Civil Procedure

Agreeing with Connelly v. Bornstein (2019) 33 Cal.App.5th 783 and Garcia v. Rosenberg (2019) 42 Cal.App.5th 1050, this decision holds that CCP 340.6's one-year limitations periods governs a malicious prosecution action against the attorney for the opposing party in the underlying litigation.  CCP 340.6(a)(2) tolls that one-year period during the time “[t]he attorney continues to represent the plaintiff regarding the… Read More

This decision affirms dismissal of a case under the 5 year statute.  It holds that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in not tolling the 5 year statute during the 16 month period in which the court was not holding jury trials due to COVID-19 because during that period plaintiff was not ready to go to trial anyway,… Read More

A motion for relief from default and default judgment under CCP 473(b)'s mandatory attorney fault provision must be brought within six months (and a motion under the section's discretionary provision must be brought diligently and in no case more than six months).  This decision holds that "six months" means either six calendar months or 182 days, whichever is longer.  Though… Read More

Plaintiffs obtained a loan from defendant while it was an illegally unlicensed lender in California.  This decision holds that plaintiffs lack standing to sue defendant for violating the UCL in making the loan while unlicensed since plaintiffs suffered no loss of money or property due to the defendant's unlicensed status.  They received the exact loan terms for which they had… Read More

The Government Claims Statute (Gov. Code 905) requires plaintiffs to file a government claim with the prospective government entity defendant before filing a suit for damages.  However, the statute does not apply to actions for injunctive, specific, or declaratory relief--even if the declaration might be used in a later suit for damages.  Here, a contractor sued for a declaration regarding… Read More

The trial court correctly denied Mattson's motion to compel arbitration of Applied's suit against it for violation of the Uniform Trade Secrets Act. Mattson had hired Lai away from Applied.  Lai's employment agreement with Applied contained an arbitration clause.  Mattson was not a party to that contract and could not enforce it on a equitable estoppel basis since Applied's claim… Read More

A defendant may raise unpleaded affirmative defenses in opposition to the plaintiff's summary judgment motion so long as the plaintiff is given adequate notice and an opportunity to respond.  See Cruey v. Gannett Co. (1998) 64 Cal.App.4th 356, 367; Wang v. Nibbelink (2016) 4 Cal.App.5th 1, 11.  The court may consider unpleaded affirmative defenses, if the complaint alleges facts supporting… Read More

Following Law Finance Group, LLC v. Key (2023) 14 Cal.5th 932, this decision holds that the 100-day limit on petitioning to vacate a Mandatory Attorney Fee Arbitration award is subject to equitable estoppel and equitable tolling.  It also holds that unless there is already an action pending between the parties, the petition must be served in same manner as a… Read More

Water Code 13330(b) requires any appeal from a regional board's decision to be filed within 30 days and expressly prohibits judicial review except in accord with section 13330.  This decision holds that an untimely filed appeal from the regional board's decision must be dismissed even if the appellant claims the regional board lacked subject matter jurisdiction when it rendered its… Read More

The district court erred in remanded this suit to state court after defendant removed it under 28 USC 1442, the federal officer removal statute.  To invoke federal jurisdiction under that section, the defendant must show (a) it is a “person” within the meaning of the statute; (b) there is a causal nexus between its actions, taken pursuant to a federal… Read More

The district court did not abuse its discretion in denying defendant attorney fees under the EAJA.  Though the district court disbelieved the government's expert witness, whose testimony was the principal evidence on which the government based its claim that defendant had overvalued the company he sold to an ESOP, the government did not anticipate that result when it went to… Read More

Ford removed this action to federal court under CAFA, then successfully moved to dismiss it under Rule 12(b)(6) because the plaintiff did not allege he had suffered an injury to his business, his person, or his reputation as required by the Washington privacy statute under which he sued.  On appeal, plaintiff argued that the lack of injury showed he did… Read More

Seyfarth was hired to investigate a professor's claim that she was discriminated against by Cal. State University Fullerton.  It performed the investigation and submitted a report to the university administration concluding there was no merit to the professor's claims. After unsuccessfully suing a host of other defendants, the professor sued Seyfarth, claiming the report and investigation were biased, etc.  Seyfarth… Read More

This decision reverses a summary judgment in favor of the defendant employer against the plaintiff employee nurse who sued individually and under PAGA for violation of Labor Code sections on rest and meal breaks and payment of all wages due on termination.  The employer failed to meet its burden of proving plaintiff's claims were time barred.  While she may not… Read More

Plaintiff prevailed on a mandate petition challenging his one-year suspension from UC Davis for violating its policies against sexual harassment and assault.  The trial court found that the university lacked evidence of sufficiently serious misconduct to support the one-year suspension.  This decision holds that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in holding that plaintiff was not entitled to… Read More

If the tenant surrenders possession, an unlawful detainer action is converted into a normal civil action.  At that point, but not before, the tenant can file a cross-complaint.  This decision holds that the tenant does not waive or forfeit cross-claims against the landlord by not pleading them initially in response to the unlawful detainer complaint or by surrendering possession before… Read More

Plaintiff recovered less than defendant's 998 offer.  The trial court did not abuse its discretion in awarding defendant (a) $12,000 for an expert witness' two days of trial testimony, and (b) $6,000 in court reporter fees for real-time transcription of the trial proceedings. Read More

Defendant denied requests for admission that certain hospital records were authentic and business records.  This decision holds that the trial court erred in failing to award plaintiff the cost of proving the records were business records under CCP 2033.420. The trial court erred in denying those costs on the ground that plaintiff did not prove the records were business records… Read More

This decision affirms a prejudgment attachment order.  The trial court did not abuse its discretion in finding that the parties had not amended a fully integrated written contract which provided that all amendments had to be signed and in writing.  Under the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (CC 1633.1 et seq.), it is not enough to show that a document was… Read More

After Habelt filed a class action for securities fraud against iRhythm, Miss. Public Retirement System was appointed the class representative pursuant to the PSLRA.  The Retirement System's amended complaint was dismissed without leave to amend.  The Retirement System did not appeal from the dismissal.  The mere fact that Habelt remained a name in the case caption didn't confer standing on… Read More