Pleading

Attorneys representing themselves should not be afforded special consideration or the liberal pleading standard allowed other types of pro per litigants, and do not fall into the category of those “proceeding without assistance of counsel" under 9th Circuit rules. Read More

In this case, plaintiff sued defendant under the CLRA for not disclosing the amount of its potential or likely emergency room evaluation and management services fee.  The court concluded that the complaint adequately alleged that defendant owed a duty to disclose the charge as that information was within its sole knowledge and not readily available to its patients.  The complaint… Read More

When the plaintiff files an amended complaint that omits a defendant named in the prior complaint, the amendment is treated as a voluntary dismissal of the omitted defendant, without prejudice.  Here, plaintiff's third amended complaint named Minassian as a defendant.  The parties stipulated to the filing of plaintiff's fourth amended complaint which omitted Minassian.  Though the trial court didn't sign… Read More

Plaintiffs alleging parallel conduct among competitors as a Sherman Act section 1 conspiracy must allege additional facts (plus factors) that place that parallel conduct in a context suggesting a preceding agreement.  Here, only one of the eight plus factors plaintiffs alleged weighed slightly in favor of conspiracy, which was insufficient to cross the threshold from possible to plausible.  The three… Read More

This decision holds that a second plaintiff who had standing to sue when a different plaintiff filed this PAGA claim may be amended in to replace the original plaintiff and relate back to the original plaintiff's PAGA notice to the Division of Labor and Workforce Development--and so include a longer period of alleged Labor Code violations than would be possible… Read More

Ordinarily, when a complaint alleges a stand-alone claim for declaratory relief and properly alleges the existence of an existing controversy, the trial court should not grant a demurrer because the plaintiff is entitled to a declaration of rights even if unfavorable.  However, the error is not prejudicial if the declaration would be in the defendant's favor.  The appellate opinion affirming… Read More

Whitaker adequately alleged standing to bring a claim under the Americans with Disabilities Act by alleging that the counters in Tesla's showrooms were inaccessible to him (as a wheelchair-bound person) and deterred him from returning to Tesla's showrooms.  However, Whitaker's complaint was properly dismissed for failure to meet Iqbal/Twombly pleading standards as it mostly repeated the statutory elements of an… Read More

To preserve its affirmative defenses, a defendant need not file a new answer to an amended complaint that does not change the cause of action to which those defenses pertain.   When an amended complaint does not add new parties, new claims, or significant new factual allegations, the answer to the previously filed complaint suffices. Read More

Under CCP 446(a), a defendant must file a verified answer to a complaint filed by the state, a county or certain other governmental agencies  “unless an admission of the truth of the complaint might subject the party to a criminal prosecution."  This decision holds that a defendant corporation is a "party" entitled to file an unverified answer under the quoted… Read More

A lawsuit against a public entity may allege additional facts and new causes of action not stated in the plaintiff's government claim so long as they are based on the same fundamental facts supporting liability on the same legal theory or theories raised in the tort claim.  Here, the plaintiff's government claim alleged torts arising from the police response to… Read More

An action for an accounting upon dissolution of a corporation is not a special proceeding or an action for declaratory relief and thus is an action that triggers the compulsory cross-complaint rule under CCP 426.10 et seq. Read More

Plaintiff's False Claims Act complaint alleged that all the defendant health insurers submitted false claims using false diagnoses of patients' medical condition from the same vendor, and no further differentiation among the health insurers was needed to satisfy Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 9(b) since they all acted the same way. Read More

An appraiser hired to provide an appraisal for the lender's use does not owe the borrower a duty of care. Read More

Plaintiff may amend the original complaint once before answer or demurrer hearing, but leave of court is required for any amendment to an amended complaint. Read More

Plaintiff could not save his complaint from summary judgment by raising a new theory of liability for the first time in his summary judgment opposition.   Read More

Plaintiffs who purchased applications from Apple's App Store are direct purchasers from Apple and can sue it for monopolizing the market for distribution of applications that run on the iPhone.  Read More

Compliance with the Government Tort Claims statute's claim presentation requirement may be alleged generally—as by checking a box on the Judicial Council form complaint stating that "Plaintiff … has complied with applicable claims statutes.”  Read More