Civil Procedure

This suit was filed in the name of a trust, not its trustee.  After lengthy litigation with the original defendants, an intervenor moved to expunge the lis pendens on the ground that the trust was not a legal entity and could not sue in its own name.  The trial court agreed, held it had no subject matter jurisdiction, and dismissed… Read More

Gov. Code 818 immunizes governmental agencies from liability for damages imposed primarily for the sake of example and by way of punishing the defendant.  This decision holds that section 818 bars a claim for treble damages under CCP 340.1(b) for a childhood sexual assault resulting from the defendant's concerted effort to hide evidence relating to such assaults.  Section 340.1 imposes… Read More

After his house was destroyed in a fire, Tipton filed a claim under his homeowner's policy with Nationwide.  In a criminally stupid move, Tipton's claim sought payment for destruction of Van Gogh's original Starry Night painting which he said was in the house when the fire broke out.  Tipton was later charged and pled guilty to insurance fraud and perjury,… Read More

A post-trial motion under Rule 50 is not required to preserve for appellate review a purely legal issue resolved at summary judgment.  By contrast, a post-trial motion is required if the summary judgment motion was denied on sufficiency of the evidence grounds since the evidentiary record may be (and usually is) different at trial. Read More

Plaintiff appealed adverse judgment claiming the trial court erred in refusing a jury instruction regarding an adverse inference from the opposing party's concealing evidence during discovery.  This decision holds that the plaintiff forfeited the issue on appeal by misstating the record in her brief--asserting that the trial court had found that the defendant improperly concealed documents, when the trial court… Read More

28 USC 1367(d) provides that when a case is brought within the federal courts' original jurisdiction and state law claims are also asserted, invoking the federal court's supplemental jurisdiction, any applicable statute of limitations is tolled for a period of 30 days following dismissal of the state law claims if the federal court declines to exercise jurisdiction over them.  This… Read More

Although not required by CCP 2032.320, a trial court may, in its discretion, require a party that desires to take a mental exam of the opposing party to provide the examined party with an audio tape of the examination as well as the raw test data and questions, subject to a suitable protective order to protect the security of the… Read More

Applying the federal transaction test to a plea of claim preclusion on a CERCLA claim for contribution by a potentially responsible party, this decision holds that the later suit is not precluded because it is not on the same cause of action.  The prior action was by the then-current owner of Property 1 for contribution to the cost of remediating… Read More

Calling contrary language in SI 59 LLC v. Variel Warner Ventures LLC (2018) 29 Cal.App.5th 146 dicta, this decision holds that despite Civ. Code 1668, a release may be enforceable while the claim still has not accrued for statute of limitations purposes, at least so long as the plaintiff is aware of the claim she releases and the wrongful acts… Read More

The trial court improperly entered summary judgment for defendant on class claims that it violated H&S Code 1374.72, which requires parity of treatment for mental illness as for physical illness, and Civ. Code 51 by treating persons with mental disabilities less well than those with physical disabilities.  Plaintiffs' evidence raised triable issues of fact as to whether Kaiser's reimbursement and… Read More

A successor owner of the property is entitled to reinstate a defaulted deed of trust under Civ. Code 2924c even if the successor owner is not a party to the defaulted loan and deed of trust and does not assume any obligation under that loan and deed of trust.  Here, plaintiff bought the property at a foreclosure sale held by… Read More

Under CCP 484.090, to secure an attachment, the plaintiff must, among other things, prove the probable validity of its claim and that the amount secured by the attachment is greater than zero.  Under CCP 484.015(b)(4), the amount that the plaintiff seeks to secure by attachment is reduced by "the value of any security in the property of the defendant held… Read More

The trial court did not err in denying a motion to compel arbitration in this case on the ground of unconscionability.  The employee was required as a condition of employment to sign the arbitration agreement and a separate confidentiality agreement.  The two had to be construed together since they both dealt with resolution of disputes arising out of plaintiff's employment… Read More

In response to Smith v. Superior Court (L'Oreal USA, Inc.) (2006) 39 Cal.4th 77, the Legislature enacted Lab. Code 201.3(b), which provides that a temporary worker hired by a staffing company and working on assignment for another employer is not terminated for purposes or receiving a final pay check when the temporary assignment ends, but only when the staffing agency… Read More

This decision holds that an unsecured creditor that was the chair of the committee of unsecured creditors in East Coast's Chapter 11 proceeding lacked Article III standing to appeal from the bankruptcy court's order awarding the Chapter 11 trustee the maximum allowable fees.  The confirmed Chapter 11 plan provided for the debtor's reorganization and full payment of all allowed claims,… Read More

A court may properly sustain a general demurrer to a declaratory relief cause of action when it can determine as a matter of law that the plaintiff is not entitled to the declaration that it seeks. Read More

Reversing an Anti-SLAPP order striking plaintiff's complaint, this decision holds that Civ. Code 1788.17 incorporates into the Rosenthal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, the strict liability standard of 15 USC 1692(e) for false statements made in collecting a debt or regarding the legal status of the debt.  Thus, the debt collector may be held liable under the Rosenthal Act for… Read More

Rule 60(a) provides that a court “may correct a clerical mistake or a mistake arising from oversight or omission whenever one is found in a judgment, order, or other part of the record.”  This portion of the rule allows only for correction of "clerical errors"--blunders in framing the judgment to reflect the district court's actual rulings.  Rule 60(a) is limited… Read More

In this case, plaintiff obtained a UIM arbitration award for the entire $1 million umbrella policy limit due to emotional distress plaintiff suffered from seeing the underinsured motorist hit her mother who was crossing the street with her.  Before the arbitration award, plaintiff made a 998 offer for a penny less than the umbrella policy limits, which the insurer refused. … Read More

Though the ministerial exception to employment discrimination laws is in the nature of an affirmative defense that the defendant must allege and prove, the trial court did not err in allowing the defendant in this case to raise the exception for the first time by a summary judgment motion after the close of discovery.  Plaintiff couldn't show any prejudice because… Read More