Judge: Carolyn M. Caietti, Case: 37-2021-00024423-CU-FR-CTL, Date: 2023-12-15 Tentative Ruling

SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA,

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HALL OF JUSTICE

TENTATIVE RULINGS - December 14, 2023

12/15/2023  01:30:00 PM  C-70 COUNTY OF SAN DIEGO

JUDICIAL OFFICER:Carolyn Caietti

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Civil - Unlimited  Fraud Summary Judgment / Summary Adjudication (Civil) 37-2021-00024423-CU-FR-CTL JANKE VS PHG ENGINEERING SERVICES LLC [IMAGED] CAUSAL DOCUMENT/DATE FILED: Motion for Summary Judgment and/or Adjudication, 05/18/2023

Intervenor CommerceWest Bank's Motion for Summary Judgment and/or Summary Adjudication is DENIED.

Intervenor CommerceWest Bank (CommerceWest) filed this motion on May 18, 2023. At that time the First Amended Complaint was the operative complaint in intervention.

On August 4, 2023, this motion first came on calendar. It was continued pursuant to the parties' stipulation as Defendant Price had not received notice of it. (ROA 376 – Tentative Ruling; ROA 380 – Minute Order dated August 4, 2023; ROA 381 – Stipulation to Continue Motion for Summary Judgment Hearing.) CommerceWest filed the Second Amended Complaint (SAC) on August 3, 2023, pursuant to a stipulation and order. (ROA 374.) Prior to this hearing, the Court held a status conference with the parties and asked whether the parties were in agreement that the instant motion was directed to the SAC or if the SAC mooted the motion as it is directed to a prior complaint. Defendant Price did not agree the instant motion was directed to the SAC. (ROA 425 – Miscellaneous Minute Order; ROA 428 - Minute Order dated December 7, 2023.) Once an amended complaint is filed, it supersedes all prior complaints. (State Compensation Ins. Fund v. Superior Court (2010) 184 Cal.App.4th 1124, 1130 (State Compensation).) In State Compensation, the Court of Appeal addressed the effect of the filing of an amended pleading on a pending motion for summary judgment. It explained, citing California Supreme Court authority, ' ' 'It is well established that an amendatory pleading supersedes the original one, which ceases to perform any function as a pleading.' ' [Citations.] Thus, an amended complaint supersedes all prior complaints. [Citation.] The amended complaint furnishes the sole basis for the cause of action, and the original complaint ceases to have any effect either as a pleading or as a basis for judgment. [Citation.] [¶] Because there is but one complaint in a civil action [citation], the filing of an amended complaint moots a motion directed to a prior complaint. [Citation.] Thus, once an amended complaint is filed, it is error to grant summary adjudication on a cause of action contained in a previous complaint.' (State Compensation, supra, 184 Cal.App.4th at p. 1131.) The court concluded that the authorities on which it relied 'compel the conclusion that the [plaintiff's] filing of an amended complaint rendered [the defendant's] motion for summary judgment moot.' (Ibid.) Here, this Court is compelled to come to the same conclusion. The motion is directed to an inoperative Calendar No.: Event ID:  TENTATIVE RULINGS

3010102  50 CASE NUMBER: CASE TITLE:  JANKE VS PHG ENGINEERING SERVICES LLC [IMAGED]  37-2021-00024423-CU-FR-CTL complaint. The SAC mooted the motion. Thus, the motion is DENIED.

At the Status Conference on December 7, 2023, CommerceWest indicated it would file a motion for summary judgment against the Second Amended Complaint in the event the Court denied this motion.

The Court has an available date of March 15, 2024, at 10:30 a.m. in Department 70. The parties are ordered to appear at the hearing to confirm whether this date will work for such a motion hearing.

If the tentative ruling is confirmed without modification, the minute order will be the Court's final ruling.

CommerceWest is ordered to serve written notice of the Court's final ruling by December 19, 2023.

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3010102  50