Tattersalls LTD. v. Wiener

CourtDistrict Court, S.D. California
DecidedFebruary 10, 2020
Docket3:17-cv-01125
StatusUnknown

This text of Tattersalls LTD. v. Wiener (Tattersalls LTD. v. Wiener) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Tattersalls LTD. v. Wiener, (S.D. Cal. 2020).

Opinion

oi) | | FES 10 2020 |

7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 1i || TATTERSALLS LTD, incorporated in Case No.: 17cv1125-BTM(KSC) 12 England, . Plaintiff ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND 13 DENYING IN PART DEFENDANTS’ ia || © MOTION TO COMPEL ATTORNEY 15 || GERALD WIENER aka GERALD H. DEPOSITIONS □□ 6 | WIENER, et al., [Doc. No. 127,] Defendants. . 17 □ . 18 19 Before the Court is defendants’ Motion to Compel Attorney Depositions [Doc. No. 20 127] and plaintiff Opposition thereto [Doc. No. 131]. In the Motion to Compel, defendants seek an order compelling plaintiffs former attorney, Nei] Katsuyama, and plaintiff's current counsel, Diane L. Courteau, to appear for depositions in this case on 94 issues related to the statute of limitations.. For the reasons outlined more fully below, the Court finds that defendants’ Motion to Compel Attorney Depositions [Doc. No. 127] 95 must be GRANTED in part and DENIED in part. | □ 26 Background 27 Jn an Order filed on September 13, 2018, the District Court concluded the First Amended Complaint (“FAC”) adequately pled the elements of the following causes of

1 || action against defendants Wiener and Finance California: (1) intentional 2 ||misrepresentation; (2) negligent misrepresentation; (3) fraudulent concealment; (4) a 3 || pattern of racketeering under RICO; (5) promissory fraud; and (6) conspiracy to defraud. 4 |{|[Doc. No. 30, at pp. 7-12.] The District Court’s Order also includes a detailed summary 5 the allegations in the FAC. [Doc. No. 30, at pp. 2-4.| In addition, the District Court 6 || concluded plaintiff adequately pled tolling of the applicable statute of limitations for 7 ||these causes of action. [Doc. No. 30, at pp. 13-15.] The District Court’s Order also sets - 8 || forth the elements necessary to establish equitable tolling of the statute of limitations. 9 || [Doc. No. 30, at p. 14.] This detailed background information will not be repeated herein 10 || but is referenced for the benefit of the parties and the Court in considering defendants’ □ 11 Motion to Compel Attorney Depositions. [Doc. No. 127.] □ 12 Discussion © 13 || Current Scope of Discovery. 14 In an Order filed on January 14, 2020 [Doc. No. 128], the District Court granted in 15 a Motion to Bifurcate [Doc. No. 87] filed by defendants Gerald Wiener and Finance 16 || California (“defendants”). In this regard, the District Court’s Order states that discovery. 17 ||into the merits of the case is stayed from February 1, 2020 until May 1, 2020. [Doc. No. 18 ||128, at p. 2.] From February 1, 2020 until May 1, 2020, the District Court ordered the 19 || parties to “engage in expedited discovery as to the statute of limitations issue.” [Doc. No. 20 at p. 2.] Defendants’ Motion to Compel Attorney Depositions appropriately seeks - 21 || discovery relevant to statute of limitations issues. 22 1 Summary of Defendants’ Motion to Compel Attorney Depositions. □ In the Motion to Compel Attorney Depositions, defendants seek an order 24 compelling plaintiffs previous counsel, Mr. Katsuyama, and plaintiff's current counsel, 25 ||Ms. Courteau, to appear for depositions concerning two statute of limitations issues: 26 (1) Whether the 2011 investigations detailed in plaintiffs publicly filed attorney □□□□ 27 |/entries produced facts sufficient to allow plaintiff to file its claims alleging fraud against 28 defendants Wiener and Finance California in 2011 (7.e., prior to the expiration of the

1| three-year statute of limitations in California Code of Civil Procedure Section 338(d)); 2 (2) whether competent counsel should have known or discovered the claims alleged 3 the FAC in or near 2011 based on the circumstances known at that time. [Doc. No. 12, |latp. 2.) 5 Defendants contend that Mr. Katsuyama is an important witness on statute of _ 6 limitations issues, because they discovered time entries in billing records filed in another |/action indicating Mr. Katsuyama conducted investigations on behalf of plaintiff which 8 j|included “significant attention to defendants in 2011.” [Doc. No. 127, at pp. 3-4.] 9 || Defendants believe investigations by Mr. Katsuyama would have revealed enough facts 10 || for plaintiff to state the elements of its claims against defendants as early as 2011. [Doc. 11 j|No. 127, at pp. 3-4.] According to defendants, plaintiff “investigated and pursued its 12 claims through counsel, [so] only counsel can answer the key questions,” such as □□□□□ 13 ||investigative steps were taken and when and what was discovered during, the 14 investigations. [Doc. No. 127, at p. 4.]: Copies of the subject time entries are attached as 15 |lexhibits to defendants’ Motion to Bifurcate. [Doc. Nos. 87-2, at pp. 11-30.] Defendants 16 || have not only referenced these exhibits in their Motion to Compel, they have also 17 | incorporated by reference all briefs and evidence submitted by the parties in connection 18 with the Motion to Bifurcate. [Doc. No. 127, at p. 3, referring to Doc. Nos. 87, 95, □□□ 19 Exhibits filed in support of defendants’ Motion to Birfurcate also indicate plaintiff 20 || filed a Complaint against DeHaven in the United States District Court for the Central 21 || District of California on August 1, 2011, seeking specific recovery of the race horse, as 22 || well as contract and other damages, including attorney’s fees (Case No. 11-06311). 23. || [Doc. No. 87-3, at pp. 2-17.] Defendants Wiener and Finance California were not named 24 defendants in this Central District action.. However, the Complaint in the Central 25 || District action does include allegations that DeHaven provided plaintiff with a reference 26 || letter dated October 11, 2010 from defendants Wiener and Finance California in 27 ||connection with DeHaven’s purchase of the race horse and that plaintiff relied on this 28 □

] || letter when it permitted DeHaven to take possession of the horse before paying the full 2 purchase price. [Doc. No. 87, at p. 5, referring to Doc. No. 87-3, at pp. 5-7 13, 18).] 3 On or about September 23, 2011, in the Central District action, Mr. Katsuyama, 4 || who was then an associate attorney at Courteau & Associates, filed a Declarationin — 5 || support of plaintiffs Application for a Default Judgment against DeHaven. [Doc. No. 6 || 87-2, at pp. 3-7.] In support of this Application, Mr. Katsuyama attached attorney billing 7 |{records as Exhibit 2 to his Declaration for the period June 16, 2011 through August 31, □ 8 ||2011. These billing records include time entries by Mr. Katsuyama, which specifically 9 |)mention defendants Wiener and/or Finance California.’ [Doc. No. 87-2, at pp. □□□□□□□ □ 10 July 18, 2011, for example, there is a time entry by Mr. Katsuyma, which states as 11 || follows: “DRAFT & DICTATE COMPLAINT RE: Fraud & Negligent — 12 Misrepresentation, Intent to Defraud from Finance California letter, Specific Performance 13 || cause-of-action, clarifying Tattersalls’ reliance on promise, and Finance California 14 correspondence from DeHaven.” [Doc. No. 87-2, at p. 24.| Based on other time entries, 15 || defendants believe the Complaint in the Central District action originally included 16 allegations of fraud and negligent misrepresentation against defendants Wiener and 17 Finance California based on the October 10, 2010 letter. Defendants also believe these 18 original allegations against Wiener and Finance California in the Central District action 19 || were comparable to the current allegations in this case, but plaintiff deleted these original 20 allegations at the direction of plaintiff's counsel in the U.K. [Doc. No. 87, at p. 5, citing 21 Doe. No, 87-2, at pp. 26-27.] In this regard, a time entry dated July 29, 2011 states as 22 || follows: “DRAFT & DICTATE COMPLAINT RE: Removing causes-of-action six 23 || through nine-pursuant to client’s request... .” [Doc. No. 87-2, at p.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Southern California Gas Co. v. Public Utilities Commission
784 P.2d 1373 (California Supreme Court, 1990)
Venture Law Group v. Superior Court
12 Cal. Rptr. 3d 656 (California Court of Appeal, 2004)
Concepcion v. Amscan Holdings, Inc.
223 Cal. App. 4th 1309 (California Court of Appeal, 2014)
L.A. Cnty. Bd. of Supervisors v. Superior Court of L.A. Cnty.
386 P.3d 773 (California Supreme Court, 2016)
Jones v. Jacobson
195 Cal. App. 4th 1 (California Court of Appeal, 2011)
Investors Equity Life Holding Co. v. Schmidt
195 Cal. App. 4th 1519 (California Court of Appeal, 2011)
American Standard Inc. v. Bendix Corp.
80 F.R.D. 706 (W.D. Missouri, 1978)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
Tattersalls LTD. v. Wiener, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/tattersalls-ltd-v-wiener-casd-2020.