On 10/24/2016 LENNOX UNIFIED SCHOOL filed a Contract - Other Contract lawsuit against PERKINS WILL, INC. This case was filed in Los Angeles County Superior Courts, Torrance Courthouse located in Los Angeles, California. The case status is Pending - Other Pending.
****1654
10/24/2016
Pending - Other Pending
Los Angeles County Superior Courts
Torrance Courthouse
Los Angeles, California
LENNOX UNIFIED SCHOOL
PERKINS AND WILL INC.
LARSEN RANDOLPH CARL
SAKAMOTO SETH SHUJI
PERKINS & WILL INC.
WENDELL LEE VAUGHN JR.
ATKINSON ANDELSON LOYA RUUD & ROMO
COLLINS COLLINS MUIR + STEWART LLP
10/24/2016: Complaint
10/24/2016: Civil Case Cover Sheet
5/1/2017: Case Management Statement
5/17/2017: Notice of Ruling
8/18/2017: Notice Re: Continuance of Hearing and Order
8/24/2017: Legacy Document
8/24/2017: Legacy Document
8/28/2017: Other -
9/26/2017: Minute Order
10/25/2017: Case Management Statement
10/30/2017: Minute Order
1/11/2018: Minute Order
2/5/2018: Amended Complaint
5/3/2018: Answer
5/8/2018: Case Management Statement
5/21/2018: Minute Order
6/26/2019: Request for Judicial Notice
5/8/2019: Stipulation and Order
Opposition ([Proposed] Order Granting Lennox School District's Motion to Compel Further Responses to Request for Admissions, Set Four and Request for Form Interrogatories, Set Four); Filed by LENNOX UNIFIED SCHOOL (Plaintiff)
Separate Statement (in support of Lennox School Districts motion to compel further responses to request for admissions); Filed by LENNOX UNIFIED SCHOOL (Plaintiff)
Notice of Motion (To compel further responses by defendant Perkins + Will, Inc. to plaintiff Lennox School Districts request for admissions); Filed by LENNOX UNIFIED SCHOOL (Plaintiff)
Separate Statement (in support of Lennox School District's moti n to compel further responses to request for admissions); Filed by LENNOX UNIFIED SCHOOL (Plaintiff)
Notice of Motion (to compel further responses by Defendant Perkins + Will, Inc. to plaintiff Lennox School District's request for admissions..); Filed by LENNOX UNIFIED SCHOOL (Plaintiff)
Memorandum of Points and Authorities in Support of Plaintiff's Motion to Compl Further Responses; Filed by LENNOX UNIFIED SCHOOL (Plaintiff)
Declaration (Declaration of Attorney in Support of Motion to Compel Further Discovery Responses); Filed by LENNOX UNIFIED SCHOOL (Plaintiff)
Separate Statement (in Support of Lennox School District's Motion to Compel Further Responses to Request for Admissions, Set No. Two and Form Interrogatories, Set No. Two); Filed by LENNOX UNIFIED SCHOOL (Plaintiff)
Notice of Motion and Motion to Compel Responses by Defendant Perkins + Will, Inc. to Plaintiff Lennox School District's Request for Admissions, Set No. Two and Form Interrogatories, Set No. Two; Filed by LENNOX UNIFIED SCHOOL (Plaintiff)
Declaration ( of Attorney in Support of Plaintiff's Motion to Compel Further Discovery Responses); Filed by LENNOX UNIFIED SCHOOL (Plaintiff)
Notice and Acknowledgment of Receipt; Filed by LENNOX UNIFIED SCHOOL (Plaintiff)
Declaration; Filed by PERKINS & WILL INC. (Defendant)
Summons; Filed by LENNOX UNIFIED SCHOOL (Plaintiff)
Order; Filed by LENNOX UNIFIED SCHOOL (Plaintiff)
Miscellaneous-Other; Filed by LENNOX UNIFIED SCHOOL (Plaintiff)
OSC-RE Other (Miscellaneous); Filed by Clerk
Notice of Case Management Conference; Filed by Clerk
Miscellaneous-Other
Civil Case Cover Sheet; Filed by LENNOX UNIFIED SCHOOL (Plaintiff)
Complaint; Filed by LENNOX UNIFIED SCHOOL (Plaintiff)
Case Number: YC071654 Hearing Date: September 02, 2020 Dept: B
LOS ANGELES SUPERIOR COURT – SOUTHWEST DISTRICT
Honorable Gary Y. Tanaka Wednesday, September 2, 2020
Department B Calendar No. 6
PROCEEDINGS
Lennox School District v. Perkins & Will, Inc., et al.
YC071654
Perkins & Will, Inc., Seth Shuji Sakamoto, Randolph Carl Larsen, and Wendell Lee Vaugh, Jr.’s (“Defendants”) Motion in Limine No. 4 to Exclude Consequential Damages
TENTATIVE RULING
Defendants’ Motion in Limine No. 4 to Exclude Consequential Damages is denied.
Defendants moves in limine for an order excluding any and all evidence, reference to evidence, testimony or argument regarding consequential damages incurred by Plaintiff on the grounds that the contract contained a specific waiver of Plaintiff’s right to recover consequential damages. Specifically, MIL No. 4 provides a chart at pages 13 to 14 setting forth various types of damages sought to be excluded in the combined sum of $2,603,470.00, damages purportedly incurred due to delays caused by Defendant’s alleged breach.
Section 1.3.6 of the Agreement states: “The Architect and the Owner waive consequential damages for claims, disputes, or other matters in question arising out of or relating to this Agreement. This mutual waiver is applicable, without limitation, to all consequential damages due to either party’s termination in accordance with Section 1.3.8.” Section 1.3.8 is a lengthy section that deals with Termination of the Agreement. Nothing in Section 1.3.6 or 1.3.8 provides a specific definition of the type of damages that are deemed waived under Section 1.3.6. However, Section 1.3.8.1 does state the following: “In the event of a suspension of services [by the Architect], the Architect shall have no liability to the Owner for delay or damages caused the Owner because of such suspension of services.” This exculpatory language would seem to indicate that “delay damages” may have been a contemplated damage in the contract.
Section 1.3.7.2 states: “Terms in this Agreement shall have the same meaning as those in the edition of AIA Document A201 General Conditions of the Contract for Construction, current as of the date of this Agreement.”
Section 4.3.10 of the AIA Document A201 states: “Claims for Consequential Damages. The Contractor and Owner waive Claims against each other for consequential damages arising out of or relating to this Contract. This mutual waiver includes: 1. damages incurred by the Owner for rental expenses, for losses of use, income, profit, financing, business and reputation, and for loss of management or employee productivity or of the services of such persons; and 2. damages incurred by the Contractor for principal office expenses including the compensation of personnel stationed there, for losses of financing, business and reputation, and for loss of profit except anticipated profit arising directly from the Work.”
Thus, nothing in Section 4.3.10 of the AIA Document includes a specific waiver of damages based on delay.
Civ. Code, § 3300 states: “For the breach of an obligation arising from contract, the measure of damages, except where otherwise expressly provided by this Code, is the amount which will compensate the party aggrieved for all the detriment proximately caused thereby, or which, in the ordinary course of things, would be likely to result therefrom.” “Contract damages are generally limited to those within the contemplation of the parties when the contract was entered into or at least reasonably foreseeable by them at that time; consequential damages beyond the expectations of the parties are not recoverable.” Applied Equipment Corp. v. Litton Saudi Arabia Ltd. (1994) 7 Cal.4th 503, 515. “[U]nless it can be ruled on as a matter of law, the question whether the buyer's consequential damages were foreseeable by the seller is one of fact to be determined by the trier of fact.” Sun-Maid Raisin Growers v. Victor Packing Co. (1983) 146 Cal.App.3d 787, 790
Here, for purposes of the instant motion in limine, Defendants have failed to establish with admissible competent evidence that the damages asserted by Plaintiff which Defendants seeks to preclude were not within the contemplation of the parties or not reasonably foreseeable at the time that the contract was entered into. The Court notes that, with the initial motion, Defendants failed to provide any competent evidence to demonstrate the intent of the parties. The Court further notes that while some evidence was belatedly presented with the Reply, this evidence would merely support a factual issue best reserved for the trier of fact. The evidence does not support the conclusion that, as a matter of law, the damages sought by Plaintiff are precluded within the contract.
Accordingly, Defendants’ MIL No. 4 is denied/overruled.
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