Civil Procedure

It is the substance of a post-trial motion, not its title, that controls its effect on the appeal period; so a motion for stay disguised as a Rule 59 motion to alter or amend the judgment does not toll the appeal period though a true Rule 59 motion would do so.   Read More

The judgment was affirmed due to the inadequacy of the appellant’s opening brief.   Read More

The trial court did not err in granting defendant summary judgment based on plaintiff’s failure to submit a proper statement of undisputed facts even after having been warned and given a second chance to file a proper statement.   Read More

Under Spanish law, the prescriptive period for claims to possession of a Pisarro painting stolen from a German Jewish citizen by the Nazis and later sold to a Spanish museum, may not have expired if the museum had acquired the painting knowing all along that it was stolen.  Read More

Dismissal on forum non conveniens grounds affirmed in suit by Florida corporation against to residents of Mexico over contract to raise crops in Mexico; neither party was a California resident and Mexico had a greater interest in adjudicating the dispute.  Read More

A district court may abstain under the Colorado River doctrine only in extraordinary circumstances, not in an ordinary diversity action seeking damages and rescission under settled principles of state law.  Read More

Plaintiff's medical malpractice suit was untimely, having been filed more than a year after discovery of the malpractice; formal CCP 364 pre-suit notice from her attorney did not extend the limitations period since plaintiff had already sent her own letter which operated as a pre-suit notice despite not being intended as such.  Read More

Plaintiff’s asbestos-caused mesothelioma claim accrued when she received that diagnosis; her government claim, filed 10 months later, was untimely, so her suit was dismissed.  Read More

American Pipe tolling, an equitable doctrine, cannot override the Securities Act’s explicit three-year statute of repose.  Read More

A mother is not bound by a pre-filing order that applies to her vexatious-litigant son, since her own filing sought relief on behalf of herself as well as the son.  Read More

California cannot exercise personal jurisdiction over non-residents’ claims against a foreign corporation merely because the corporation engaged in the same conduct in California as to resident plaintiffs.  Read More

Senior citizen who held controlling interest in corporate borrower could not state elder abuse claim against lender that foreclosed on borrower; the senior citizen suffered only derivative harm; any damage claim belonged solely to the corporate borrower.  Read More

An order denying a motion to vacate judgment is a separately appealable order, even if the issues raised on appeal overlap issues that the appellant could have or did raise on an appeal from the underlying judgment.  Read More

A Court of Appeals lacks jurisdiction to entertain an appeal from a district court order denying class certification or striking class allegations after the named plaintiff has voluntarily dismissed his individual claims.  Read More

A party that seeks to intervene in a pending action as of right under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 24(a)(2) must meet Article III standing requirements if it wishes to pursue relief that is different from or in addition to the relief requested by the plaintiff, such as, here, a money judgment in favor of the intervenor against the defendant.  Read More

To establish taxpayer standing under California Code of Civil Procedure 526a, a plaintiff need not allege he paid real property taxes, payment or liability to pay any tax assessed by the defendant government entity suffices.  Read More

Only the prosecutor, not any third party, owes a criminal defendant a duty to disclose material exculpatory evidence, and even the prosecutor need not disclose such evidence if it is developed by a third party not acting under the prosecutor’s control.  Read More

Montana cannot exercise general jurisdiction over a defendant railroad that is incorporated and has a principal place of business in another state, and so cannot adjudicate claims against the railroad arising from transactions or events outside Montana, even though the railroad maintains 2,000 miles of track and has 2,000 employees in Montana.  Read More

A contractor that provides pre-construction services to a public entity may perform a public function in advising the entity about the construction contract, thus subjecting itself to Gov. Code 1090’s prohibition of conflicts of interest in the award of public contracts.  Read More

A vexatious litigant pre-filing order applies to the litigant’s petition for a writ of administrative mandamus to challenge the decision in an administrative proceeding commenced against him.  Read More