Plaintiff's Motion for Attorneys' Fees and Costs Pursuant to Civil Code Section 1794(D)
A neutral inspection of the property shall be conducted to assess structural conditions, termite issues, HVAC condition, and other material maintenance concerns. The parties shall cooperate with reasonable inspection requests and provide access to the property upon reasonable notice. The Court will hear argument regarding whether such preservation measures are appropriate and whether any additional or modified protective orders are necessary pending final resolution of the trust dispute.
The following are the tentative rulings for cases calendared before Judge Clifford Tong in Department 23:
CV-19-006268 - AMERICAN EXPRESS NATIONAL BANK vs MARTINEZ, STEVE - Plaintiff's Motion to Vacate the Conditional Dismissal and for Entry of Judgment Pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure Section 664.6 - GRANTED, and unopposed. Plaintiff has demonstrated entitlement to judgment pursuant to the terms of the stipulation entered between the parties in October 2020, by which they agreed to the Court's retained jurisdiction to enforce the terms of the settlement herein. Therefore, the motion is granted, the dismissal entered on 10-27-29 is set aside, and judgment shall be entered in Plaintiff's favor for the total amount of $4,739.00, which represents the principal amount of $10,622.50, less $6,373.50 in payments credited to the account, plus total court costs of $490.00. The Court will sign the proposed order and judgment submitted by Plaintiff.
CV-23-001773 - TRAVIS, TYEISHA vs COMMUNITY HOSPICE INC - Plaintiff's Motion for Final Approval of Class Settlement and Award of Attorneys' Fees, Costs and Service Awards - HEARING REQUIRED. Based on the moving papers and supporting evidence, the Court is inclined to GRANT the motion. It appears that proper notice to the settlement class has been given in compliance with the law and as required by the Court's order granting preliminary approval. Having considered the unopposed motion herein and the supporting declarations and evidence, the Court finds that the settlement was entered into good faith, is fair, reasonable and adequate, and satisfies the standards for final approval under California law. (Civil Code Sec.1781; Code Civ.
Proc. Sec.382; Cal. Rules of Ct., rule 3.769.) Good cause appearing to the satisfaction of the Court, the proposed settlement and the associated fees and costs are approved as set forth in the motion and supporting papers, as follows:
Fees and costs of Settlement Administrator: $8,750
Payment to Class Representatives: $20,000
PAGA allocation to LWDA (75%) and class members (25%): $50,000
Class Counsel's attorney's fees: $350,500
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Class Counsel's costs: $44,304.85
In accordance with the provisions of Code Civ. Proc. Sec. 384, the Court sets a compliance hearing for April 15, 2027 at 8:30 a.m. in Department 23 to confirm full administration of the settlement. Class counsel shall submit a compliance report no later than 5 court days before the date of the hearing, which shall include the total amount that was actually paid to the class members pursuant to the subject settlement. At the time of the compliance hearing, the Court shall amend the judgment to direct that the sum of the unpaid funds, plus interest as required by the statute, be distributed as set forth in the Settlement Agreement. Class Counsel shall submit a revised proposed order incorporating the above revisions for the Court's signature.
CV-24-002665 - GERGEES, DORIS vs GENERAL MOTORS LLC - Plaintiff's Motion for Attorneys' Fees and Costs Pursuant to Civil Code Section 1794(D) - CONTINUED, on the Court's own motion, to September 9, 2026 at 8:30 a.m. in Department 23. The Court notes that counsel herein has substantial experience with these types of matters and is presumably well-acquainted with the law governing the determination of reasonable fees and expenses pursuant to the statute. Nevertheless, these types of fee disputes are commonplace and appear to reflect a default pattern of refusing to compromise in favor of "trying their luck" before the court, thus wasting judicial resources in the hopes of obtaining a ruling favoring their side.
The Court believes that the potential exists for the parties to informally resolve the issues presented herein if genuine efforts to meet and confer as to such issues are undertaken in good faith. Therefore, the hearing is continued, as above, for that purpose, and the parties are ordered to meet and confer in person or by online video conference to discuss the issues herein. The parties are further ordered to submit a Joint Status Statement by August 28, 2026, describing their efforts to meet-and-confer and any resolution or narrowing of the issues they were able to achieve.
The Court strongly encourages the parties to make genuine efforts to informally resolve their differences with due civility to one another. Should counsel for the parties be unable to reach a reasonable compromise of any of the issues presented by the instant motion, the Court may require personal appearances at the time of the continued hearing to further address the issues herein.
CV-25-004501 - MARTINEZ, ARMANDO ISRAEL vs NEAL, JENNIFER K - Motion to Continue Trial - HEARING REQUIRED.
The following are the tentative rulings for cases calendared before Judge David Hood in Department 24:
CV-26-002843 - HECHT FAMILY THREE LLC vs VOP 21 LLC - Plaintiff's Motion to Strike Responses of Defendant VOP 2.1, LLC - DENIED. A motion to strike is not the appropriate mechanism herein as motions to strike are only available to attack pleadings such as an Answer, Complaint, or Cross Complaint. Civ. Proc. Code Sec.Sec. 435, 436. The filing at issue is a declaration. The Court does, however, GRANT Plaintiff's Request for Judicial Notice and notes Defendant's suspension status per Plaintiff's Exhibit A.
A corporation suspended for failure to file a required statement under the Corporations Code is, like a corporation suspended for failure to pay taxes under the Revenue and Taxation Code, disabled from participating in any litigation activities. Palm Valley Homeowners Ass'n, Inc. v. Design MTC (2000) 85 Cal.App.4th 553, 559; Corp. Code Sec. 2205, Revenue and Taxation Code Sec. 23301. Defendant is hereby admonished to refrain from submitting filings to the court regarding this action while in suspended status.
Defendant shall submit a Proposed Order within five court days that complies with this ruling.
CV-26-004163 - BENCH, ONEIDA vs CENTRAL VALLEY POST ACUTE - Defendant's Petition to Compel Arbitration - GRANTED. The Court finds that Defendants have discharged their burden of demonstrating the existence of a valid arbitration agreement between the decedent Sandra Conforti and the Defendants. Sandquist v. Lebo Automotive, Inc. (2016) 1 Cal. 5th 233, 244; Martinez v. BaronHR, Inc. (2020) 51 Cal.App. 5th 962, 967; Gamboa v. NorthEast Community Clinic (2021) 72 Cal.App. 5th 15; Civ. Proc. Code Sec. 1281.2; Cal.
Rules of Court, rule 3.1330; Rosenthal v. Great Western Financial Securities Corp. (1996) 14 Cal. 4th 394, 413. The Court further finds that said agreement is governed by the Federal Arbitration Act and its procedural rules. 9 U.S.C Sec.Sec. 2-4; Aviation Data, Inc. v. American Express Travel Related Servs. Co. (2007) 152 Cal.App. 4th 1522; Volt Info. Sciences v. Leland Stanford Jr. Univ. (1989) 489 U.S. 468; Tuufuli v. W. Coast Dental Admin. Servs. LLC (2026) 117 Cal.App. 5th 1048. The Court further finds that the delegation clause in the parties' arbitration agreement, which delegates to the arbitrator the authority to resolve a wide range of disputes -including those relating to the scope of the arbitration agreement and the arbitrability of the present dispute - clearly and unmistakably delegates the stated authority to the arbitrator.
Nickson v. Shemran, Inc. (2023) 90 Cal.App. 5th 121; Jack v. Ring LLC (2023) 91 Cal.App. 5th 1186, review denied; Henry Schein, Inc. v. Archer & White Sales, Inc. (2019) 586 U.S. 63, 67-69; Rent-A-Center, West, Inc. v. Jackson (2019) 561 U.S. 63, 70; and First Options of Chicago, Inc. v. Kaplan (1995) 514 U.S. 938, 944-45. However, to the extent that the parties presented to the court issues exceeding the determination of the validity of the arbitration agreement, the court proceeds to address those issues.
The Court finds that the causes of action for General Negligence, Survival Claim and Elder Abuse and Neglect are survivor actions: decedent's own claims she could have brought had she not died, which are premised on professional negligence and are therefore, pursuant to Article I of the parties' arbitration agreement, subject to