Trani

Frank Trani sued R. G. Hohman Enterprises, Inc., on separate causes of action for money due on a promissory note and on an account stated. The trial court granted plaintiff summary judgment only on the cause of action on the promissory note and ordered “that the above Judgment is a separate Judgment, and that the above entitled action shall proceed as to the issues remaining between the parties.” Plaintiff sought to execute on the judgment, and defendant has appealed, contending the trial court lacked power to enter a “separate judgment.”

Defendant is right on its law but wrong in its remedy. There can be but one final judgment in an action, and that judgment must resolve all causes of action pending between the parties. (Bank of America v. Superior Court, 20 Cal.2d 697, 701 [ 128 P.2d 357 ].) Thus a partial summary judgment remains interlocutory so long as the proceeding in which it was rendered is still pending. (Rich v. Siegel, 7 Cal.App.3d 465, 469 [ 86 Cal.Rptr. 665 ].) Since a second cause of action is still pending between the parties at bench, and since the two actions have never been severed into separate lawsuits (Code Civ. Proc., § 1048), the trial court’s…