AHMAD HAWAMDAH VS. ARJUN NARAYAN, ET AL.

August 18, 2026 Law and Motion Calendar PAGE 29 Judge: HONORABLE NANCY L. FINEMAN, Department 04 ________________________________________________________________________

2:00 PM LINE 9 26-CIV-00804 AHMAD HAWAMDAH VS. ARJUN NARAYAN, ET AL.

AHMAD HAWAMDAH MICHAEL INDRAJANA ARJUN NARAYAN GERALD T. LAU

PLAINTIFF AND CROSS-DEFENDANT HAWAMDAH’S DEMURRER TO RAVE FACTORY LLC’S CROSS-COMPLAINT

TENTATIVE RULING:

The court sustains with leave to amended plaintiff and cross-defendant Ahmad Hawamdah’s (Hawamdah) unopposed demurrer to defendant and cross-complainant Rave Factory LLC’s (Rave) cross-complaint.

Courts have construed the failure to oppose a motion as having an abandonment of the claims. (See Herzberg v. County of Plumas (2005) 133 Cal.App.4th 1, 20 [“Plaintiff did not oppose the County’s [motion] to this portion of their seventh cause of action and have submitted no argument on the issue in their briefs on appeal. Accordingly, we deem plaintiff to have abandoned the issue.”]; Bell v. Am. Title Ins. Co. (1991) 226 Cal.App.3d 1589, 1602 [failure to oppose a motion results in a waiver on appeal of any objection to the resulting order.].)

While generally, especially when the issue is one of law the court substantively review the demurrer (California Judge’s Benchbook: Civil Proceedings Before Trial § 6.22 (Thomson Reuters Mar. 2026 update)), in this case on August 5, 2026, the date opposition was due, counsel for Rave telephoned and emailed Department 4 to state that Rave would be filing an amended crosscomplaint rather than filing an opposition. Rave has not yet filed an amended cross-complaint, but the court takes the communications to the court and the failure to file the opposition as an acknowledgement that at least some of Hawamdah’s arguments have merit.

Accordingly, the court sustains the demurrer with leave to amend. Rave has ten days from notice of entry of order to file an amended cross-complaint. (Cal. Rules of Court, rule 3.1320(g); Code Civ. Proc., § 472b.)

If the tentative ruling is uncontested, it shall become the order of the court. Thereafter, counsel for Hawamdah shall prepare a written order consistent with the court’s ruling for the court’s signature, pursuant to California Rules of Court, rule 3.1312, and provide written notice of the ruling to all parties who have appeared in the action, as required by law and the California Rules of Court.