Civil Procedure

Statute of limitations on claim that defendant tortiously injured plaintiff's land by dumping uncertified fill on the property ran from the discovery of the claim by prior owners of the property.  The limitations period does not re-start with a transfer of the property to a new owner after the first owner has discovered the injury. Read More

This decision affirms an order quashing service of summons on defendant FCCC for lack of personal jurisdiction.  FCCC is not subject to general jurisdiction in California as it is incorporated in Delaware and principally located in South Carolina.  It built the chassis for a bus that Champion Bus manufactured in Michigan.  The bus was involved in an accident in California. … Read More

The district court erred in entering judgment in favor of the defendant property owner in this ADA suit over  the parking lot's lack of a space for parking a van with an access path for a person confined to a wheelchair.  The fact that plaintiff was a serial litigant in ADA cases was not a reason to deny him Article… Read More

Though designated a person most qualified in response to a deposition subpoena on a corporation, the corporate representative is an ordinary lay witness whose testimony is admissible at trial only if based on her personal knowledge.  Here, a PMQ offered a declaration in support of defendant's summary judgment motion full of statements about defendant's practices decades before the witness was… Read More

A plaintiff claiming loss or damage to its cannabis business cannot bring a federal RICO suit against the defendant causing that damage.  Though legal under California law, a cannabis business is illegal under federal law and so cannot be recognized as "business or property" injury to which might confer statutory standing t sue for a RICO violation. Read More

To appeal from a Labor Commissioner award of wages to an employee, the employer must post a bond in the amount the Labor Commissioner awarded.  This decision holds that a car wash company cannot substitute its $150,000 car wash bond for the bond required by section 98.2.  Though for a similar purpose of guaranteeing payment of wages to car wash… Read More

Heirs who filed a medical malpractice wrongful death suit lack standing to challenge the constitutionality of MICRA's limits on noneconomic damages (Civ. Code 3333.2) and attorney fees (B&P Code 6147).  Plaintiffs' attorney had not withdrawn or moved to withraw due to the statutory limits on attorney fees.  Moreover, there is no constitutional right to an attorney in civil litigation.  Plaintiffs… Read More

While in the hospital, plaintiff was assaulted by a psychiatric patient at the same hospital.  Plaintiff sued the hospital claiming it failed to take reasonable measures to protect plaintiff from the assault which it should have anticipated from information available to the hospital's psychiatrist.  This decision holds that the trial court erroneously concluded that plaintiff was not entitled to discovery… Read More

Patient's lawyer's first letter to hospital was not a notice of intent to sue for medical malpractice under CCP 364; only a later letter provided that notice and extended the limitations period by 90 days.  The first letter was devoted mostly to a request that the hospital preserve its records regarding the incident in which plaintiff was injured by an… Read More

A summary judgment motion must be filed at least 75 days (plus added days for other than personal service) before the hearing date which must be at least 30 days before the scheduled trial date.  However, if a summary judgment motion is properly filed and served 105 days (plus added days for non-personal service) before trial, the trial court must… Read More

This decision holds that an attorney's jury selection notes are not subject to absolute attorney work product protection in connection with a challenge to the jury panel or the judgment based on racial or other discriminatory use of peremptory challenges or claimed the Batson/Wheeler error.  An attorney’s jury selection notes are unlikely to reveal impressions, conclusions, or opinions about the… Read More

This decision affirms orders denying motions to vacate default and vacate the default judgment.  The default was based on substitute service of the complaint on a co-resident of a gated community.  There was sufficient evidence in the process server's proofs of service to support the trial court's conclusions that diligent efforts were made to serve the defendants personally before resort… Read More

The federal Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPRA; 15 USC 6501-6506) and the FTC's implementing regulations (16 CFR 312.2) forbid collection of children's "persistent identifiers" without parental permission.  Here, plaintiffs alleged solely state law claims against Google for tracking their children's internet usage of YouTube using persistent identifiers without their parents' permission.  COPRA's express preemption provision (15 USC 6502(d)) preempts… Read More

This decision holds that the trial court erred in granting one defendant summary judgment based on a statute of limitations defense.  The argument and evidence on summary judgment addressed when plaintiff discovered the contracts signed by an independent contractor were void under This decision holds that the trial court erred in granting one defendant summary judgment based on a statute… Read More

This decision holds that the trial court erred in granting one defendants summary judgment based on plaintiff's failure to timely file a government claim.  Plaintiff alleged facts giving supporting its arguments that the defendant had expressly and impliedly waived the government claims defense.  The fact that plaintiff filed a late government claim did not defeat the implied waiver argument since… Read More

CCP 203(a)(5) used to provide that any person convicted of a felony could not serve as a juror.  Now it provides that persons convicted of a felony cannot serve as a juror while in prison or on parole or while required to register as a sex offender.  This decision holds that the sex offender exclusion satisfies the rational basis test… Read More

The trial court did not abuse its discretion in awarding plaintiff its attorney fees in opposing defendant's Anti-SLAPP motion to strike.  Plaintiff's claim arose from false representations the defendant developer made to the Rocklin City Council about his ability to develop a financially viable family theme park in the Rocklin Quarry.  Though the representations were made in an official proceeding,… Read More

Corp. Code 1604 provides for an award of reasonable attorney fees to a shareholder if the corporation refuses "without justification" his demand to inspect corporate records.as required under Corp. Code 1601.  This decision holds that "without justification" means at least not well grounded in fact and law.  Here, the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying the shareholder… Read More

Normally, private suits under the Political Reform Act (Gov. Code 81000 et seq.) are governed by a four year limitations period.  However, this case holds that when the Reform Act is used to challenge land use decisions, the more specific 90-day limitations provision of Gov. Code 65009 and 66499.37 apply instead. Read More

Under CCP 583.340, the five year period to bring an action to trial is stayed during periods when it is impossible, impracticable or futile to bring the action to trial--even if those periods occur early in the 5-year period and the plaintiff is not thereafter diligent in seeking a trial date less than 5 years from the filing of the… Read More