Atoning for the Sins of Our Agents
Inzuna v. Naranjo, No. B318956 (D2d4 Aug. 21, 2023)Wrongful death case against a Truck Driver and the Company who employed him. Plaintiff served requests for admission on Truck Driver, who didn’t...
View ArticleInformed Written Consent
Geringer v. Blue Rider Finance, No. B316718 (D2d7 Aug. 22, 2023).This is a very long-running dispute over some film financing. It purportedly settled back in 2010, but then a dispute over the...
View ArticleAre There Tic Toc Videos on Equitable Estoppel?
I just realized that as of July, I have been doing this project as a side hustle for ten years. Close to 1,300 posts. And I get the suspicion, in my Gen-X desuetude, that blogging is something the cool...
View ArticlePay to Play
Doe v. Superior Court, No. A167105 (D1d3 Sept. 8, 2023)This case holds basically the same thing as the 2/8's decision in Cvejik back in June. Under Code of Civil Procedure § 1281.98, in an employment...
View ArticleMootness, Remedies, and Class Cert
Shaw v. LAUSD, No. B315814 (D2d4 Sept. 9, 2023)This is a super important education case brought by some of my partners that alleges that a series of LAUSD-UTLA collective bargaining side deals to deal...
View ArticleThe Inescapable Empire
EpicentRx v. Superior Court, No. D081670 (D4d1 Sept. 21, 2023).So, back in 2019, the Court of Appeal decided that it would not enforce a forum selection clause in a contract if it would result in the...
View ArticleCosts of Proof Awarded for Needlessly Denied RFAs
Vargas v. Gallizzi, B317540 (D2d7 Oct. 13, 2023)This is an appeal after a re-trial of damages in an auto injury case. In the first trial, the court excluded a bunch of medical records because the...
View ArticleRoshamon and the Reporters' Shield Law
The Bakersfield Californian v. Superior Court, No. F086308 (D5 Nov. 7, 2023)A guy is found murdered in a Target parking lot in Bakersfield. After reviewing a bunch of security footage, and a weird text...
View ArticleTo Stay or Not to Stay
Mattson Technology, Inc. v. Applied Materials, Inc., No. A165378 (D1d5, as modified Nov. 20, 2023)Plaintiff and Defendant both make machines that are used make to semiconductor chips. Defendant hired...
View ArticleSeparate Statement Smackdown
Beltran v. Hard Rock Hotel Licensing, No. G062736 (D4d3 Dec. 5, 2023)Five years ago, my partner David Klein and I had an article in Los Angeles Lawyer called “Crafting Separate Statements in Motions...
View ArticleExperts, Standards of Review, and Meta-Evidence
Garner v. BNSF Railway Co., No. D082229 (D4d1 Jan. 4., 2024)This is a wrongful death case where decedent’s family claims that exposure to diesel exhaust while working as a railroadman caused the...
View ArticleA Claim Is a Claim Is a Claim
Miszkewycz v. County of Placer, No. C095426 (D3 Jan. 25, 2024)As we discussed last summer, there’s a developing split of authority over what a defendant bringing an anti-SLAPP motion needs to do to...
View ArticleIn Search of Administrative Finality
Jackson v. Board of Civil Service Comm’rs of the City of L.A., No. B328414 (D2d7 Feb. 8, 2024)This one is pretty deep into the weeds in the intersection of administrative law and appellate...
View ArticlePay Those Jury Fees!
Tricoast Builders v. Fonnegra, No. S273368 (Cal. Feb. 26, 2024)The State Constitution says that a jury trial can be waived only by means proscribed by a statute. In most instances, that statue is Code...
View ArticlePaper Record Still Merits Deference on Appeal of Factual Findings
Jones v. Solgen Construction, LLC, No. F085918 (D5 Feb. 26, 2024).A shady Solar Seller claims to have sold a rooftop solar setup to an 81-year-old Lady in Fresno. Lady lives on $1,000 per month in...
View ArticleCCP § 998 Shifts Fees for Worse-Off Settlements
Ayers v. FCA US, LLC, No. B315884 (D2d8 Feb. 27, 2024).This is a Lemon Law case involving dueling offers under Code of Civil Procedure § 998. Manufacturer made one offer. Then it made a second higher...
View ArticleIs Code of Civil Procedure § 1281.98 Prempted by the FAA?
Hohenshelt v. Superior Court, No. B327524 (D2d8 Feb. 27, 2024)This is another case where an employer in an arbitration was late in paying the arbitrator’s fee so the employee moved to go back to...
View ArticleArguably Unauthorized Settlement Is Voidable, Not Void, under Code of Civil...
W. Bradley Electric, Inc. v. Mitchell Engineering, No. A167137 (D1d5 Feb. 28, 2024)Fatal traffic accident case where the Decedent’s family sued three Defendants—driver, the rideshare company she was...
View ArticleJust the Facts, Appellant
People v. Ashford University, No. D080671 (D4d1 Mar. 8, 2024).This is a UCL/FAL case that the Cal. AG brought against an online university for deceptive marketing practices. By the Court’s description,...
View ArticleThe Jurisprudence of Signification
Wood v. Superior Court, No. A168463 (D1d2 Mar. 14, 2024).Yes. You can change your legal name to Candi Bimbo Doll if you want to. See Code Civ. Proc. § 1275 et seq.
View ArticleTrashing your Neighbors Is Not Speech in the Public Interest
Dubac v. Itkoff, No. B317061 (D2d8 Apr. 19, 2024)This is an ugly beef between neighbors who dislike each other. A lot. Over a several month period in 2020, two of the neighbors (a husband and wife...
View ArticlePretend Master Calendar Is Even Worse than Real Master Calendar
Lorch v. Superior Court, No. D083609 (D4d1 May 16, 2024)This writ case concerns the timeliness of a challenge to the assignment of a trial judge under Code of Civil Procedure § 170.6. In the event...
View ArticleGetting All Meta
Cohen v. Superior Court, No. B330202 (D2d4 Jun. 6, 2024).This one is pretty interesting, in a kind of meta way. The underlying litigation is a fight between neighbors over landscaping. Plaintiffs say...
View ArticleState Law Stare Decisis in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
AGK Sierra de Montserrat, L.P. v. Comerica Bank, No. 23-15290 (9th Cir. Jul. 19, 2024)We don’t usually do federal cases, but this one has an interesting take on state law.Forty years ago, the 9th...
View ArticleThat's Not a Debate
Taylor v. Tesla, No. A168333 (D1d4 Aug. 8, 2024)Plaintiffs in this case are also members of a class in a race discrimination class action brought against Tesla. There is a lot of discovery fighting in...
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