Civil Procedure

Patients sued medical group after the group suffered a data breach that allowed hackers access to personal indentifying information concerning patients, including SSNs and medical histories.  This decision holds that the patients have UCL standing to sue.  Under their "benefit of the bargain" theory, the patients suffered a loss of money by purchasing the medical group's services which (a) weren't… Read More

Pinkert established a donor advised fund at Schwab, allowing him to take current year tax deductions for charitable donations that were not distributed until later.  He sued Schwab for charging excessive fees to the fund and for mismanaging it, both of which decreased the amounts ultimately distributed to charities.  This decision holds that Pinkert lacked Article III standing as he… Read More

Under CRC 8.108(c), the time to appeal is extended by a "valid" motion to vacate judgment under either CCP 473(b) or 663.  To be "valid," the motion must satisfy the procedural prerequisites of such a motion (including timely filing) and must be based on a proper ground for such a motion, but it need not be substantively meritorious.  Here, plaintiffs… Read More

During construction of a development in South Lake Tahoe, a worker for a subcontractor slipped on an icy floor, falling from a ladder and injuring himself.  This decision holds that the trial court granted defendant summary judgment based on the Privette doctrine which bars claims by an injured worker for an independent contractor against the hirer of that contractor.  This… Read More

This decision holds that under Civ. Code 9564 (providing for attorney fees in suits on construction surety bonds) and CCP 1032, the prevailing party is entitled to recover attorney fees and costs even if that party has been represented at no cost to that party--as here, the prevailing surety's defense was paid under by the construction contractor-principal on the bond… Read More

A group of plaintiffs represented by law firm A filed a parallel putative class action to one filed by law firm B.  B's suit was allowed to proceed.  A's was stayed.  When notice of a tentative settlement of B's suit was sent, A sent a letter to class members urging them to opt out.  B obtained court orders sending corrective… Read More

This decision holds that CRC 2.259(c) and 8.77(d) both apply to excuse late filing of notices of appeal in appropriate circumstances.  Rule 2.259(c) requires a court to deem a document filed on the day of the attempted filing if a technical problem with the court's filing system prevents the filing.  Rule 8.77(d) allows a court to deem a document filed… Read More

In this case, ZF sued TAT claiming that the director TAT appointed to ZF's predecessor, ZF Micro Devices, intentionally destroyed that corporation by disparaging its management and working behind the scenes to undermine its efforts to obtain funding.  This decision holds that ZF's claim is legal and must (at ZF's demand) be tried to a jury.  A director's duty to… Read More

The settlement agreement in this case provided that defendant "shall pay" plaintiff $3 million as full and final settlement of plaintiff's cliam.  The next sentence stated that payment of the $3 million "will be paid out of escrow" from a specific sale of a piece of real property.  This decision holds that the settlement was not conditional and was not… Read More

While the primary purpose of appointing a receiver (here, to sell radio stations) is to enforce and obtain payment of a judgment, the judgment debtor cannot automatically obtain the receiver's discharge and return of its property by posting adequate security for or paying the judgment.  The court retains discretion to continue the receivership thereafter to assure that the judgment debtor's… Read More

(Under FRCivP 4(k)(2), a federal court may exercise jurisdiction over a foreign defendant on a federal claim if the defendant is not subject to personal jurisdiction in any state's courts and exercising jurisdiction over the defendant comports with due process considering his contacts with the US as a whole.  Here, the district court could properly exercise jurisdiction over the foreign… Read More

CCP 995.240 grants a trial court authority to waive any provision requiring a litigant to post a bond if the trial court finds the party that is otherwise required to post a bond is indigent and unable to obtain sufficient sureties.  This decision holds that the statute applies, and grants the trial court discretion, to waive CCP 917.1's otherwise applicable… Read More

The FCC's regulation governing the standards for the permissible amount of radio frequency emission from a cellphone (47 C.F.R. § 1.1310(c)) preempt plaintiff's state law claims that Apple's iPhones are unsafe even though they conform to the FCC's standards.  The FCC issued its regulation under the broad authority that Congress conferred on it in the Federal Communications Act of 1934. … Read More

Since 2010, the public disclosure bar to a False Claims Act qui tam action (31 USC 3730) has applied to public disclosure of the same claim in an "other" Federal "hearing."  This decision holds that ex parte patent prosecutions before the Patent Office are other hearings for this purpose.  The statute was intended to encompass public disclosures made in federal… Read More

LA's COVID-19 Eviction Moratorium Ordinance which banned evictions for reasons other than the tenant's fault was not preempted by state law.  A demurrer was properly sustained to the owner's unlawful detainer action which alleged no tenant default but instead claimed the owner wanted to move into the unit himself. Read More

Following ZF Micro Devices, Inc. v. TAT Capital Partners, Ltd. (2016) 5 Cal.App.5th 69, this decision holds that the filing of the complaint tolls the statute of limitations for all claims the defendant pleads in a cross-complaint, whether compulsory or permissive, so long as the cross-claim was not time-barred at the time the complaint was filed.  This limitations tolling doctrine… Read More

An heir is not categorically precluded from intervening in a wrongful death suit brought by the personal representative of the decedent's estate.  So long as the heir meets the criteria for intervention, including inadequate representation of his interest by the existing parties, she should be permitted to intervene to protect those interests.  By intervening, the heir does not file a… Read More

Summary judgment for defendant hospital is affirmed.  The doctor who malpracticed in conducting an operation on plaintiff at defendant hospital was not the hospital's actual agent.  The contract between the two expressly denied any agency or employment relationship, and there was no evidence that the hospital exercised any control over the manner in which the doctor treated his patients.  The… Read More

A district court must give a plaintiff notice and an opportunity to be heard before declining to exercise supplemental jurisdiction and dismissing a state law claim unless the parties have already had an opportunity to brief that issue. Read More

The trial court properly awarded attorney fees to the plaintiff in this case which alleged that defendant's website violated the ADA and Civ. Code sections 51 and 52 by not being readable by web programs for the blind and visually impaired.  Unlike Doran v. North State Grocery, Inc. (2006) 137 Cal.App.4th 484 and Linton v. County of Contra Costa (2019)… Read More