Civil Procedure

Under CCP 664.6, the court may, if the section's conditions are met, enter judgment enforcing the parties' settlement.  However, that judgment must state all terms of the settlement agreement that have not yet been fully performed.  The judgment can do nothing else.  If the settlement reserves jurisdiction in the court to enforce the settlement, the court may, after entering judgment… Read More

Probate Code 859 provides for an award of double damages if the court finds that the defendant son has in bad faith wrongfully taken . . . property belonging to a . . . dependent adult, . . .  or has taken . . . the property by the use of undue influence in bad faith or through the commission… Read More

The trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying the defendant's motion to dismiss two of the consolidated cases for failure to bring them to trial within five years.  Even though plaintiffs could have taken these defendants' defaults since they hadn't answered, the court could reasonably conclude that these complex consolidated actions could not have been prosecuted to judgment… Read More

The federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act preempted the plaintiff’s state law claim that defendant falsely advertised its Vitamin E supplement as promoting cardiovascular health. Read More

Fees charged by a mediator for a mediation not ordered by the court may be recoverable as ordinary costs in the discretion of the trial court. Read More

A default judgment was vacated as it exceeded the sum prayed for in the indemnity cross-complaint on which it was based, even though it incorporated by reference the complaint which asked for $10 million. Read More

There is a constitutional right to a jury trial of a claim for nominal statutory damages of $1000 under the California Confidentiality of Medical Information Act. Read More

Plaintiff’s 998 offer made 19 days after service of the complaint was ineffective because the defendant then lacked sufficient information about the plaintiff’s injuries to reasonably evaluate the offer. Read More

The trial court abused its discretion in denying a prevailing plaintiff attorney fees since the defendant’s initial settlement offer (which the plaintiff rejected) did not comply with section 998. Read More

The deadline for moving to vacate an arbitration award under the FAA is the same date as the third month after the award is issued unless it is a Saturday, Sunday or holiday. Read More

Delaware law permitting choice-of-forum bylaws is enforceable in California even if no shareholder consent is obtained for the bylaw and even though the bylaw is adopted after the allegedly wrongful conduct has occurred. Read More

If injured on the job, a borrowed employee’s sole recourse is to claim benefits under the Longshore & Harbor Workers Compensation Act, he or she cannot sue the borrowing employer in tort. Read More

A cost award entered after entry of voluntary dismissal without prejudice is appealable as a final judgment in its own right. Read More

Trial court prejudicially erred in giving a special jury instruction that in determining whether the city's failure to repaint a faded cross-walk and maintain bushes was negligent, the jury could not consider the condition of the adjacent property or the design of the intersection. Read More

Insurance company successfully invoked the doctrine of extrinsic mistake in getting the trial court to vacate default judgments vacated against its insured. Read More

A sanctions motion under either CCP 128.5 & 128.7 must be served on the party from whom sanctions are sought at least 21 days before the motion is filed in court in order to give that party time to rectify the allegedly sanctionable conduct.  Read More

Plaintiff obtained a court order permitting service of process by publication and specifying that the complaint and summons be published in the Orange County Register, but instead of complying, plaintiff published them in a smaller newspaper of general circulation owned by one of the OCR’s subsidiaries, which resulted in ineffective service. Read More

Though the federal Copyright Act preempted the California Resale Royalty Act insofar as it granted artists a right to royalties on the resale of their work, it did not preempt the CRRA's attorney fee provision, which was not inconsistent with the Copyright Act.  Read More

Putative class representatives were not entitled to intervene in a parallel class action to object to settlement as they could preserve their rights by opting out or by objecting to the settlement and moving to vacate judgment approving the settlement. Read More

Defendant’s repeated kicks and punches of the plaintiff was sufficient evidence of malice and/or intent to injure, thus providing sufficient justification for a punitive damages award. Read More