Judge Christian R. Gullon, Case Number: 22PSCV00580, Date: 2024-11-14 Tentative Ruling

Judge: Christian R. Gullon, Case: 22PSCV00580, Date: 2024-11-14 Tentative Ruling

The Court may change tentative rulings at any time. Therefore, attorneys are advised to check this website to determine if any changes or updates have been made to the tentative ruling.

Counsel may submit on the tentative rulings by calling the clerk in Dept. O at 909-802-1126 before 8:30 the morning of the hearing. Submission on the tentative does not bind the court to adopt the tentative ruling at the hearing should the opposing party appear and convince the court of further modification during oral argument.

The Tentative Ruling is not an invitation, nor an opportunity, to file any further documents relative to the hearing in question. No such filing will be considered by the Court in the absence of permission first obtained following ex-parte application therefore.

(1) Plaintiff’s Counsel Elvis Tran’s Motion to be Relieved as Counsel in 22PSCV00580 is GRANTED, effective upon [see below].

(2) Plaintiff’s Counsel Bin Li’s Motion to be Relieved as Counsel in 22PSCV00580 GRANTED, effective upon [see below].

(3) Plaintiff’s Counsel Elvis Tran’s Motion to be Relieved as Counsel in 22STCV31621 GRANTED, effective upon [see below].

(4) Plaintiff’s Counsel Bin Li’s Motion to be Relieved as Counsel in 22STCV31621 GRANTED, effective upon [see below].

This is a contracts case. Plaintiff Wendy Lin (“Wendy” or “Plaintiff”) alleges that she and Defendant Bo Sun (“Bo” or “Defendant”) formed TOPTREE INVESTMENT LLC (“Toptree”) with the purpose of jointly purchasing a property in Chino Hills (the “property”). Plaintiff paid the entire purchase price, but Bo has failed to pay his $50,000 capital contribution such that by the terms of the Operating Agreement, Bo has lost his entire membership interest in the company. (See generally First Amended Complaint (FAC).)[1]

On January 19, 2024, Defendant Bo Sun filed his first amended cross-complaint (1ACC).

On October 3, 2024, the court issued the following ruling regarding the motion: The motion to quash filed by Wendy Lin on 06/03/2024 is granted in part/denied in part: the motion is quashed as to Wendy's personal finances, but Wendy is to produce documents as to the financial records of all corporations by 11/04/2024.

On October 23, 2024, a motion to be relieved as counsel for Plaintiff Wendy Lin was filed by Bin Li, which was rejected by the court clerk for the failure to provide the attorney’s information.

On October 24, 2024, another motion to be relieved as counsel for Plaintiff was filed, this time by Elvis Tran.

Counsels Elvis Tran and Bin Li seek to be relieved as Plaintiff’s attorney in BOTH actions (the lead case and the related case) due to a break down in the attorney-client relationship. According to the MC-052 form, Plaintiff has not responded to text messages or calls. As for prejudice, there are no substantive motions on calendar that require immediate representation and the parties’ next appearance (aside from this hearing) is a CMC and post-mediation status conference set for May 2025. Thus, as Plaintiff has not filed an opposition despite being served with the motion, the court finds little to no prejudice by granting the motion. (Defendant Bo Sun has been served with notice of the motions.)

Based on the foregoing, the four motions are granted, effective upon service of motions and the court’s orders upon Plaintiff, Defendant, and all other parties who have appeared.

[1] The court notes that despite its 2/28/24 ruling sustaining Bo’s demurrer in that Plaintiff’s allegation that Bo was to pay 50% of the purchase price is contradicted by the Operating Agreement and that though Bo filed an answer to the FAC, Plaintiff, perhaps inadvertently, maintains to assert that Bo has failed “to pay his one-half of the Property's purchase price.” (FAC ¶¶8, 20.)