Excerpt: ...t ordered Defendants to retain an attorney and to file an Answer to the Complaint. The Court noted that Defendants could file a motion for judgment on the pleadings after retaining an attorney. The motion is denied for two reasons. First, counsel did not comply with his statutory obligation to make a reasonable and good faith attempt to resolve the issues raised in his motion before its filing. See CCP § 439(a). Counsel proceeded to file the mot...

Excerpt: ...nt, filed on June 25, 2019, should be stricken because Plaintiffs are not genuinely ignorant of its identity or the fact that it sold the trailer hitch to them that allegedly malfunctioned. Defendant's motion is denied because it requires the Court to consider numerous facts outside the scope of Plaintiff's Complaint and outside the scope of facts that the Court must judicially notice. See CCP § 437(a). The Court is required to accept Plaintiffs...

Excerpt: ...usiness on April 15, 2020, the hearing was reset to July 16, 2020. When the matter came before the Court on July 16, 2020, the Court continued the hearing to September 2, 2020, and ordered the parties to comply with their meet-and-confer obligations. See CCP § 2016.040 (required contents of meet-and-confer declaration); See Townsend v. Superior Court (1998) 61 Cal.App.4th 1431, 1439 (sending letters with an articulation of your position not suff...

Excerpt: ... of The Olson Children Irrevocable Trust dated June 17, 2017. The operative Verified First Amended Complaint was filed on April 18, 2019. The First Amended Complaint includes the following causes of action: (1) Foreclosure of Nonpossessory Lien over Personal Property; (2) Conversion; and (3) Fraudulent Conveyance (Civil Code § 3439 et seq.). Defendant Weekes served as the Trustee of the Children's Trust from 2017 until he purportedly resigned in...

Excerpt: ...e an Answer to the Complaint. The Court noted that Defendants could file a motion for judgment on the pleadings after retaining an attorney. The Trust retained attorney Gary Sherrer on August 20, 2020, but Defendant Colbert did not. Defendant Colbert filed this demurrer on August 27, 2020. The demurrer is overruled for several reasons. First, the demurrer is untimely. See CCP § 430.40(a). Second, the filing of the demurrer violates the terms of ...

Excerpt: ...he hearing was then continued at the request of the parties to October 8, 2020 on June 12, 2020. Defendant 24 Hour Fitness USA, Inc. filed a notice of bankruptcy stay in June 2020. Plaintiff therefore does not proceed against 24 Hour Fitness USA, Inc. at this time. The Court begins by admonishing Plaintiff's counsel that they must file separate motions for summary adjudication if they request rulings against separate parties represented by separa...

Excerpt: ...� 2016.040 and 2030.300(b)(1). Counsel are advised that their meet-and-confer efforts should go beyond merely sending letters stating their respective positions. See Townsend v. Superior Court (1998) 61 Cal.App.4th 1431, 1439; and Obregon v. Superior Court (1998) 67 Cal.App.4th 424, 428. In the future, the Court will require the parties to limit the number of meet-and-confer letters and to discuss the issues in person or by telephone prior to the...

Excerpt: ...ant owes the sum of $1,800,000 pursuant to the terms of the Amended Asset Purchase Agreement, dated July 12, 2019. Plaintiff contends that Defendant owes the additional sum pursuant to a post-closing adjustment of the purchase price. Defendant paid Plaintiff the sum of $35,000,000 at the time of the sale. Defendant gave Plaintiff a promissory note in the sum of $10,000,000 as part of the purchase price. The application is denied because Plaintiff...

Excerpt: ...tnership bank if any; (3) initiating any contact with any vendor or potential vendor of the partnership; and (4) interfering with the business of the SAAK Partnership in any manner. The Court takes notice of its August 28, 2020 order granting in part Defendant's ex parte application for a temporary restraining order and its July 2, 2020 order granting in part Defendant Spanier's prior motion for preliminary injunction. Defendants' motion is proce...

Excerpt: ...facts that go beyond those facts supporting his first cause of action for breach of contract. See CACI No. 325; and Digerati Holdings, LLC v. Young Money Entertainment, LLC (2011) 194 Cal.App.4th 873, 885 (gravamen of breach of implied covenant is different than gravamen for breach of contract). Defendant's demurrer to Plaintiff's third cause of action for conversion is SUSTAINED WITH LEAVE TO AMEND. Plaintiff's statement of a cause of action for...

Excerpt: ...located at 46665 Fremont Blvd., in Fremont, on or about July 9, 2019. Applied Spectra had apparently been a tenant at the location since 2012. From 2007 to 2012, Applied Spectra occupied commercial space located at 46661 Fremont Blvd. The application is denied because Plaintiffs have not met their burden of establishing that their damages are measurable by reference to the contract. See CCP § 483.010(a) (money claim must be fixed or readily asce...

Excerpt: ...located at 46665 Fremont Blvd., in Fremont, on or about July 9, 2019. Applied Spectra had apparently been a tenant at the location since 2012. From 2007 to 2012, Applied Spectra occupied commercial space located at 46661 Fremont Blvd. The application is denied because Plaintiffs have not met their burden of establishing that their damages are measurable by reference to the contract. See CCP § 483.010(a) (money claim must be fixed or readily asce...

Excerpt: ...heir papers to Department 518. Counsel were ordered to mail their courtesy copies to Department 518. Counsel for Defendant inexplicably failed to comply with this very simple order. The Court is familiar with the allegations and claims in this fraud and elder abuse case. Defendant's main contention in opposition to the motion is that the interrogatories and requests for production are overbroad and seek information that is not relevant to the sub...

Excerpt: ...issues raised by the demurrer. See Aubry v. Tri-City Hosp. Dist. (1992) 2 Cal.4th 962, 966-967. In this case, the Court concludes that Plaintiff pled sufficient facts to support his Seventh Cause of Action for Defamation in paragraphs 11, 12, 13, 14, 59, 60 and 61 of the Complaint to state a cause of action. Defendant's contention that the statements attributed to Moore were mere expressions of opinion is without merit. Defendant's contention tha...

Excerpt: ...ly after the deal to acquire Bright Pattern, Inc. dissolved. Defendant believes it is likely that the requested records will contradict or at least call into question Plaintiff's allegations in the Complaint and support its allegations in the Cross-Complaint. Defendant's motion is denied because the Court agrees with Plaintiff's assertion that the cost and burden of searching for all records within the company related to Dimelo, S.A. is outweighe...

Excerpt: ...d for all purposes to the Honorable Delbert C. Gee. There has been a substantial number of motions filed by both sides in this case, including challenges to the pleadings. For the purposes of this motion, the parties ask the Court to review Judge Gee's order of August 14, 2015 granting the Motion of Defendants Sipi Metals Corp. and Marion Cameron ("the Chicago Defendants") to Dismiss for Lack of Personal Jurisdiction. Judge Gee determined that Pl...

Excerpt: ...2006) 138 Cal.App.4th 1371, 1377-1378; and Roy Supply, Inc. v. Wells Fargo Bank (1995) 39 Cal.App.4th 1051, 1057-1058. Defendant also correctly contends that Plaintiff has not alleged facts sufficient to establish that it owed Plaintiff a duty of care when it accepted for deposit unendorsed checks made payable to Plaintiff's principals. See Chazen v. Centennial Bank (1998) 61 Cal.App.4th 532, 543 (number of situations were a bank would owe a non-...

Excerpt: ...and that she advised employees of the university about her problems "at all times relevant herein." In particular, Plaintiff informed the university's Vice President, Dr. Craig Elliot. Plaintiff complains that Defendant violated her right to medical privacy by sharing the information with those without a need to know about her history of mental illness. Furthermore, Plaintiff alleges that she endured continuous abuse at the hands of one of her in...

Excerpt: ...United States subsidiary, which then sold the machine to 24 Hours Fitness, which then had the machine at a fitness center in Walnut Creek, California, where it injured plaintiff. Technogym S.p.A, does not own property or operate directly in California. (Casoni Dec.) The United States subsidiary buys exercise equipment in bulk, maintains inventory, and then sells it to customers. (Cool Dec.) OVERVIEW OF LAW The U.S. Supreme Court recognizes two ty...

Excerpt: ...because the court finds the settlement offer to be reasonable. A party is responsible for making her or his own decision to prosecute or defend a case. Substantively, defendant argues that plaintiff Kalah should accept an insurance policy limits offer of $15,000 because defendant filed for bankruptcy and the bankruptcy judge's order of 5/9/19 states "[Plaintiff Salah] may not enforce any judgment personally against the debtor [defendant Del Toro]...

Excerpt: .... Kramer is a general partner with access to the partnership accounts, but the partnership agreement requires a majority vote before a disbursement of over $1,000. (Kramer Dec., Exh A, Partnership Agt section 4.5(e)(ii) Three of the four partners returned the $47,500 distributions. Spanier seeks an injunction (1) requiring Kramer to return his $47,500 distribution and (2) enjoining Kramer from making any further withdrawals of funds. STANDARD "[T...

Excerpt: ...unts. BANK RECORDS OMC served subpoenas on Wells Fargo seeking bank records of Albietz and Managed Cloud Technologies, a company that he appears to own testified at deposition that he Company seeks bank records. The bank records are relevant to the $27,000 withdrawal. Albietz has a right of privacy in his financial information. The court balances direct relevance with the privacy interests. (Valley Bank of Nevada v. Superior Court (1975) 15 Cal.3...

Excerpt: ...ud claims against Volkswagen. The demurrer to the Fourth Cause of Action for "Fraudulent Inducement - Concealment" is OVERRULED. A claim for fraudulent concealment requires the plaintiff to plead and prove that the defendant was under a duty to disclose the fact to the plaintiff. (Blickman Turkus, LP v. MF Downtown Sunnyvale, LLC (2008) 162 Cal.App.4th 858, 868-869.) A duty to disclose can arise when the information at issue concerns safety. (Jon...

Excerpt: ...ivided 50% interest in the property. The parties negotiated a written settlement agreement. All parties and their lawyers signed the written agreement on or about 5/23/19. The court retains jurisdiction to enforce the agreement. (CCP 664.6.) The central part of the settlement is the division of the property. (Agt para 1, Exh A.) The property is 3.4 acres (Agt, para 8(a).) In June 2019 Civic Justice prepared to divide the property with a lot line ...

Excerpt: ...reason for the termination is a pretext. Plaintiff filed his action against Tesla on January 7, 2020. Plaintiff has also named Tesla employee Caleb Moore in the Seventh Cause of Action for Defamation. The Court reviews the parties' evidence to determine whether a valid agreement to arbitrate exists and whether there are reasons why the agreement is unenforceable. See Ramos v. Westlake Services LLC (2015) 242 Cal.App.4th 674, 685 (court must begin...