Judge: Michael Small, Case: 24STCV14049, Date: 2024-11-05 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: 24STCV14049    Hearing Date: November 5, 2024    Dept: 57

Defendants' demurrer to the first cause of action for breach of contract in the Plaintiff's First Amended Complaint ("the FAC") is sustained with leave to amend.  The FAC fails to allege that there was a written contract  between the Plaintiff and the Defendant for the provision of legal services by the Plaintiff.  The retainer agreement for legal services attached to the FAC is between the Plaintiff and third parties.  The Defendants are not parties to that agreement.  Nor does that agreement support Plaintiff's notion that he represented the Defendants and those third parties in a joint enterprise.   Plaintiff's assertion in the opposition to the demurrer that Defendant Tracy Blumenthal's complaint against him that she made to the State Bar reflects an acknowledgment that Plaintiff and Defendants had a  contractual relationship with each other is improper.  That is because  the assertion about the complaint to the State Bar was not made in the FAC and thus is out of bounds for purposes of disposition of  a demurrer, which challenges the sufficiency of the allegations within the four corners of a complaint. To the extent that Plaintiff's claim for breach of contract is based on an oral agreement between the Plaintiff and the Defendants, the claim fails for two reasons.  First, Business and Professions Code Section 6148 requires agreements between attorneys and clients for the provision of legal services with a value of more than $1,000 to be in writing.  An oral agreement for such services is voidable.  Second, the statute of limitations on a claim for breach of an oral agreement is two years.  From the face of the FAC, Plaintiff's claim for breach contract  accrued more than two years ago.  Hence, the claim is time-barred -- a point that Plaintiff does not address in the opposition to the demurrer.

Defendants' demurrer to the third cause of action in the FAC for breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing is sustained with leave to amend.  This cause of action fails for the same reasons that the first cause of action does.  

Defendants' demurrer to the second cause of action in the FAC for recovery of the reasonable value of services that Plaintiff is said to have rendered to the Defendants is sustained with leave to amend.  This cause of action is based on a quantum meruit theory.  The statute of limitations on quantum meruit claims is two years.  From the face of the FAC, Plaintiff's quantum meruit claim is time-barred.

Defendants' motion to strike the prayer for relief in the FAC for punitive damages is sustained with leave to amend.  The Court is so ruling because of all of the claims in the FAC are contractual in nature, and punitive damages are not available on contract claims.  If the Plaintiff amends the complaint and asserts a fraud or other tort claim, then punitive damages may be available to the Plaintiff.

Plaintiff is directed to file and serve a Second Amended Complaint by November 26, 2024.