How to Lose Your Appeal, ver. #2
Briganti v. Chow, No. B289046 (D2d4 Nov. 22, 2019)This is a pretty boring anti-SLAPP appeal. The claims clearly arose from protected activity, but as to the claim appealed, plaintiff made a prima facie...
View ArticleCan't Turn Back from the Batson Path
Unzueta v. Akopyan, No. B284305 (D2d7, Nov. 18, 2019)In this med-mal case Plaintiff alleges that an anesthesiologist caused paralysis in her leg by mis-administering an epidural during childbirth....
View ArticleNot Exactly Between the World and Me.
Bernstein v. LaBeouf, No. B288054 (D2d3 Dec. 6, 2019)So Shia LeBeouf and a girl, both loaded, walk into a bar—Jerry’s Deli in Studio City. A Bartender refuses to serve them. Shia freaks out, tries to...
View ArticleThose Are Not My Electrons!
Fabian v. Renovate N. Am., Inc., No. D075519 (D4d1 Dec. 4, 2019)This is an appeal of the denial of a motion to compel arbitration, based on the trial court’s finding that the plaintiff didn’t actually...
View ArticleBad Facts Open up a Split on Whether Indemnification Claims are SLAPPs
Long Beach Unified Sch. Dist. v Williams, No. B290069 (D2d4, as modified Dec. 31, 2019) Wong v. Wong, No. A154286 (D1d1 Dec. 13, 2019) C.W. Howe Partners v. Moordian, No. B290665 (D2d7 Dec. 19, 2019)...
View ArticlePolicy, Practice, and Class Certification
Cacho v. Eurostar, Inc., No. BC558689 (D2d7 Dec. 23, 2019)This is an appeal of a denied class cert motion in a class action over meal and rest breaks for shoe store employees. As typical with these...
View ArticleWhen Serving by Mail, Use a Stamp!
Dalessandro v. Mitchell, No. B293472, D2d8 (Jan. 3, 2020) This is a discovery dispute in a judgment collections case. The underlying dispute isn’t super clear, but it appears that Creditor engaged in...
View ArticleCollateral Attack on Kansas Judgment Fails
Blizzard Energy, Inc. v. Schaefers, No. B290492 (D2d6 Jan. 13, 2020)Defendant got hit with a $3.825 million judgment in Kansas. He didn’t post a bond to stay enforcement on appeal. Plaintiff...
View ArticleLosing a Trial in Absentia Is Not a Default
Shayan v. Spine Care Orthopedic Physicians, No. B293857 (D2d8 Jan. 8, 2020)Under Code of Civil Procedure § 473(b)’s mandatory relief provision, a Court is required to relive a moving party from a...
View ArticleA Political Song for (Maybe) Michael Jackson to Sing
Serova v. Sony Music Entm’t, B280526A (D2d2 Jan. 8, 2020)This is an anti-SLAPP case that I wrote about when the original opinion came out in 2018. The key question is whether Sony’s claims that Michael...
View ArticleWaitin' on Nebraska
Warwick Cal. Corp. v. Applied Underwriters, Inc., No A155523 (D1d4 Jan. 7, 2020)This is a multi-party insurance coverage dispute where most of the claims are stayed on non conveniens grounds pending a...
View ArticleContacts, Contracts, Indemnities.
Halyard Health v. Kimberly-Clark Corp., No. B294567 (D2d5 Jan. 2, 2020)Back in the days before he represented Stormy Daniels, and before he got criminally charged with fraud, and long before he got...
View ArticleWaive Appeal? No Appeal.
PG&E “San Bruno Fire” Cases, No. A152330 (D1d3 Dec. 18, 2019)Various groups of stockholder plaintiffs sued members of PG&E management derivatively on behalf of the company for alleged...
View ArticleInsulating Fraud in Film Finance
Ojjeh v. Brown, No. A154889 (D1d3 Dec. 31, 2019)Sigh.Defendants raised money from plaintiff for the production of a documentary on Syrian refugees. But they never made any progress on making the film....
View ArticleEquity First
Rincon EV Realty LLC v. CP II Rincon Towers, Inc., No. A138463 (Jan. 31, 2017) So I kinda called this one three years ago.This is a real estate dispute with both equitable and legal claims. In a prior...
View ArticleA Private Dispute on the Internet Is Not a Public Issue
Jepson v. Ley, B292166 (D2d8 Jan. 30, 2020)This is a defamation case over a blog post related to a neighborhood dispute. One neighbor called the other, essentially, a well-armed jerk. Litigation...
View ArticleA Hard Road to Ditch a Bum Felon Jacket
Roger v. Cnty of Riverside, No E070776 (D4d2 Jan. 22, 2020) Plaintiff in this case is a surgeon who got thrown in jail for civil contempt when he refused to produce some patient records. The county...
View ArticleNot Very Hard Road to Arb.
Philadelphia Indem. Ins. Co. v. SMG Holdings, Inc., C082841 (D3 Jan. 28, 2020) Entity X claims coverage under an insurance policy as an additional insured. The policy has an arbitration clause. Even...
View ArticleInsurer Can Appeal No-Show Loss in Small Claims Case
Pac. Pioneer Ins. Co. v. Superior Court, No. S241057 (Jan. 30, 2020)In a small claims case, Code of Civil Procedure § 116.710(c) permits both a defendant and his or her insurer to appeal a money...
View ArticleSummary Judgment Notice Blues
Torres v. Design Grp. Facilities Sols., Inc., No. B294220 (D2d3 Feb. 13, 2020) After Defendant filed a summary judgment motion, the Court gave Plaintiff a bunch of time to take discovery. The motion...
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