Statute of Limitations

Normally, private suits under the Political Reform Act (Gov. Code 81000 et seq.) are governed by a four year limitations period.  However, this case holds that when the Reform Act is used to challenge land use decisions, the more specific 90-day limitations provision of Gov. Code 65009 and 66499.37 apply instead. Read More

Under CCP 340.1(b), a plaintiff may obtain treble damages against a person whose cover up is found to be the cause of a sexual assault on a child through a concerted effort to hide evidence relating to childhood sexual assault.  This decision holds that the treble damage provision does not apply retroactively.  The statute espressly makes the lengthened statute of… Read More

The trial court erred in granting defendant summary judgment based on expiration of the statute of limitations (CCP 340.5) in this medical malpractice case arising from a stillbirth following an operation to turn the fetus to a head-down position for birth.  There was a question of fact as to whether plaintiff subjectively suspected malpractice the day before delivering the stillborn… Read More

Following ZF Micro Devices, Inc. v. TAT Capital Partners, Ltd. (2016) 5 Cal.App.5th 69, this decision holds that the filing of the complaint tolls the statute of limitations for all claims the defendant pleads in a cross-complaint, whether compulsory or permissive, so long as the cross-claim was not time-barred at the time the complaint was filed.  This limitations tolling doctrine… Read More

The trial court erred in granting the defendant attorney summary judgment on statute of limitations grounds since there was a triable issue of fact as to when his representation of the plaintiff was terminated--either slightly more or slightly less than a year before the malpractice action was filed.  There was no formal withdrawal until less than a year before suit. … Read More

Petrella v. Metro-Goldwin-Mayer, Inc. (2014) 134 S.Ct. 1962 did not abrogate the rule that the 3-year statute of limitations for copyright infringement in modified by the discovery to allow suit within 3 years of the date when the plaintiff first knew or reasonably should have known of the infringement. Read More

An employee who complains to the DLSE and seeks relief from the Labor Commissioner in a Berman hearing is entitled to back wages for the limitations period calculated backwards from the date the employee files an initial report or claim with the DLSE, not from the later date of filing a formal complaint.  Though it doesn't say so expressly, Lab.… 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

Under 46 U.S.C. 30511(c), a shipowner may sue to limit its liability for claims to the value of the vessel and any pending freight so long as the shipowner sues for that relief within 6 months after a claimant gives the shipowner written notice of a claim.  To trigger that six-month limitations period, the claimant's "written notice of a claim”… Read More

A wrongful death claim under federal maritime law accrues on or after the date of death, not earlier when the victim (soon-to-be deceased) learns of his illness or injury.  The statute accrues on date of discovery of the illness, however, on claims under survival statutes that abrogate the common law rule that tort claims died with the plaintiff.  Where the… Read More

If a statute prescribes a time limit within which a petition, appeal or other pleading must be filed, it will be treated as jurisdictional only if Congress clearly states that the time limit is jurisdictional.  Jurisdictional time limits cannot be waived or forfeited, must be raised by courts sua sponte, and do not allow for equitable exceptions.  Here, the Court… Read More

Following Delaney v. Baker (1999) 20 Cal.4th 23, this decision holds that MICRA's one-year limitations on medical malpractice claims and $250,000 limit on non-economic damages did not apply to this elderly woman who was sexually assaulted by the defendant elder care facility's male attendant, based on a jury's finding that the defendant was not only guilty not only of general… 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

The Judicial Council's COVID-19 Emergency Rule 10a extended the time for bringing a case to trial by six months (i.e., a total of 5 years and 6 months) for actions filed before April 6, 2020.  This was such an action.  However, plaintiff didn't get it to trial until 5 years and 7 months after the action was filed.  Held, the… Read More

Under Gov. Code 913(b), a government entity that denies a tort claim must give the claimant a notice saying you have only six months to file suit and suggesting that the claimant seek legal advice immediately.  Here, the defendant agency's denial notice mentioned the six-month deadline but omitted the advice to seek legal advice.  Due to that defect, the notice… Read More

Following Delaney v. Baker (1999) 20 Cal.4th 23, this decision holds that MICRA's one-year limitations on medical malpractice claims and $250,000 limit on non-economic damages did not apply to this elderly woman's who was sexually assaulted by the defendant elder care facility's male attendant, based on a jury's finding that the defendant was not only guilty not only of general… Read More

The trial court abused its discretion in dismissing this action as a sanction under CCP 128.7 on the ground that there was no reasonable ground for thinking it was not barred by the statute of limitations.  The action sought to quiet title to the property that the plaintiff had purchased in 2008 with knowledge of prior agreements purportedly assigning "coverage… Read More

CCP 340.5's one-year statute of limitations, not the general two-year limitations period for personal injuries applied to this action by an emergency room patient who was injured when she collapsed on the way back from the bathroom.  The emergency room nursing staff made a medical decision that the patient did not need to be accompanied to and from the restroom. … Read More

An action under San Francisco's Tree Dispute Resolution Ordinance about a neighbor's tree that has grown to obstruct the plaintiff's view is an action in the nature of one for a continuing nuisance, even though obstruction of view by trees was not actionable at common law.  Accordingly, there is no statute of limitations on such an action since the harm… Read More

Under CCP 338(a), a three-year limitations period applies to an action on a liability created by statute other than a penalty or forfeiture.  This decision holds that the commencement of the three year period under section 338(a) can be tolled under the common law delayed discovery rule. Read More