Civil Procedure

The claims in pro per plaintiff’s second amended complaint were time-barred because his initial complaint—filed before the limitations period had expired—was so deficient that it did not put the defendant on notice of any claim.  Read More

If a suit is dismissed on forum non conveniens grounds, the defendant is not entitled to an attorney fee award as the prevailing party, at least if the plaintiff can and does re-file suit in the other forum. Read More

A federal appellate court reviews a district court’s decision to enforce or quash an administrative subpoena for abuse of discretion.  Read More

A federal appellate court has jurisdiction over claims against an appellee not named in the notice of appeal if the opening brief shows the appellant challenges portions of the judgment affecting that appellee.  Read More

Under California’s conflicts of law rules, California law governed execution of a judgment on the husband’s guaranty against the Arizona couple’s jointly owned San Francisco apartment.  Read More

Although a subsidiary's contacts cannot by themselves give rise to general personal jurisdiction over the parent company under an agency theory, the subsidiary's contacts might suffice if parent and subsidiary were alter egos; but in this case, plaintiffs did not allege facts supporting an alter ego relationship, so personal jurisdiction did not attach Read More

Referee’s award of discovery sanctions in excess of $5000 was as appealable as if it had been signed by a judge of the superior court, since an analysis of the stipulation and order appointing the referee indicated it was a general reference.  Read More

"Affiliate" means a person in a dependent or subordinate relationship with another, not just anyone with some sort of connection to the other; so a settlement agreement’s release did not extend to the lessor of released defendants and plaintiff’s suit against that entity could proceed.  Read More

A district court or Bankruptcy Appellate Panel order which reverses a bankruptcy court order in part and remands for additional fact-finding is not a final appealable judgment, nor is it otherwise appealable absent certification.  Read More

In extraordinary circumstances, a Court of Appeal may issue a precedential decision denying a writ petition without first issuing an order to show cause or alternative writ, if it gives the parties ample notice of its proposed action.  Read More

District court did not abuse its discretion in allowing dismissal without prejudice of lawsuit when plaintiff died, after his widow filed a new lawsuit in state court rather than timely substituting in her husband’s place.  Read More

Juror was discharged and replaced too hastily without adequate investigation, after two fellow jurors complained that she did not participate in the first 90 minutes of deliberations.  Read More

Defendant's 170.6 challenge was timely, even though it was filed after the challenged judge had heard and granted a temporary order removing minor from defendant’s custody.  Read More

A case is not placed automatically in the superior court’s limited jurisdiction based on the sum in controversy; so in this case since no party acted to have the case referred to limited jurisdiction, it remained in the court’s unlimited jurisdiction, and the longer period for seeking fees in an unlimited jurisdiction case applied.  Read More

A California state court cannot compel a party to undergo a vocational rehabilitation examination by the opposing party’s expert. Read More

A federal court may exercise supplemental jurisdiction over a state-law cross-claim between nondiverse parties so long as the cross-claim remains part of an action commenced by a complaint that properly invokes diversity or federal question jurisdiction, but if the cross-claim is severed, the district court loses jurisdiction over it.  Read More

Plaintiff could not rely on the delayed discovery rule to toll the limitations period on his fraud claim, because memoranda dating to the time of the alleged fraud—which were presented as part of plaintiff’s own evidence—disclosed the very facts which gave rise to the claim.  Read More

One wrongly decided California Court of Appeal opinion is not sufficient grounds for avoiding the res judicata impact of a prior judgment on “change of applicable law” grounds since no other appellate court need follow that errant decision.  Read More

Trial court erred in awarding nearly $8000 in contempt sanctions against plaintiff/deponent for failure to appear at her deposition, since court had not actually ordered plaintiff to appear at the deposition. Read More

A contractual jury trial waiver is unenforceable in California state court despite the contract’s choice of New York law which allows such waivers.  Read More