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 mandatory attorney-fault provision of Code of Civil Procedure section 473(b) applies only to judgments of dismissal or default and not to other types of judgment, such as, here, a trial on the merits of an administrative mandate proceeding in which judgment was rendered for the defendant agency. Read More
No supersedeas bond is needed to stay enforcement of a money judgment on appeal if the appellant pays any damages the judgment awards and appeals only the judgment’s award of attorney fees and costs. Read More
The $500 cap on statutory damages for violations of Health and Safety Code § 1430(b) by a nursing home is not per lawsuit, but rather per cause of action. Read More
Trial court did not abuse its discretion in appointing a receiver to cause defendant’s hotel to remediate housing code violations after judgment was entered against defendant and defendant was given 18 months in which to cure the violations on his own. Read More
Pre-judgment interest on improperly denied retroactive disability retirement benefits began running on the date at which defendant retirement board issued the wrongful denial. Read More
Fees and expenses of a receiver appointed as a provisional remedy may, in the trial court's discretion, be awarded in whole or part as costs to the prevailing party in the litigation. Read More
District court properly denied equitable relief to plaintiff whose attorney filed a claim challenging a forfeiture one day late, since this error was the result of ordinary negligence rather than an extraordinary circumstance that would warrant relief. Read More
A trial court may issue a preliminary injunction mandating an affirmative act that changes the status quo, but only in extreme cases when the right to the injunction is clearly established; in this case, the trial court properly ordered defendant software developer to turn over source code to its customer, the plaintiff, so plaintiff could alter the software to make… Read More
The trial court erred in awarding damages in the amount of the difference between the amount of commission the parties sought in a separate suit against a third party and the amount for which they settled that suit, since the outcome of the lawsuit if prosecuted to completion was merely a matter of speculation. Read More
Upon reversal on appeal, the appellant is entitled, in the trial court's discretion, to restitution of amounts paid or other value lost under the reversed judgment, and may seek this restitution via motion without any need for a separate cross-complaint. Read More
