California Appellate Tracker

Plaintiff was a licensed solicitor in London and the subject of disciplinary proceedings before the independent regulatory body that governs solicitors and barristers in the UK.  He traveled to California and then claimed he was too ill to return to the UK, so an adjournment of the disciplinary proceedings should be continued.  Defendant, a doctor, was appointed as a neutral… Read More

When an employee sues her employer under Gov. Code 12940(n) for failing to engage in an interactive process concerning making a reasonable accommodation for the employee's disability, the employee need not suggest a possible accommodation to begin the process, but must, by the time of trial, be able to show that a reasonable accommodation existed at the time the employer… Read More

While a plaintiff who seeks an attorney fee award must apply for the fees before entry of a default judgment, not afterwards, as in contested cases (Garcia v. Politis (2011) 192 Cal.App.4th 1474), here the defendant successfully moved to vacate the default and default judgment.  At that point the case became a contested proceeding, and upon prevailing in that proceeding,… Read More

Despite the unconstitutional nature of the CFPB's original structure, the agency's civil investigative demand was enforceable since the current removable director of the agency had ratified the issuance of the CID.  The constitutional infirmity related solely to the CFPB's director, not to the agency itself or its staff which had issued the CID.  Seila law could not resist the CID… Read More

In Omstead v. Dell, Inc., 594 F.3d 1081 (9th Cir. 2010), the Ninth Circuit had held that a plaintiff, against whom the district court had entered an order compelling arbitration, could take an appeal from that otherwise unappealable order by dismissing all his claims with prejudice.  Now, reviewing that same question in light of Microsoft Corp. v. Baker (2017) 137… Read More

A 10-page rant that defendant wrote to his mailing list of interested gun enthusiasts about litigation against defendant that was then pending in Nevada state court was protected speech under CCP 425.16(e) since it related to a lawsuit.  The rant may have contained statements that could be viewed as violations of securities laws (in soliciting funding for the lawsuit and… Read More

The litigation privilege applied to and immunized most of a 10-page rant that defendant wrote to his mailing list of interested gun enthusiasts about litigation against defendant that was then pending in Nevada state court.  The rant conveyed information about the pending litigation and solicited financial support for defendant in that litigation, thus generally falling within the scope of the… Read More

A plaintiff who brings a suit against a government entity must first file a government claim with the defendant entity.  If the plaintiff misses the 6-month deadline for presentation of a claim, she may, within a year of accrual of her claim, file a petition for leave to file a late claim.  If the entity denies the petition, the plaintiff… Read More

As the last element of a design immunity defense under Gov. Code 830.6, the government entity must establish the reasonableness of its design.  But to do so, it bears only a slight burden of proving that there was substantial evidence to support the reasonableness of the design.  So long as the government entity produces some substantial evidence of reasonableness, such… Read More

After Voice of San Diego filed a public records request for the school district's records regarding a sexual molestation complaint against one of its teachers, Burgess, he brought this reverse Public Records Act complaint seeking to enjoin disclosure.  Voice intervened.  Burgess was denied injunctive relief and the records were produced, after which Voice sought a fee award under CCP 1021.5. … Read More

A plaintiff alleging an accounting action must plead a specific dollar amount to support a default judgment awarding monetary relief.  The complaint can plead an estimated amount of damage and can err on the high side.  The decision does not resolve how the maximum default recovery is to be calculated if the complaint's prayer does not distinctly request award of… Read More

In Thing v. La Chusa (1989) 48 Cal.3d 644, the Supreme Court held that to state a claim as a bystander for negligent infliction of emotional distress suffered as a result of seeing injury to another person, the bystander plaintiff had, among other things, to be present at the scene of the accident when it occurs and be aware at… Read More

A qui tam complaint under the California False Claims Act must be filed under seal to give the Attorney General an opportunity to investigate the claim to see if she wishes to intervene and take over prosecution of the suit.  While the complaint remains sealed at the Attorney General's or a local prosecutor's request, it is impossible, impractical or futile… Read More

"Jurisdiction" is a term with many meanings.  As used in Probate Code 17000, jurisdiction does not refer to fundamental jurisdiction of the subject matter, nor to in personal, in rem, or quasi-in-rem jurisdiction.  Instead, that section simply provides that probate matters are to be heard in the superior court's probate division rather than its normal civil courts.  The section does… Read More

The State of California is the real party in interest in a qui tam action brought by a private party under the Insurance Fraud Protection Act (Ins. Code 1871 et seq.).  The state is not bound by an arbitration provision in a contract signed by the private party bringing the qui tam action.  Accordingly, arbitration of the qui tam action… Read More

This decision agrees with the employer that a single PAGA claim alleging violations of 8 different Labor Code sections probably stated 8 separate "causes of action" for purposes of summary adjudication.  But that didn't help the employer which had moved for summary adjudication as to the PAGA claim as a whole, rather than with respect to each alleged Labor Code… Read More

Before filing a PAGA suit for civil penalties against an employer for violation of state wage and hour laws, an employee must send notice of the alleged violations to the Labor and Workforce Development Agency and the employer.  The notice must do more, but not much more, than recite statutory language or conclusions about how the employer has violated various… Read More

Under Family Code 1102(a), both spouses must sign a deed of trust that encumbers real estate held as community property.  If one spouse does not sign the deed of trust, that spouse can invalidate the deed of trust.  Here, the property was deeded to the spouses as joint tenants, but under Family Code 760 property acquired during marriage is presumed… Read More

As this decision explains, Civil Code 2911 provides that a lien is extinguished when the statute of limitations has run on the principal obligation that the lien secures.  This statute has limited application to deeds of trust.  While the lien of a deed of trust that is enforceable by judicial action (i.e., a judicial foreclosure action under CCP 725a) expires… Read More

On claims to which Civ. Code 1717 applies (claims on a contract), the statute's definition of "prevailing party" supersedes any definition of that term in the parties' contract.  In applying the Hsu v. Abbara (1995) 9 Cal.4th 863 test of prevailing party, the trial court may  not consider settlement offers the parties have made either informally or under CCP 998… Read More