Torts

The Right to Repair Act (Civ. Code 895 et seq.) does not apply at all to product liability claims against a non-builder manufacturer of a product that a builder incorporates into a residence--unless the product defect causes the residence to violste one of the building standards set out in Civ. Code 896.  (Civ. Code 896(g)(3)(E).)  Here, however, a defect in… Read More

Plaintiff sued a corporation, took its default on a breach of contract claim.  Plaintiff also sued the corporation's owner and a related corporation.  After voluntarily dismissing the contract cause of action against those defendants, plaintiff continued to pursue tort claims against them for fraudulent conveyance and conspiracy, attempting to hold them liable on the default judgment against the corporation.  The… Read More

To admit her disabled, ill brother, for whom she acted as conservator, to a skilled nursing facility, plaintiff signed an admission agreement as well as two arbitration agreements, one for medical malpractice disputes, the other for all other disputes.  Plaintiff sued after the facility's poor care led to her brother's death.  The trial court denied the facility's motion to compel… Read More

Summary judgment was improperly entered against plaintiff on claims for negligence and intentional tort arising from a violent collision between plaintiff and defendant during an adult "no check" ice hockey league game.  Plaintiff produced evidence that, if believed, showed that defendant had not only violated league rules but had intentionally injured plaintiff or engaged in conduct so reckless as to… Read More

After Iran nationalized its oil industry in 1951, it owned the oil fields and Abadan oil refinery.  Iram contracted with international oil companies for those companies to provide management and other services to operating companies that were incorporated in the Netherlands and owned in part by the international companies and in part by Iram.  This decision holds that the international… Read More

The Congress did not show any error in the trial court's conclusion that Center did not improperly seize the Congress' corporate opportunity by running pharmaceutical symposia for the Center's own benefit.  Substantial evidence supported the trial court's factual findings that the Congress was not interested in drugs but rather was devoted solely to reconstructive joint surgery.  That the Center wrongly… Read More

Plaintiff, the tenant in a commercial building, was injured when his head struck a low beam at the entrance to an upstairs door and as a result he fell down the stairs.  This decision affirms a summary judgment for the landlord based on an exculpatory clause in the lease which absolved the landlord of liability for personal injuries suffered as… Read More

Plaintiffs alleged that defendant had agreed to cremate plaintiff's two dogs individually, but sent them random ashes rather than those of their dogs.  Plaintiffs sought to recover for the emotional distress they suffered as a result.  Held:  Plaintiffs didn't state a breach of contract claim as their vet, not they, had contracted with defendant, but on remand plaintiffs should be… Read More

Landowners could not invoke Civil Code 836 recreational use immunity to bar a personal injury action by a minor female who was injured riding her motorcycle on the landowners' motocross track because the landowners' 18-year old son who lived with them had invited the plaintiff onto the property to use the motocross track.  When a child of the landowner is… Read More

The litigation privilege (Civ. Code 47(b)) protects contractors that record mechanics liens from slander of title actions.  That is true even if the mechanics lien ultimately is shown to have been improperly recorded--as plaintiff here claimed it was because it was the fourth lien recorded after plaintiff had already posted a release bond.  Also, plaintiff failed to prove that defendant… Read More

Live Nation held a music festival with 65,000 attendees.  Live Nation knew that illicit drug use by attendees was a significant risk and took some measures to prevent it and to provide hydration, security and medical care.  This decision holds that Live Nation had a special relationship with the festival attendees and owed them a duty of care with respect… Read More

A contractor repairing a highway owes a duty of care to motorists using the highway.  The duty of care extends to protecting motorists from dangers on property adjacent to the repairs the contractor is performing.  See Ray v. Silverado Constructors (2002) 98 Cal.App.4th 1120, 1134; Thirion v. Fredrickson & Watson Construction Co. (1961) 193 Cal.App.2d 299, 304-305,  Here, the contractor… Read More

In this case, a pedestrian tripped and fell in a pothole located on city-owned property where the lip of a driveway and the gutter meet. The decision holds that the commercial business leasing the property that the driveway services did not exercise control over the location of the pothole (so as to create a duty of care to passersby) when… Read More

Assuming that long-distance, non-competitive bicycle riding is a sport to which the primary assumption of the risk doctrine applies, the County owed the cyclist a duty not to increase the inherent risks of that sports by failing to properly maintain its roads on which the cyclist traveled.  Imposing such a duty on the County would not significantly increase its burdens… Read More

One dentist brought a defamation action against his former partner, another dentist, for statements the defendant made to various other persons impugning the quality of the plaintiff's dentistry work.  The defendant filed an Anti-SLAPP motion which was granted, and plaintiff appealed.  Held:  Statements about the competency of a professional, like a dentist, concern a matter of public importance and so… Read More

California recognizes the tort of intentional interference with expected inheritance. (Beckwith v. Dahl (2012) 205 Cal.App.4th 1039, 1050-1056.)  There are six elements to the tort.  Here, substantial evidence supported the trial court's findings that each of the elements was satisfied.  The decedent's wife had reason to expect an inheritance from her husband, who had consulted his probate attorney about changing… Read More

A 998 offer made jointly to a defendant surgeon and his putative employer was invalid because it required both to agree to the offer.  Consent of a single defendant would be insufficient to accept the offer as presented.  The case illustrates why 998 offers are invalid when made to multiple defendants requiring all to consent.  The putative employer had defenses… Read More

Civil Code section 3333.2 which limits the recovery of noneconomic damages to $250,000 against health professionals in "professional negligence" cases does not apply to claims against such professionals for battery--at least when the battery is the performance of a surgery or other medical procedure to which the patient did not give his consent.  Here, the patient consented to removal of… Read More

Generally, an insurance agent owes only a regular agent's duties of reasonable care, diligence, and judgment in procuring the insurance requested by an insured.  However, an insurance agent may assume a greater duty to the insured when one of the following three exceptions arise: “(a) the agent misrepresents the nature, extent or scope of the coverage being offered or provided,… Read More

Police officers owe a duty of care to a person they have arrested and taken into custody to assure that person's safety and well-being.  As the arrestee cannont care for himself, police must do so.  Here, the arrestee swallowed a large dose of drugs to keep the police from finding it as they searched him before the arrest.  He repeatedly… Read More