Duran v. Smallridge CA3

Filed 10/28/25 Duran v. Smallridge CA3 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA THIRD APPELLATE DISTRICT (Placer) ----

JULIA DURAN, C100595

Plaintiff and Appellant, (Super. Ct. No. SCV0051874)

v.

ASHLEY SMALLRIDGE et al.,

Defendants and Respondents.

Plaintiff Julia Duran appeals from an order granting an ex parte application filed by one of the defendants in this ongoing civil action. The portion of the order at issue directed Duran to return all funds and assets belonging to the Woodcreek Jr. Timberwolves (Timberwolves), a nonprofit organization for which she previously served as president of the board of directors. Because Duran has not carried her burden to demonstrate error by the trial court, we affirm.

1

BACKGROUND Although Duran’s opening brief includes general background sections, those sections fail to adequately summarize “the significant facts” in this appeal with citations to the record, as required. (Cal. Rules of Court, rule 8.204(a)(1)(C), (a)(2)(C).) Duran has also supplied a very limited record of the trial court proceedings, failing to designate for inclusion in the appellate record, for example, the complaint instituting this action. From the record before us, it appears that, in December 2023, the Timberwolves membership voted to replace Duran with a new president of the board, effective January 1, 2024. After the election but before the end of her term as board president, Duran removed all of the Timberwolves’s funds, stating that she had done so out of concern the organization was straying from its mission. She withdrew just over $100,000 from the organization’s bank account and had the funds placed in a client trust account at her brother-in-law’s law firm. When she informed the board that she had done so, board members reported her actions to the police and to the broader public. Duran then filed this lawsuit against four Timberwolves board members, defendants Ashley Smallridge, Kim Watson, Timothy Watson, and Michael Bliss, for breach of fiduciary duty, involuntary judicial dissolution, defamation, negligent infliction of emotional distress, and intentional infliction of emotional distress, according to the parties’ appellate briefs. In late January 2024, Smallridge, proceeding in propria persona (as she and the other defendants do in this appeal), filed an ex parte application asking the trial court to, among other things, order Duran’s brother-in-law to return the funds and compel Duran to return all of the organization’s assets. Smallridge attached a declaration and numerous exhibits in support of the request. Duran filed an opposition the same day and then filed further opposition in a response to certain interim orders not contained in the record.