Excerpt: ...against Defendant-in-Interpleader Old Depot Public House, Inc. ("Old Depot") and Rebecca Boyles ("Ms. Boyles") (collectively, "Respondents") and Respondents' counsel, H. Paul Bryant. The arbitrator had awarded Spirit Wolf $140,000 in damages. In addition, the arbitrator awarded $105,572.00 in fees and $20,502.57 in costs, as well as additional arbitration fees in the amount of $2,970.00. Finally, the arbitrator granted Spirit Wolf's motion for sa...

Excerpt: ...efendant until June 26, 2020. (Cal. Civ. Proc. Code § 1005(b) ["All papers opposing a motion so noticed shall be filed with the court and a copy served on each party at least nine court days . . . before the hearing."].) Thus, Plaintiffs' opposition was untimely and shall not be considered. However, even if the Court considered Plaintiffs' opposition, the Court's ruling would remain the same. STANDARD OF LAW "The court may, upon a motion . . . o...

Excerpt: ...ed by the court to recover as part of the judgment a sum equal to the aggregate amount of costs and expenses, including attorney's fees based on actual time expended, determined by the court to have been reasonably incurred by the buyer in connection with the commencement and prosecution of such action." (Cal. Civ. Code § 1794.) "Except as otherwise expressly provided by statute, a prevailing party is entitled as a matter of right to recover cos...

Excerpt: ...ction for liability for negligence of public employee, Third Cause of Action for dangerous condition of public property, and Fourth Cause of Action for abatement of public nuisance on the grounds that Plaintiffs have not pleaded sufficient facts to state these causes of action pursuant to the Government Code. Defendant also demurs to these causes of action on the grounds that it is immune from liability pursuant to the Government Code. STANDARD O...

Excerpt: ... after it assumed ownership of the subject property during which defendant FPI continued as the property manager and Plaintiffs contention that they are aware of specific facts which could be alleged so as to sustain an exemplary damages claim and inasmuch as this is Defendant Priya Harbert's first Motion to Strike, the motion to strike exemplary damages is GRANTED WITH LEAVE TO AMEND as to defendant Priya Harbert. STANDARD OF LAW "The court may,...

Excerpt: ..."ppb") average acrylamide concentration by weight will satisfy the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment's ("OEHHA") No Significant Risk Level ("NSRL") of 0.2 µg/day of acrylamide for cancer and Maximum Allowable Dose Level ("MADL") of 140 µg/day of acrylamide for reproductive toxicity for the products at issue. (See https://oehha.ca.gov/proposition-65/chemicals/acrylamide.) There was no explanation in the Motion or the [Proposed] Co...

Excerpt: ...of this Order, Omni shall file and serve a declaration setting forth the reasonable attorney's fees and costs it incurred to attend the mandatory settlement conference and prepare this Motion as well as a proposed order awarding sanctions. The amount of the sanctions to be awarded remains within the Court's discretion. As a threshold issue, while Plaintiffs' opposition and Omni's reply brief were both untimely filed, the Court shall consider all ...

Excerpt: ...ent tools available to trial courts, including the inherent authority to stay an action when appropriate . . . can overcome problems of simultaneous litigation if they do occur." (Jordache Enterprises, Inc. v. Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison (1998) 18 Cal. 4th 739, 758.) Plaintiff Jose Carmelo Castillo ("Plaintiff") filed this action on March 4, 2020, asserting claims of breach of contract, as well as a claim for violation of California Insurance Cod...

Excerpt: ...reby, may apply to the court in which the action is pending to expunge the notice." (CCP § 405.30.) "The claimant shall have the burden of proof[.]" (Id.) "[T]he court shall order the notice expunged if the court finds that the pleading on which the notice is based does not contain a real property claim." (CCP § 405.31.) "Real property claim" means the cause or causes of action in a pleading which would, if meritorious, affect (a) title to, or ...

Excerpt: ...he complaint[;] [or] (ii) [t]he complaint does not state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action against that defendant." (CCP § 438(c)(1)(B).) "A party may move for summary judgment in an action or proceeding if it is contended that the action has no merit or that there is no defense to the action or proceeding." (CCP § 437c(a)(1).) "[T]he party moving for summary judgment bears the burden of persuasion that there is no triable issue ...

Excerpt: ...-General (Set One), Form Interrogatories-Employment (Set One), and Special Interrogatories (Set One) as to Cal FMC, Plaintiffs' Request for Order Awarding Monetary Sanctions Against Cal FMC in the Sum of $810.00, Plaintiffs' Motion to Deem the Truth of Matters Specified in Requests for Admission, Set No. One, Admitted and Conclusively Established as to Cal FMC, and Plaintiffs' Request for Order Awarding Monetary Sanctions Against Cal FMC in the S...

Excerpt: ...ed to respond. IT IS ORDERED THAT Plaintiff's claims against GLP Defendants are STAYED pending completion of arbitration. (CCP § 1281.4.) Plaintiff's claims against the remaining defendants, SW Smyth LLP, Andrew E. Smyth Attorney at Law and S.B.S. Trust Deed Network are not stayed by this Order. STANDARD OF LAW "On petition of a party to an arbitration agreement alleging the existence of a written agreement to arbitrate a controversy and that a ...

Excerpt: ...lternatively, summary adjudication of each of Plaintiff's causes of action and his request for punitive damages. Initially, Defendants' motion suffers from procedural defects regarding how it is presented to the Court. Defendants' motion is based largely on the premise that Plaintiff has "no evidence," (Def.'s Memo., pp. 1:16, 10:9, 12:25, 15:6), "has offered zero evidence," (Def.'s Memo., p. 1:25, see also Def.'s Memo., pp. 13:10, 16:22), "has n...

Excerpt: ...vice address listed on Plaintiff's proof of service is her old address as she moved in September 2019. However, while Defendant stated she provided a forwarding address to the US Postal Service, she did not provide an updated address to Plaintiff or to the Court. The service address used by Plaintiff was the same address provided by Defendant in her Answer filed on September 12, 2018. Pursuant to California Rule of Court 8.32 subsections (a) and ...

Excerpt: ...Secretary of BCOA, a Request for Production of Documents seeking production of invoices referenced in a series of checks issued by Jennings to himself and his immediate family members in 2019 amounting to over $175,000, as well as documents supporting authorization to issue those checks. Jennings did not produce any responsive documents, and instead asserted objections of overbreadth, vagueness, privacy, attorney-client privilege and work product...

Excerpt: ...vice address listed on Plaintiff's proof of service is her old address as she moved in September 2019. However, while Defendant stated she provided a forwarding address to the US Postal Service, she did not provide an updated address to Plaintiff or to the Court. The service address used by Plaintiff was the same address provided by Defendant in her Answer filed on September 12, 2018. Pursuant to California Rule of Court 8.32 subsections (a) and ...

Excerpt: ...ions), to Defendant's Special Interrogatories. The date for Plaintiff's compliance with this Order in regards to discovery responses is 30 days from the date of service of notice of entry of this order, as modified for method of service under Code of Civil Procedure section 1013. When a motion to compel discovery is granted, a court shall order the party to whom discovery was directed to pay the reasonable expenses, including attorney's fees, of ...

Excerpt: ...er first may need to seek to add Rebecca Boyles to the action, before judgment against her can be appropriately entered, as is inferred by Petitioner's petition. (See Attach. 3a to Petition ["[T]he Arbitration Award also binds a Respondent who has not yet been joined to the present Action: Rebecca Boyles, the owner and (as determined by the Arbitrator) alter ego of Old Depot."].) In the case of a binding contractual arbitration, such as this one,...

Excerpt: ...nts' request for a judgment notwithstanding the verdict, such a request does not appear separately on the Court's law and motion calendar and Defendants' do not appear to have paid a filing fee related to such a motion. Thus, even though the parties have separately briefed a motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict, the Court does not consider such a motion to be properly before the Court. To the extent the Court is required to rule on the...

Excerpt: ...he amended pleading by a method permitted by the Code of Civil Procedure. Defendants' time to respond shall be modified pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure section 1013, based on the method of service of the further amended complaint. As written, the FAC fails to state a cause of action upon which relief can be granted against Defendant Landau. (See CCP § 430.10(e); but see Angie M. v. Sup. Ct. (1995) 37 Cal.App.4th 1217, 1227 ["Liberality in pe...

Excerpt: ...§ 428.50(b).) After a trial date has been set, "[a] party shall obtain leave of court to file any cross-complaint . . . . Leave may be granted in the interest of justice at any time during the course of the action." (CCP § 428.50(c); see also CCP §§ 426.50, 428.10.) Here, as demonstrated by the moving papers, the interests of justice support allowing Defendants to file a cross-complaint at this time. The proposed Cross- Complaint seeks to bri...

Excerpt: ...ervice of notice of entry of this Order, or 20 days after the date the Court begins accepting filings of like documents via fax filing or other method, whichever date is later. At the time of this writing, the Court, generally speaking, is accepting some, but not all types of civil filings due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The parties are instructed to look to the Emergency Local Rules for guidance. On December 4, 2019, this Court granted Defendant F...

Excerpt: ...Hospital and Marshall Medical Center. Plaintiff has now moved to quash those subpoenas, arguing Defendants is violating Plaintiff's privacy rights, is seeking to go on a discovery "fishing expedition," and is attempting to misuse after-acquired evidence. The present motion involves subpoenas issued on or around February 20, 2020. (See Exh. K to Dec. J. Rager.) In her Complaint, Plaintiff alleges she was terminated by Defendant from a position as ...

Excerpt: ...ther amended complaint at this time. Defendant, to the extent it has not already answered, is ORDERED to answer the remaining allegations of the FAC no later than 20 days after the Court begins accepting filings of like documents via fax filing or other method. At the time of this writing the Court, generally speaking, is not accepting all standard civil filings due to the COVID-19 pandemic. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Defendant provide written no...

Excerpt: ...sed in getting Plaintiff's relevant business records, Plaintiff requests that she be provided 60 days from the date of the order to provide any further responses ordered by the court."].) Accordingly, the Court GRANTS Defendants' motion to the following extent: Plaintiff, to the extent she has not already done so, is ORDERED to serve responsive documents to Defendant Quest Diagnostics' Request for Production of Documents to Plaintiff, Set One, No...