California Appellate Tracker

Under CCP 1094.6, a petition for administrative mandate must be filed within 90 days after the administrative decision becomes final.  But that statutory period does not begin to run until the administrative agency mails its decision to the petitioner with a notice that warns of the 90-day limit on petitioning for mandate and states the date on which the administrative… Read More

In reviewing an order denying an Anti-SLAPP motion in a malicious prosecution case, the appellate court applies the norrmal standard of review, drawing all inferences in favor of the non-moving party.  Those inferences will not affect the case when it proceeds to trial.  And the appellate court's affirmance of the order denying the Anti-SLAPP motion will only preclude a summary… Read More

The interim adverse judgment rule did not prevent this malicious prosecution action because the maliciious prosecution defendant had engineered a denial of the defense summary judgment motion in the underlying action by withholding of a critical piece of evidence in willful violation of multiple court orders--which had it been produced would have resulted in summary judgment being awarded.  The withheld… Read More

A unilateral dismissal of the underlying action while facing a motion for terminating discovery sanctions was a favorable termination sufficient to serve as the basis for a malicious prosecution action by the former defendant even though the dismissal was accompanied by a negotiated payment of less than all of the former defendant's legal fees.  The slight reduction in fees was… Read More

This decision affirms a judgment against Anthem for violating the Cartwright Act by a vertical boycott.  Anthem announced that it would not accept "wrapped" health insurance plans of the type that Ben-E-Lect offered to small employers, and Anthem said it would terminate any of its agents who attempted to offer Anthem insurance plans in a "wrapped" package, such as those… Read More

To survive express and implied preemption, a state law claim against a medical device manufacturer must allege a claim that is based on conduct that violates the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act but is wholly based on state law which would give rise to recovery even if the federal act did not exist. Here, plaintiff's claims of negligence and… Read More

Once an arbitrator has issued an "award," the arbitrator can alter or amend the award only within a prescribed time period and for strictly limited reasons.  CCP 1283.4.  Also, entry of an award triggers the court's jurisdiction to consider a petition to confirm or vacate the award.  So whether an arbitrator's ruling is an "award" has important consequences.  When the… Read More

Under Civ. Code 2924.15, HBOR's provisions apply only to owner-occupied properties.  But the section goes on to define "owner-occupied" as property that is the borrower's principal residence and security for a loan made for consumer purposes.  This decision reads the definition literally, holding that so long as the property is the borrower's principal residence, HBOR's provisions apply even if the… Read More

Summary judgment was properly entered for the employer in this wage and hour case.  The employer's expert showed that the employer's time rounding of clock in and out times to the nearest 15 minutes was facially neutral and neutral in practice as well.  Also, the employer disproved the employee's claim that he was denied meal and rest breaks.  Each weekly… Read More

A generic name—the name of a class of products or services—is ineligible for federal trademark registration. However, when the generic name is combined with a generic a generic Internet-domain name suffix like “.com,” the combined "generic.com" name is generic and ineligible for trademark protection only if the combined term, taken as a whole signifies a class of goods or services… Read More

If a foreclosure plaintiff seeks not only to foreclose on the property but also to recover the remainder of the debt through a deficiency judgment, then the plaintiff is attempting to collect a debt within the meaning of the FDCPA.  But if the plaintiff is simply enforcing a security interest by retaking or forcing a sale of the property, without… Read More

An order granting a new trial on the ground of insufficiency of the evidence must be supported by a specification of reasons that does more than just recite ultimate facts.  The specification must point to the evidence which convinced the trial court that there was insufficient evidence on a particular issue.  Here, the specification of reasons did not do so. … Read More

Plaintiffs' suit is dismissed for failure to exhaust administrative remedies. The suit challenged the city's establishment of two business improvement districts.  Under the applicable constitutional section authorizing those districts there is a detailed procedure for challenges to the proposed district, hearings and appeals.  The plaintiffs had not pursued those procedures.  They did not properly exhaust administrative procedures just by casting… Read More

Prob. Code 15401 sets out a statutory procedure for revocation of a revocable trust under which the trustor need only sign a revocation and deliver it to the trustee.  The trustor may avail himself of this statutory procedure unless the revocable trust expressly states that a different method of revocation set out in the trust instrument is the exclusive means… 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

While a plaintiff may raise new legal theories on appeal from a dismissal on a general demurrer attacking the legal sufficiency of the complaint's factual allegations, that rule does not apply to an appeal from a dismissal on the ground that the claims alleged in the complaint are barred by the compulsory cross-complaint rule codified in CCP 426.10.  An appellate… Read More

A student prevailed in litigation against UCSB over its failure to follow its own policies requiring prompt investigation of sexual harassment or violence charges against a student particlarly when the university imposed an interim suspension on the student.  The student was reinstated and secured an injunction barring similarly delayed proceedings against other students.  This decision holds that the student is… Read More

The US Government grants NGOs funds to fight HIV/AIDS abroad, but only if they agree to have a policy expressly opposing prostitution and sex trafficking.  The Supreme Court held that this requirement violated the First Amendment insofar as it applied to American NGOs.  But this decision holds that the requirement does not offend the Constitution insofar as it applies to… Read More

The CFPB's structure with a single director not subject to removal by the President except for cause is unconstitutional, violating the separation of powers principle and interfering with the President's authority to execute the laws of the land.  The remedy is to sever the povision barring removal without cause and allow the President to fire the CFPB director with or… Read More

The trial court has a duty to carefully scrutinize declarations for coercion or abuse that a defendant obtained from its employees (and putative class members) to oppose the plaintiff's class certification motion.  If the court finds evidence that the declarations had been obtained through coercion or abuse, it has broad discretion to either strike some or all of the declarations… Read More