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  • LAURANCE HAGEN VS. ASSOCIATED INSULATION OF CALIFORNIA ASBESTOS document preview
  • LAURANCE HAGEN VS. ASSOCIATED INSULATION OF CALIFORNIA ASBESTOS document preview
  • LAURANCE HAGEN VS. ASSOCIATED INSULATION OF CALIFORNIA ASBESTOS document preview
  • LAURANCE HAGEN VS. ASSOCIATED INSULATION OF CALIFORNIA ASBESTOS document preview
  • LAURANCE HAGEN VS. ASSOCIATED INSULATION OF CALIFORNIA ASBESTOS document preview
  • LAURANCE HAGEN VS. ASSOCIATED INSULATION OF CALIFORNIA ASBESTOS document preview
  • LAURANCE HAGEN VS. ASSOCIATED INSULATION OF CALIFORNIA ASBESTOS document preview
  • LAURANCE HAGEN VS. ASSOCIATED INSULATION OF CALIFORNIA ASBESTOS document preview
						
                                

Preview

FILICE BROWN EASSA & McLEOD LLP SUSAN A. OGDIE (SBN: 050016) 1999 Harrison Street, Eighteenth Floor Oakland, California 94612-3541 ELECTRONICALLY Tel: (510) 444-3131 FILED Fax: (510) 839-7940 Superior Court of California, County of San Francisco Attorneys for Defendant AUG 25 2010 COSCOL PETROLEUM CORPORATION Clerk of the Court BY: RAYMOND K. WONG Deputy Clerk SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA IN AND FOR THE CITY AND COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO UNLIMMITED JURISDICTION LAURANCE HAGEN, Case No, CGC-10-275582 Plaintiff, DEFENDANT COSCOL PETROLEUM CORPORATION’S OBJECTION TO PLAINTIFF'S OFFER TO COMPROMISE v. PURSUANT TO CODE OF CIVIL PROCEDURE SECTION 998 ASSOCIATED INSULATION OF CALIFORNIA, et al., Complaint filed: June 2, 2010 Defendant. Defendant COSCOL PETROLEUM CORPORATION, erroneously named and served as “COASTAL WEST VENTURES, INC.,” objects to the “Offer to Compromise Pursuant to C.C.P. §998” made by Plaintiff LAURENCE HAGEN in the matter of Laurance Hagen v. Associated Insulation of California, Inc., et ai., San Francisco Superior Court Civil Action No. CGC-10- 275582, on the grounds that said Offer fails to comply with the requirements of California Code of Civil Procedure Section 998 in that said Offer is premature and not made in good faith, because this defendant does not have sufficient facts or information to determine if the Offer to Compromise is reasonable. -]- DEFENDANT COSCOL PETROLEUM CORPORATION'S OBJECTION FO PLAINTIFE’S OFFER TO COMPROMISEThis lawsuit was filed only on June 2, 2010 and was not served on COSCOL PETROLEUM CORPORATION until July 13, 2010. This defendant had only just answered the Complaint when, on August 17", 2010, Plaintiff, through his counsel, served his “Offer to Compromise Pursuant to C.C.P. §998” directed to “COSTAL WEST VENTURES, Inc.” The same purported “Offer to Compromise Pursuant to C.C.P. §998” was served simultaneously on 153 other defendants, the overwhelming majority of which, according to this Court’s Docket Sheet for Case No. CGC-10-275582, have not even appeared in this action. Indeed, no discovery of any kind has been conducted in this case to date, because there has been no time for such activity. There are, accordingly, no verified discovery responses by Plaintiff to the San Francisco General Order Set One Interrogatories and no responses at all to the General Order Set Two or Friction Interrogatories; no case specific discovery generated by defendants to Plaintiff and no responses by Plaintiff to such case specific discovery; no documents have been produced by Plaintiff, only limited record authorizations have been produced to Berry & Berry, while Berry & Berry has had no time to actually secure any records pursuant to the limited authorizations that have been forthcoming. No depositions have been scheduled, much less taken, including that of Plaintiff himself —a deposition critical to evaluating the merits of the causes of action asserted against any defendant and to the ability to assess the range of recoverable damages (if any) this action may produce. In short, no discovery, which ts essential for an objective and meaningful evaluation of both the merits of this particular case and of the Offer to Compromise, has been performed in this case to date. COSCOL PETROLEUM CORPORATION has not even had the opportunity to begin conducting the discovery and investigation necessary to determine the factual accuracy of the allegations of the Complaint, including, but not limited to, locating and interviewing witnesses to Plaintiff's purported work on defendant’s property, and true and living witnesses to Plaintiff's other alleged exposure situations; and appropriate and thorough review by qualified medical experts of Plaintiff LAURANCE HAGEN’s medical records. An Offer to Compromise made, as is the Offer in this case, with the knowledge that substantial information, necessary for proper evaluation of the Offer, is in the process of being -2- DEFENDANT COSCOL PETROLEUM CORPORATION'S OBJECTION TO PLAINTIFF'S OFFER TO COMPROMISEOM ms RON = 5 developed and is not currently available to the recipient is not made in good faith and is invalid under California Code of Civil Procedure Section 998. (Elrod v. Oregon Cummins Diesel, Inc., (1987) 195 Cal.App.3d 692.) Moreover, an Offer to Compromise, which is made simultaneously to 154 defendants and which consists of the identical demand of “$24,999.00” to a whooping 142 of those defendants, reveals on its face that it is not made based on any legitimate investigation or on any established facts, nor is it made with any reasonable expectation that such demands will be or even should be accepted. On the contrary, such an Offer to Compromise makes a mockery of, and is designed to subvert, the intent and purpose of C.C.P. Section 998. Additionally, this Offer to Compromise is not made at a time or under circumstances that could lead to objective and reasoned decisions in terms of settlement evaluation when questions, for example, concerning whether Plaintiff LAURANCE HAGEN has any physical impairment that, medically or biologically, could be attributed to the causes he has proffered, or whether Plaintiff has suffered any economic or non-economic damages, given his past and current employment and medical history, remain unresolved. An Offer to Compromise under Code of Civil Procedure Section 998 made under such circumstances cannot be one deemed to have been made in a reasonable and good faith expectation of acceptance. DATED: August 25, 2010 FILICE BROWN EASSA & McLEOD LLP AN A. OGDIE Attorneys for Defender COSCOL PETROLEUM CORPORATION (erroneously named and served as “COASTAL WEST VENTURES, INC.”) 3. DEFENDANT COSCGL PETROLEUM CORPORATION’S GBJECTION TO PLAINTIFF'S OFFER TO COMPROMISECO OM SD A HW & WwW hw PROOF OF SERVICE Laurance Hagen y, Associated Insulation of California, et al. San Francisco Superior Court Case No, CGC-10-275582 lam a citizen of the United States, over 18 years of age and not party to the within action. I am employed in the County of Alameda; my business address is 1999 Harrison Street, Eighteenth Floor, Oakland, California 94612-3541, On the date listed below, I served the within documents: DEFENDANT COSCOL PETROLEUM CORPORATION’S OBJECTION TO PLAINTIFF'S OFFER TO COMPROMISE PURSUANT TO CODE OF CIVIL PROCEDURE SECTION 998 On all parties in this action, as addressed below, by causing a true copy thereof to be distributed as follows: Ron G. Archer, Esq. Attorneys for Plaintiff BRAYTON®PURCELL 222 Rush Landing Road. P.O. Box 6169 Novato, CA 94948-6169 Tel: (415) 898-1555 (VIA MAIL & LEXIS NEXIS E-SERVE) ALL COUNSEL VIA ELECTRONIC TRANSMISSION (SEE PLAINTIFF’S SERVICE LIST PROVIDED TO LEXIS NEXIS) lam “readily familiar” with the firm’s practice of collection BY MAIL: and processing correspondence for mailing. Under that practice it would be deposited with U.S. Postal service on that same day with postage thereon fully prepaid in the ordinary course of business. | am aware that on motion of the party served, service is presumed invalid if pestal cancellation date or postage meter data is more than one day after date of deposit for mailing in affidavit. [x] I caused a true and correct copy of such document(s) to be VIA ELECTRONIC electronically served on counsel of record by transmission SERVICE t0 Lexis-Nexis File and Serve. I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California that the foregoing is true and correct. Executed on August 25, 2010 in Oakland, California. Gi J. Hastings 4 4. DEFENDANT COSCOL PETROLEUM CORPORATION’S OBJECTION TO PLAINTIFF'S OFFER TO COMPROMISE