Judge: Virginia Keeny, Case: 21VECV01692, Date: 2023-03-28 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: 21VECV01692    Hearing Date: March 28, 2023    Dept: W

GARY KURTZ, ESQ., ET AL. V. JANE UN, ET AL.

MOTIONS TO QUASH SUBPOENA

Date of Hearing:        March 28, 2023                                             Trial Date:       N/A

Department:              W                                                                    Case No.:        21VECV01692

Moving Party:            Defendants/Judgment Debtors ABBA Bail Bonds and International Capital Alliance

Responding Party:     Judgment Creditor Gotham Bail Bonds, Inc.

BACKGROUND

On August 6, 2019, Plaintiff filed a complaint against ABBA Bail Bonds, Inc., Jane Un, Ruth Soto, and International Capital Alliance asserting causes of action for 1) Breach of Written Contract; 2) Common Count – Account Stated; 3) Quantum Meruit; 4) Breach of Written Contract; 5) Common Count – Account Stated; and 6) Quantum Meruit.

Causes of Action 1-3: Plaintiff alleges they entered into a contract to perform legal services for Defendants ABBA Bail Bonds, Inc. and Jane Un pursuant to a hybrid billing agreement. Plaintiff claims ABBA and Un breached the contract by failing to make payments as required and their breach was the proximate cause of damages in the amount no less than $44,030.96, including interest.

Plaintiff alleges the parties also entered into an agreement for Plaintiffs to perform legal services for Defendants at a billing rate that was reduced because of a contingency arrangement. Plaintiff claims they should be entitled to the reasonable value of services for all work performed, which should be calculated at the rate of $400 per hour, which amounts to $200,000, plus interest.  

Causes of Action 4-6: Plaintiff alleges they entered into a contract to perform legal services for all named Defendants pursuant to a hybrid billing agreement. Plaintiff claims Defendants breached the contract by failing to make payments as required by the agreement and by unreasonably failing to accept a settlement in the amount of $30,000.

Defendants’ breach was the proximate cause of damages in the amount no less than $35,549.93 at the time of filing the complaint; $6,000.00, with interest of $50 per month since January 2018, for a total of $6850.00, as of the date of the filing of the complaint in this action for failing to settle; and approximately $60,000, representing 20% of the value of a partial settlement of the underlying action whereby Soto received a savings of approximately $300,000 of a mortgage obligation that was excused. This totals $102,399.93.

On March 9, 2020, default judgment was entered against Defendants ABBA Bail Bonds, Inc., Jane Un, Ruth Soto and International Capital Alliance.

TENTATIVE RULING:

Judgment Debtor’s Motions to Quash Subpoenas are GRANTED.

DISCUSSION

Defendants and Judgment Debtors ABBA Bail Bonds, Inc. and International Capital Alliance, Inc. (collectively “Debtors”) move the Court, under Code of Civil Procedure section 1987.1(a), to quash the subpoenas issued by Judgment Creditor Gotham Bail Bonds, Inc. and served upon Wells Fargo, Chase Bank, Bank of America, and Torrey Pines Bank (“Bank Subpoenas”) as well as ABBA’s landlord, C W 900 Development LLC. The Bank Subpoenas seek bank statements, copies of checks, deposit slips, account signature cards, credit applications, and insurance policies. The landlord subpoena seeks copies of any payments received for rent for the premises and copies of any receipts issued for payment of rent for the premises.

Debtors sought to quash the subpoenas on the grounds they are irrelevant, inadmissible, and enforcement of the judgment had been stayed. On February 24, 2023, this court vacated the judgment against Judgment Debtors and ordered a new judgment be entered. (Minute Order, February 24, 2023.) The court ordered:

Judgment is entered on the first through third causes of action in favor of plaintiff against Defendants Un and Abba, jointly and severally, in the amount of $51,693.71.

Judgment is entered on the fourth through sixth causes of action against Un and ICA jointly and severally in the amount of $125,013.36.

Plaintiff is also entitled to costs of $635.

Plaintiff to submit the second amended judgment within 20 days.

In opposition, Plaintiff argues while the court recently ordered that the judgment be amended, the court’s February 24, 2023 order confirms that ABBA and ICA, and each of them, remain judgment debtors, regardless of any amendments to the judgment. Plaintiff has not filed a second amended judgment. Instead, Plaintiff has sought reconsideration.

However, in light of the new order, the judgment upon which Creditor relies on to obtain the records void and Creditor’s subpoenas are premature. (See Moore v. Kaufman (2010) 189 Cal.App.4th 604, 616, holding “[b]ecause the judgment is void as to Diaz, subsequent orders purporting to enforce the judgment against her, such as the order that she answer questions at the judgment debtor examination, are likewise void.”)

Accordingly, Judgment Debtor’s Motions to Quash Subpoenas are GRANTED.