Los Angeles partners Michelle Press and Otis Felder prevailed on motion for summary judgment dismissing a premises liability case brought by a former tenant who claimed she was assaulted on the premises and sought more than $5 million against her landlord, a property trust. Asserting that a trust could not be sued in California, Michelle and Otis removed the case to federal court on the basis that one of the trustees was a Nevada citizen. Upon filing summary judgment to dismiss, the plaintiff sought to amend to add a California trustee under Fed. R. Civ. P. 15. The U.S. District Court, Central District of California, however, found that Rule 16 controlled and, as such, the plaintiff's proposed amendment was untimely. Upon examining the relevant authorities in California, the court found that not only did the landlord not owe a duty for unforeseeable acts of non-parties but also that such actions amounted to superseding causes as a matter of law. Accordingly, the court directed judgment to be entered on behalf of our client.