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  • Mark Schaub et al vs Andrew Wyles Waters et alUnlimited Fraud (16) document preview
  • Mark Schaub et al vs Andrew Wyles Waters et alUnlimited Fraud (16) document preview
  • Mark Schaub et al vs Andrew Wyles Waters et alUnlimited Fraud (16) document preview
  • Mark Schaub et al vs Andrew Wyles Waters et alUnlimited Fraud (16) document preview
  • Mark Schaub et al vs Andrew Wyles Waters et alUnlimited Fraud (16) document preview
  • Mark Schaub et al vs Andrew Wyles Waters et alUnlimited Fraud (16) document preview
  • Mark Schaub et al vs Andrew Wyles Waters et alUnlimited Fraud (16) document preview
  • Mark Schaub et al vs Andrew Wyles Waters et alUnlimited Fraud (16) document preview
						
                                

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1 SPERTUS, LANDES & UMHOFER, LLP Matthew Donald Umhofer (SBN 206607) 2 Diane H. Bang (SBN 271939) 1990 South Bundy Dr., Suite 705 3 Los Angeles, California 90025 Telephone: (310) 826-4700 4 Facsimile: (310) 826-4711 mumhofer@spertuslaw.com 5 dbang@spertuslaw.com 6 Attorneys for Mark Schaub and TLG Ltd. 7 SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA 8 FOR THE COUNTY OF SANTA BARBARA 9 10 MARK SCHAUB, an individual; TELEPHONE 310-826-4700; FACSIMILE 310-826-4711 Case No.: 20CV02113 Spertus, Landes & Umhofer, LLP TLG LTD., a Hong Kong limited 11 liability company, 1990 SOUTH BUNDY DR., SUITE 705 Hon. Donna D. Geck, Dept. 4 LOS ANGELES, CA 90025 12 Plaintiffs, 13 PLAINTIFFS’ NOTICE OF v. PAYMENT OF FEES PURSUANT TO 14 THE COURT’S MAY 6, 2022 ORDER ANDREW WYLES WATERS, an individual; FCP CORPORATE (HK) 15 LTD., a Hong Kong limited liability company; FCP PRIVATE, LLC, a 16 California limited liability corporation; and DOES 1 through 10 17 inclusive, 18 Defendants. 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 PLAINTIFFS’ NOTICE OF PAYMENT OF FEES PURSUANT TO THE COURT’S MAY 6, 2022 ORDER 1 TO ALL PARTIES AND THEIR ATTORNEYS OF RECORD: 2 PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that, pursuant to the Court’s May 6, 2022 Order, 3 Plaintiffs hereby elect to pay the filing fees for the two additional motions 4 associated with Schaub’s motion to compel further responses from FCP Corporate, 5 filed on February 15, 2022. 6 A copy of the Court’s May 6, 2022 Order is attached hereto at Exhibit “A”. 7 8 Dated: May 9, 2022 SPERTUS, LANDES & UMHOFER, LLP 9 10 By: TELEPHONE 310-826-4700; FACSIMILE 310-826-4711 Matthew Donald Umhofer Spertus, Landes & Umhofer, LLP 11 Diane H. Bang 1990 SOUTH BUNDY DR., SUITE 705 Attorneys for Plaintiffs LOS ANGELES, CA 90025 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 1 PLAINTIFFS’ NOTICE OF PAYMENT OF FEES PURSUANT TO THE COURT’S MAY 6, 2022 ORDER EXHIBIT A SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA COUNTY 0F SANTA BARBARA Dated and Entered: 05/06/2022 Time: 10:00 AM Judicial Officer: Donna D Geck Deputy Clerk: Danae Chauvin-Couture Dept: SB Dept 4 Deputy Sheriff: Marco Diaz Court Reporter: Michelle Sabado Case No: 20CV02113 Mark Schaub et al vs Andrew Wyles Waters et al Parties Present: Diane Bang Attorney for Plaintiff (via Zoom) NATURE OF PROCEEDINGS: Case Management Conference; Motion to Compel The matter proceeded via Zoom. The Court continued the matter as indicated below in accordance with the tentative ruling. May 27, 2022 10:00 AM Motion: Compel Geck, Donna D SB Dept 4 The Court adopted the tentative ruling as follows: RULING: For the reasons set forth herein, the motion of plaintiff Mark Schaub to compel further responses to written discovery is continued to May 27, 2022. On or before May 13, 2022, plaintiff shallpay all required filing fees (fees for two motions are now due and unpaid) and shall file and serve notice of payment of such fees or a notice of withdrawal of the motions for which fees are not paid. On or before May 13, 2022, plaintiff shall also file and serve notice of the continued hearing. Background: On June 23, 2020, plaintiffsMark Schaub and TLG Ltd. filed their original complaint in this action against defendants Andrew Wyle Waters, FCP Corporate Ltd. (FCP Corporate), and FCP Private, LLC (FCP Private). On February 2, 2021, without any response having been filed by defendants, plaintiffs filed their first amended complaint. On April 1, 2021, defendants filed a demurrer and motion to strike as to the first amended complaint. On June 14, 2021, plaintiffs filed their second amended complaint (SAC), which is the operative pleading. The SAC alleges six causes of action: (1) conversion, (2) intentional misrepresentation—fraud; (3) concealment; (4) breach of contract ($1,940,000); (5) breach of contract ($400,000); and (6) unjust enrichment. sc-2411 (Revised July 1,2013) MINUTE ORDER On July 30, 2021, defendants filed a demurrer and motion to strike as to the SAC. On October 12, 2021, then-counsel for defendants filed their motion to be relieved as counsel. The declaration filed in support of the motion identified a confidential but material breakdown in the attorney- client relationship as the reason for the motion. On October 25, 2021, defendants filed their answer to the SAC, generally denying the allegations thereof and asserting nine affirmative defenses. On October 29, 2021, plaintiff Schaub served his first sets of form interrogatories, requests for production of documents, and requests for admissions on then-counsel for defendants. (Bang decl., ¶ 2.) On November 15, 2021, then-counsel for FCP Corporate requested an extension of time to respond to the discovery. (Bang decl., ¶ 3.) Plaintiff agreed to extend the time to December 15, 2021. On December 10, 2021, then-counsel for FCP Corporate requested a second extension, and an extension was agreed to December 28, 2021. (Bang decl., ¶¶ 4-5.) On December 28, 2021, FCP Corporate served by electronic service responses to the written discovery consisting of objections only. (Bang decl., ¶ 6 & exhibits B, C, D.) (Note: Exhibit B consists of the response of FCP Private to the form interrogatories, and not the response of FCP Corporate.) The objections all note that a motion to be relieved as counsel was pending and that as a result of the breakdown of the attorney-client relationship, counsel is not able to provide full and complete responses at that time. On January 7, 2022, the court heard and granted the motion of counsel to be relieved as counsel. The court also entered its written order which states that it is effective upon the filing of proof of service of the signed order. Proof of service of the order was filed later that day. On February 15, 2022, Schaub filed this motion to compel further responses from FCP Corporate as to the written discovery and for an award of monetary sanctions. The notice of motion states that defendants Waters and FCP Private have stipulated to extend the time to bring a motion to compel further responses as to them but FCP Corporate has not. (See also Bang decl., ¶ 9.) This hearing was originally set for April 29, 2022, but was continued by the court to this hearing date of May 6, 2022. No opposition or other response has been filed to the motion. Analysis: There is a procedural issue in that the motion is a combined motion to compel further responses to three different sets of discovery: form interrogatories, set one; request for production of documents, set one; and request for admission, set one. There is in general no prohibition of combining documents supporting certain motions. The procedural problem comes about not from the combination of documents but from the payment of filing fees. Only one filing fee has been paid. The motion filing fee applies to “Discovery motions under Title 4 (commencing with Section 2016.010) of Part 4 of the Code of Civil Procedure.” (Gov. Code, § 70617, subd. (a)(4).) “Regardless of whether each motion or matter is heard at a single hearing or at separate hearings, the filing fees required by SC-2411 (Revised July 1, 2013) MINUTE ORDER subdivisions (a), (c), (d), and (e) apply separately to each motion or other paper filed.” (Gov. Code, § 70617, subd. (f).) “Every direction of a court or judge, made or entered in writing, and not included in a judgment, is denominated an order. An application for an order is a motion.” (Code Civ. Proc., § 1003.) The Civil Discovery Act authorizes the motions sought here, namely, motions to compel further responses. In each case, the “motion” authorized by statute is keyed to the response to a particular set of discovery. (Code Civ. Proc., § 2030.210, subd. (b) [response must identify the set number of the interrogatories to which the response is made]; Code Civ. Proc., § 2030.300, subd. (a) [“On receipt of a response to interrogatories, the propounding party may move for an order compelling a further response if the propounding party deems that any of the following apply ….”]; Code Civ. Proc., § 2031.210, subd. (b) [response must identify the set number of the requests for production to which the response is made]; Code Civ. Proc., § 2031.310, subd. (a) [“On receipt of a response to a demand for inspection, copying, testing, or sampling, the demanding party may move for an order compelling further response to the demand if the demanding party deems that any of the following apply ….”].) Because each motion to compel further responses to a particular set of discovery is a separately authorized motion, a separate filing fee is required for each motion, whether or not such motions are presented in a single notice with combined supporting papers or such motions are presented with separate notices and separate supporting papers. “Officers of the state, or of a county or judicial district, shall not perform any official services unless upon the payment of the fees prescribed by law for the performance of the services, except as provided in this chapter.” (Gov. Code, § 6100.) “An unbroken line of decisions by our Supreme Court holds that it is mandatory for court clerks to demand and receive the fee required by statute before documents or pleadings are filed.” (Duran v. St. Luke’s Hospital (2003) 114 Cal.App.4th 457, 459.) Here, only one filing fee was paid. The court requires either that filing fees be paid for two additional motions so that a fee is paid for each of the three motions or that plaintiffs identify which one of the motions the court is to address and which two of the motions are to be withdrawn for failure to pay the fee. The court will continue the hearing on the motions for the plaintiffs to pay the required fee or otherwise to make an election. For future reference, where discovery motions are combined, it is preferred, for calendaring and filing fee purposes, that each notice be a separate document and, for practical purposes, that each notice specify, by number, the interrogatories or requests for which further responses are requested. Other documents, including particularly declarations and memoranda in support, are often preferred to be combined. Combining declarations, for example, avoids having to refer to several nearly identical declarations separately with respect to each motion. DARREL E. PARKER, EXECUTIVE OFFICER Minutes Prepared by: Danae Chauvin-Couture , Deputy SC-2411 (Revised July 1, 2013) MINUTE ORDER 1 PROOF OF SERVICE 2 (CODE CIV. PROC. § 1013A(3)) 3 STATE OF CALIFORNIA ) ) 4 COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES ) 5 I am employed in the County of Los Angeles, State of California. I am over the age of 18 and not a party to the within action. My business address is 1990 S. 6 Bundy Dr., Suite 705, Los Angeles, CA 90017. 7 On May 9, 2022, I served the foregoing document described as: 8 PLAINTIFFS’ NOTICE OF PAYMENT OF FEES PURSUANT TO THE 9 COURT’S MAY 6, 2022 ORDER 10 on the interested parties in this action, addressed as follows: 11 SEE ATTACHED SERVICE LIST TELEPHONE 310-826-4700; FACSIMILE 310-826-4711 Spertus, Landes & Umhofer, LLP 12 [X] MAIL: I placed a true and correct copy of the document in a sealed 1990 SOUTH BUNDY DR., SUITE 705 13 envelope for collection and mailing following the firm’s ordinary business LOS ANGELES, CA 90025 practices. I am readily familiar with the firm’s practice for collection and 14 processing correspondence for mailing. On the same day that correspondence is placed for collection and mailing, it is deposited in the ordinary course of business 15 with the United States Postal Service in a sealed envelope with postage fully prepaid. 16 [X] VIA ELECTRONIC SERVICE - I transmitted the above-described 17 documents via electronic service to the person(s) named in the service list pursuant to Code Civ. Pro. § 1010.6(e)(1) and Cal. Rule of Court 2.251(c)(3), originating 18 from an Electronic Filing Service Provider (EFSP) e-service portal affiliated with Spertus, Landes & Umhofer, LLP. A true and correct copy of the above-described 19 document(s) was/will be transmitted by the EFSP on the date listed below. 20 21 22 23 I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the United States of America and the State of California that the above is true and correct. Executed on 24 May 9, 2022 at Los Angeles, California. 25 26 Anita Jonian 27 28 PROOF OF SERVICE 1 SERVICE LIST 2 Andrew Wyles Waters 3 5325 County Road 100 Carbondale, CO 81623 4 Email: andrew.waters@firstcp.com 5 FCP Corporate HK LTD 6 Attn: Andrew Waters, Manager Attn: Daniel Holloway, Manager 7 5325 County Road 100 Carbondale, CO 81623 8 Email: andrew.waters@firstcp.com Email: daniel.holloway@firstcp.com 9 FCP Private, LLC 10 5325 County Road 100 Carbondale, CO 81623 11 Email: andrew.waters@firstcp.com TELEPHONE 310-826-4700; FACSIMILE 310-826-4711 Spertus, Landes & Umhofer, LLP 12 1990 SOUTH BUNDY DR., SUITE 705 13 LOS ANGELES, CA 90025 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 PROOF OF SERVICE