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.
The district court erred in not awarding Apple its attorney fees under the indemnity provision of its app developer agreement. The indemnity clause expressly required indemnity of loss and expense due to the developer's breach of an obligation or warranty, showing that the clause was intended to cover litigation between the contracting parties as well as third party claims. Read More
CCP 340.3(a) lengthens the statute of limitations for suing a defendant convicted of a felony for the wrongful act on which the plaintiff sues. This decision holds that section 340.3(a) does not lengthen the statute of limitations for suits against those vicariously liable for the felon's wrongful act, such as his employer in this case. The decision also holds that… Read More
On an earlier appeal, the court held that the indemnity provision that the plaintiff required the defendant to sign in order to apply for approval of its development project was not supported by consideration and that plaintiff had no statutory authority to impose an indemnity agreement as a condition of plaintiff's statutory duty to consider defendant's application. On this appeal,… Read More
A governmental entity that defended its employee under a proper reservation of rights need not indemnify the employee for punitive damages awarded against him. Read More
