party. Clark petitioned the Court to vacate the arbitration ward on May 29, 2019. The stated grounds for vacation are that Judge Warren failed to comply with California Rules of Court, Ethical Standards for Neutral Arbitrators in Contractual Arbitration, Standard 12 ("Standard 12"), and that his award contains obvious and manifest er...

Excerpt: ...aived any such claims in the "Stipulation re: Dismissal/Judgment" filed on that date in Alameda County Superior Court Case No. RG16-827749, which contained a Civil Code section 1542 waiver releasing any known or unknown claims against Bay Property Group or its attorneys (including Daniel Bornstein). The vast majority of the allegations in Plaintiff's Complaint involve events occurring prior to October 17, 2016. Plaintiff has waived any claims bas...

Excerpt: ...erform necessary environmental remediation of the site. As a result, Plaintiff alleges that petroleum has contaminated the soil and groundwater on Defendants' property and that contamination has migrated onto Plaintiff's adjoining property. Plaintiff alleges causes of action for trespass, nuisance, negligence, breach of contract, declaratory relief, and unfair business practices. Defendants demur to the Sixth Cause of Action for Unfair Business P...