Procedural Posture

Posted On May 8, 2021

Appellant common carrier sought review of a judgment from the Superior Court of Los Angeles County (California), which sustained special demurrers to appellant’s complaint without leave to amend and dismissed his complaint in favor of respondents, paper company and officer.

California Business Lawyer & Corporate Lawyer, Inc. is a California Corporate Attorney

Overview

Appellant common carrier filed a verified second amended complaint against respondents, paper company and officer, which pleaded breach of contract and fraud. Appellant had initially filed an unverified complaint with exhibits attached, which was later amended with the exhibits deleted. The trial court sustained general and special demurrers to the second amended complaint. Appellant sought review and the court affirmed. It held that the pleadings did not specify whether the contract was written or oral and was uncertain about duration. Appellant’s pleading of its cause of action for fraud was wholly deficient of any statement of fact to back up its claim of a false promise made with intent to deceive and without intent to perform. It was proper for the trial court to consider certain exhibits of the original complaint. The court found that the unexplained omission of written material initially relied on to state a contract undermined the credibility of appellant’s claim. The court found that the trial court was fully justified in inferring that the parties never entered a written contract for any fixed duration and in denying appellant further leave to plead such a contract.

Outcome

The court affirmed the judgment of the trial court that sustained general and special demurrers to appellant common carrier’s second amended complaint without leave to amend and dismissed appellant’s complaint. The court held that the trial court justifiably concluded that appellant had nothing further to back up its claim of fraud and properly denied further leave to amend.