Judge: Melvin D. Sandvig, Case: 22CHCV00362, Date: 2022-10-18 Tentative Ruling

Counsel wishing to submit on a tentative ruling may inform the clerk or courtroom assisant in North Valley Department F47, 9425 Penfield Ave., Chatsworth, CA 91311, at (818) 407-2247.  Please be aware that unless all parties submit, the matter will still be called for hearing and may be argued by any appearing/non-submitting parties. If the matter is submitted on the court's tentative ruling by all parties, counsel for moving party shall give notice of ruling. This may be done by incorporating verbatim the court's tentative ruling. The tentative ruling may be extracted verbatim by copying and specially pasting, as unformatted text, from the Los Angeles Superior Court’s website, http://www.lasuperiorcourt.org. All hearings on law and motion and other calendar matters are generally NOT transcribed by a court reporter unless one is provided by the party(ies).

Case Number: 22CHCV00362    Hearing Date: October 18, 2022    Dept: F47

Dept. F47

Date: 10/18/22

Case #22CHCV00362

SPECIAL MOTION TO STRIKE

Motion filed on 6/30/22.

MOVING PARTY: Defendants Stephen Burns, Judith A. Burns and Stephen Burns, Judith A. Burns Trustees of the Burns Family Trust dated September 16, 2011

RESPONDING PARTY: Plaintiffs Granada Hills Center, LLC; Beverly Hills Investors, Inc.; Levi Estates, LLC; and Eli Levi

NOTICE: ok

RELIEF REQUESTED: An order pursuant to CCP 425.16 striking all of the causes of action (1^st – 7^th) in Plaintiffs’ Complaint.  

RULING: The hearing will be continued for at least 60 days.

On 5/25/22, Plaintiffs Granada Hills Center, LLC; Beverly Hills Investors, Inc.; Levi Estates, LLC; and Eli Levi (Plaintiffs) filed a Notice of Related Case in this case, Granada Hills Center, LLC, et al. v. Stephen Burns, et al., LASC Case No. 22CHCV00362, indicating that this case is related to Stephens Burns, et al. v. Granada Hills Center, LLC, et al., LASC Case No. 21CHCV00135, which had been pending in Department F49 and which was disposed of by judgment.  (See Notice of Related Case filed 5/25/22). 

CRC 3.300 provides, in relevant part:

(a) Definition of “related case”

A pending civil case is related to another pending civil case, or to a civil case that was dismissed with or without prejudice, or to a civil case that was disposed of by judgment, if the cases . . .

. . .

(d) Service and filing of notice

The Notice of Related Case must be filed in all pending cases listed in the notice and must be served on all parties in those cases.

. . .

(h) Judicial Action

(1) Related cases pending in one superior court

If all the related cases have been filed in one superior court, the court, on notice to all parties, may order that the cases, including probate and family law cases, be related and may assign them to a single judge or department. In a superior court where there is a master calendar, the presiding judge may order the cases related. In a court in which cases are assigned to a single judge or department, cases may be ordered related as follows:

(A) Where all the cases listed in the notice are unlimited civil cases, or where all the cases listed in the notice are limited civil cases, the judge who has the earliest filed case must determine whether the cases must be ordered related and assigned to his or her department

. . .

(underlining added)

Here, Plaintiffs did not file the Notice of Related Case in Stephens Burns, et al. v. Granada Hills Center, LLC, et al., LASC Case No. 21CHCV00135, the earlier filed case.  The Court finds that a determination of whether the cases are deemed related should be decided before the instant Special Motion to Strike is ruled upon.  Therefore, Plaintiffs are ordered to immediately file a Notice of Related Case in LASC Case No. 21CHCV00135 so that Judge Pfahler, in Department F49, can determine whether the cases must be ordered related and assigned to his department.

The hearing on this motion will be continued for at least 60 days.  If the cases are found not to be related, the hearing on this motion will proceed in Department F47 on the continued hearing date.  If the cases are deemed related, this case will be transferred to Department F49 who will hear the motion.  However, the hearing date may be changed to accommodate Department F49’s calendar.