The following summaries are of recent published decisions of the California appellate courts, the Ninth Circuit, and the United States Supreme Court. The summaries are presented without regard to whether Severson & Werson represented a party in the case.
Res judicata did not bar current because since the current defendants who were not parties to the prior suit and were not in privity with those parties, and because the record did not show the reason why the prior suit was dismissed on the pleadings. Read More
State law claims based on manufacturer’s failure to adequately train physicians on installation of its lap-band implant is preempted by the federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act since, apart from the FDCA, state law imposed no duty on a manufacturer to train physicians Read More
A parent corporation lacked standing to seek a declaratory judgment regarding coverage under an insurance policy under which only its subsidiary corporation was an insured. Read More
A 998 offer requiring the opposing party to enter into a settlement agreement is not a valid 998 offer; while cases have allowed a 998 offer to demand a release, a settlement agreement is different, more extensive and more subject to disagreement as to form and contents. Read More
Plaintiff was properly deemed a vexatious litigant because, despite the court’s warning, she filed a third meritless motion attacking a final judgment from which she had not appealed. Read More
The use of a settled statement on appeal (in lieu of a reporter's transcript) does not negate the implied findings doctrine if the parties have waived a statement of decision, since the settled statement is a record of what was said, rather than a record of the trial court's reasoning Read More
Though exempt from federal income tax under 26 USC 529, an education or tuition trust is not designed or used for retirement purposes and so is not exempt from execution on a judgment under CCP 704.115. Read More
A badly drafted settlement agreement did not condition plaintiff’s right to receive the settlement funds on plaintiff’s prior discharge of medical liens on his claim. Read More
A superior court’s branch with only one sitting judge is still part of a larger court with more than one authorized judge, so the normal rules setting the time for filing a 170.6 challenge apply, not CCP 170.6(a)(2) which sets a special rule for courts authorized to have only one judge. Read More
Mandate was denied because it was not clear that the contractual forum selection clause applied to the claims plaintiff alleged and because the only harm petitioner would suffer by raising the issue on a normal post-judgment appeal was the cost of the trial proceedings. Read More
A South Carolina judicial foreclosure judgment barred borrower’s California suit for wrongful foreclosure. Read More
USC violated common law standards of fair procedure in disciplining Doe in connection with a group sexual encounter at a fraternity party, by giving him inadequate notice of the charges against him and denying him a fair hearing. Read More
The attorney and mental health care worker certificates of merit that an adult older than 26 must file to bring a claim for childhood sexual abuse need not be verified but must state facts as to each defendant sufficient to allow the trial court to assess the suit’s potential merit. Read More
To preserve a statute of limitations defense, the answer must (1) allege facts showing that the action is time-barred and showing that the defense of the statute of limitations is being raised, or (2) plead the specific section and subdivision of the CCP which is applicable and bars the suit; catch-all references to a range of statutes are insufficient to… Read More
If a qui tam False Claims Act suit rests on genuinely new and material information not publicly disclosed by a government audit, report, hearing or investigation, the suit may proceed though it arises from the same transactions as the prior public disclosure. Read More
Plaintiff is the prevailing party entitled to an award of court costs under CCP 1032 on entry of a judgment of dismissal pursuant to a settlement under which plaintiff received monetary compensation for his or her claims. Read More
Though it bears the label "trust," a real estate investment trust is a separate legal entity which can sue and be sued; so for diversity purposes, it is a citizen of every state of which any of its members is a citizen. Read More
