No Class for Legal Lunch Policy
Palacia v. Jan & Gail’s Care Homes, Inc., No. F070861 (D5 Dec. 7, 2014)Another meal break case where the question is, under Brinker Restaurant Corp. v. Superior Court, 53 Cal. 4th 1004 (2012), has...
View ArticleFerdinand de Saussure v. The Super-Duper Integration Clause
Hot Rods, Inc. v. Northrup Grumman Sys. Corp., No. G049956 (D4d3 Dec. 7, 2105)This is an appeal of a real estate dispute decided by reference under the so-called rent-a-judge procedure in Code of Civil...
View ArticleThou Shalt Not Taze Opposing Counsel
Crawford v. JP Morgan Chase Bank, No. B257415 (D2d6 Dec. 9, 2015) I have previously mentioned how hard it is to get sanctions to stick. Here’s a case where they do. Of course, the facts of this case...
View ArticleSeven Years' Default
Holloway v. Quetel, No. B259622 (D2d7 Dec. 14, 2015)Plaintiff in this case, a pro se prisoner, has been trying since 2009 to get a default judgment for upaid rent on a property he owns. The case has...
View ArticleMeet the New Boss—Same Arbitration Clause as the Old Boss
Jenks v. DLA Piper Rudnik Gray Cary US LLP, No. A143990 (D1d1 Dec. 16, 2015) Plaintiff was an associate at an estimable SF Bay Area law firm at the time it got absorbed into a firm that was in the...
View ArticleTrial Court Must Show Its Work on Lodestar
Kerkeles v. City of San Jose, No. H040919 (D6 Dec. 18, 2015) The settlement agreement in a civil rights case permitted Plaintiff to seek an award of attorneys’ fees under 42 U.S.C. § 1988 from the...
View ArticlePlaintiff's Parents Are Not an Appropirate Subject of a Mental Health Exam
Roe v. Superior Court, No. H042060 (D6 Dec. 18, 2015) Plaintiff is a minor who alleges he was sexually abused by another kid at school. He sued the school and various school employees for failing to...
View ArticleProtective Order End-Around
Caldecott v. Superior Court, No. G051917 (D4d3 Dec. 18, 2015) This is mostly a Public Records Act case, but it does make an interesting point about civil procedure. It also provides a useful tactical...
View ArticleMore Sport in State Court
Mitchell v. Superior Court, No. B264143 (D2d4 Dec. 22, 2015) Defendant in a PI case moved in limine to exclude witnesses who were not disclosed in Plaintiff’s interrogatory responses, which the trial...
View ArticleTurtles All the Way Down
Unifund v. Dear, No. APP1400181 (Riverside App. Div. Dec. 21, 2015) So this is one of those collections cases like they talked about on a pretty interesting This American Life where a debt collector...
View ArticleYou Need Not Intervene Till You Expect You Were Sold Out
Ziani Homeowners Assoc. v. Brookfield Ziani LLC, No. G050284 (D4d3 Dec. 22, 2015) Some condo owners sought to intervene in a construction defect litigation between their HOA and the condo developer....
View Article(Re) Clearing the Decks
So I just moved, we are expecting a second daughter in May, and I have spent the last month pulling all-nighters in expedited preliminary injunction proceedings. Which is all a way to say that I’ve...
View ArticleFake Decks up in the Files?
Kim v. Toyota Motor Corp., No. B247672 (D2d7, as modified Feb. 8, 2016) This is an automotive products liability case mostly about when plaintiffs can admit evidence of industry custom to show a defect...
View ArticleKnow when to Fold 'Em.
Bucur v. Ahmad, No. D068689 (D3d1 Jan. 26, 2016) Plaintiffs in this case are on their fifth lawsuit over more or less the same operative facts. The court of appeal upholds dismissal on several...
View ArticleNothing Retroactive Here
USS Posco Indus. v. Case, No. A140457 (D1d1 Jan. 26, 2016)Labor Code § 218.5 permits a prevailing party to recover its fees in certain wage cases. While the case was pending, the Legislature amended §...
View ArticleLis This!
Rey Sanchez Investments v. Superior Court, No. E063757 (D4d2 Jan. 26, 2016). If you are going to put a lis pendens on somebody’s property, you had better comply with the statutory service requirements...
View ArticleTransferred Venue Resets Anti-SLAPP Clock
Karnazes v. Ares, No. B246308 (D2d2 Jan. 27, 2016) The relevant part of this case action involves a pro per suing her opponent’s attorney for acting on behalf of her client. As to those claims, an...
View ArticleNeed to Know Who Messed Up, But Not Why
Martin Posts & Assocs. v. Corsair, LLC, No. B263198 (D2d2 Jan 28, 2016) Defendant in this case got defaulted for failing to answer. Six weeks after judgment was entered, it filed a motion for...
View ArticleArb Judgment Survives Illegality Challenge
Epic Medical Mgm’t LLC v. Paquette, No. B261541 (D2d8 Jan. 28, 2016) A doctor and his practice management company got into a dispute that went to arbitration. The management company won. But the doctor...
View ArticleUndisclosed Conflicts Prevent Law Firm from Getting Paid
Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP v. J-M Mfg. Co., Inc., No. B256314 (D2d4, as modified, Feb. 26, 2016) Law Firm represented Client 1 in as a defendant in a qui tam litigation where the...
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