Conflicts and the Pretend Partnership
Lynn v. George, No. G053563 (D4d3 Sept. 21, 2017)This case presents an interesting quandary about how to deal with a scenario where the facts relevant to a motion to disqualify a lawyer substantially...
View ArticleSome Tips for Citing Unpublished Federal Authority
Direct Capital Corp. v. Brooks, No. C081349 (D3 Sept. 22, 2017)In an order modifying an opinion in a family law case, the court adds two points about citing to unpublished federal court opinions. The...
View ArticleWeak SLAPP Beer
Mission Beverage Co. v. Pabst Brewing, LLC, No. B271781 (D2d2 Sept. 25, 2017)This case is not a close call.Like many states, California excessively regulates beer distribution through a complicated and...
View ArticleA Stored Communications Act Primer
Facebook, Inc. v. Superior Court, No. D072171 (D4d1 Sept. 26, 2017) The is a criminal case where the defendant argues, unsuccessfully, that he has a constitutional right to subpoena non-public...
View ArticleNo Damages for Taking an Arb-able Case to Court
Sargon Enters., Inc. v. Browne George Ross LLP, No. B271718 (D2d3 Sept. 26, 2017)This is one of those issues that clients ask about with some frequency, but which I’m not aware of their being a...
View ArticleState Farm/Rico DQ Order Automatically Stayed Pending Appeal
URS Corp. v. Atkinson/Walsh Joint Venture, No. G055271 (D4d3 Sept. 26, 2017)Plaintiffs’ attorneys got disqualified under the State Farm/Rico doctrine for improperly using documents that had been...
View ArticleOregon's Government Tort Claim Process Applies in California State Court
Oregon State Univ. v. Superior Court, No. D071752 (D4d1 Sept. 28, 2017)Plaintiff was injured in California through the alleged negligence of Oregon State University. He sued here, in state court. But...
View ArticleSome Chutzpah from a Corporate Pro Se
Davis Test Only Smog Testing v. Dep’t of Consumer Affairs, No. C079354 (D3 Sept. 28, 2017)A corporation can’t appear pro se by having a nonlawyer employee represent it in a litigation. In this case, a...
View ArticleBankruptcy Stay Does Not Toll Service Time on Non-Bankrupt Defendants
Higgins v. Superior Court, No. D071353 (D4d1 Sept. 28, 2017)P filed a complaint in May 2012. She named D1 and a bunch of Does, serving D1 soon thereafter. D1 proceeded to go Chapter 7, staying P’s...
View ArticleDispelling the “Binds the Company” PMQ Canard
RSB Vineyards, LLC v. Orsi, No. A143781 (D1d3 Sept. 29, 2017)In this real estate warranty case, the court affirms a summary judgment in favor of a seller because it didn’t actually know about the...
View ArticleHabitability Question Goes to the Jury in a UD Case
Guttman v. Chiazor, No. JAD17-15, (L.A. Super. App. Div. Sept. 8, 2017)The appellate division of LA Superior construes Code of Civil Procedure § 1174.2 to provide a right to jury trial on the...
View ArticleForm, Function, Pleading, Probate
Urick v. Urick, No. B278257 (D2d5 Oct. 5, 2017)After Mother died, Sister, the trustee of Mother’s trust, petitioned for reformation of the trust to disinherit Brother. The trust docs contained a no...
View ArticleThe Dead Hand of the Past
Ly v. Cnty. of Fresno, No. F072351 (D5 Oct. 12, 2017)Plaintiffs are some prison guards who claim employment discrimination. But along with their FEHA claims, they also filed a workers’ comp appeal for...
View ArticleOutside the Clause, But Heading for Arb Nonetheless
Melendez v. S.F. Baseball Assocs. LLC, No. A149482 (D1d3 Oct. 17, 2017)Security guards at AT&T Park bring a wage and hour case against the SF Giants. Plaintiffs, who are less than full time...
View ArticleWill the Judgment Ever Be Satisfied ...
Comercia Bank v. Runyon, No. G053691 (D4d3 Oct. 20, 2017) Code of Civil Procedure §§ 881–883 provide procedures for joint judgment debtors other than joint tortfeasors—e.g., debtors jointly liable on a...
View ArticleIt's Just Too Big a Mess
Kendall v. Scripps Health, No. D070390A (D4d1 Oct. 23, 2017) A Patient got a $17,500 bill for services that the Hospital admitted would have been reimbursed at about $2k to Medicare or Medi-Cal. So he...
View ArticleYou Have the Right to Demur
Butenschoen v. Flacker, No. BV 310862 (L.A. Super. App. Div. Oct. 16, 2017)The trial court in a unlawful detainer case denied Tenant’s motion to quash service and ordered her to “file and serve an...
View ArticleToo Much Might as Well Be None
Baxter v. Genworth N. Am. Corp., No. A144744 (D1d3 Oct. 26, 2017)This case turns on the enforceability of an arbitration clause in an employment agreement. It is really pro-employer. It bars the...
View ArticleEt tu, Calder?
Hogue v. Hogue, No. C083285 (D3 Oct. 30, 2017) Wife fled her allegedly abusive Husband in Georgia and moved back in with her mom in California. Wife then sought a domestic violence restraining order in...
View ArticleJustice Can Be a Slog.
Fernandes v. Singh, No. C080264 (D3 Nov. 2, 2017)Litigations involving vexatious litigants are exhausting, to both the opposing party and the court. One particularly frustrating aspect is that it often...
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