Hedwall v. PCMV, LLC
Plaintiff may amend the original complaint once before answer or demurrer hearing, but leave of court is required for any amendment to an amended complaint. Read More
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.
Plaintiff may amend the original complaint once before answer or demurrer hearing, but leave of court is required for any amendment to an amended complaint. Read More
A limitations period runs from the date plaintiff suffers injury or the date she discovers the facts showing its wrongful cause, whichever is later. Read More
Interesting California lease case. The tenant exercised an option to purchase the property “at fair market value” but the parties’ appraisals were miles apart, predictably. The holding is narrow: the trial court should have awarded tenant credit for rent paid after exercising the option. But the opinion illustrates a broader message for options and future rent increases: vague references to… Read More
Since website’s data security breach exposed plaintiffs to a substantial risk that hackers will commit identity theft, they had Article III standing to maintain the suit. Read More
Only negligence, not scienter, need be shown to state a claim under Section 14(e), the provision of the Securities Exchange Act that makes it unlawful for a person to make a false statement or engage in any fraudulent or manipulative acts in connection with a tender offer. Read More
The amount in controversy for federal jurisdictional purposes includes all relief, including awards of future damages, that could be awarded to the plaintiff, if successful, on the complaint as it stands on the date of removal. Read More
Defendant’s complaint about plaintiff to the private Certified Financial Planners Board of Standards is not protected speech under the Anti-SLAPP statute since the Board is neither a government agency nor a public forum. Read More
The dormant Commerce clause does not apply to acts that a state takes as a participant in the market, even if such acts discriminate against interstate commerce (such as, here, regulation of the rates at which the State of California will reimburse hospitals for services rendered to Medi-Cal patients). Read More
Automotive service advisors (i.e. those who sell automobile servicing) are exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act’s overtime payment requirements. Read More
Under the “pragmatic approach” to determine who is the prevailing party for purposes of statutory attorney fee awards, the question is whether by filing suit, the plaintiff achieved a better result than the defendant's last pre-suit offer of settlement. Read More
An employer may not defend an Equal Pay Act claim by showing that pay disparities are based on differences in the workers’ wages at prior jobs. Read More
Different deadlines apply to seeking double costs and attorney fees for a frivolous appeal under Fed. R. App. P. 38; a bill of costs must be filed within 14 days after the opinion is filed, but attorney fees may be sought within 14 days after the time for seeking rehearing expires. Read More
Only damages proximately caused by the defendant’s tort are recoverable; here, that principle barred recovery for wrongful death in 2011 from a second accident to which injuries sustained due to defendant’s 2004 tort allegedly contributed. Read More
Superior court's order remanding this case to the civil service commission for its entry of additional findings and conclusions to support the discipline it imposed on a county employee was not considered “final” for appellate purposes. Read More
An award of Private Attorney General fees is barred by Joshua S. only when the non-prevailing party pursued only its own private interest, had no institutional interest in the legal principle established in the case, and was not responsible, in whole or in part, for the practice or policy that gave rise to the litigation. Read More
A narrower state law does not preempt San Francisco’s ordinance more broadly prohibiting landlords from discriminating against prospective tenants based on their receiving government assistance to pay rent. Read More
Elder or dependent adult may renew a five-year restraining order against abuse if s/he entertains a reasonable apprehension of future abuse, even if additional abuse did not occur during the initial five-year restraining period. Read More
The Ellis Act preempts a San Francisco Planning Code provision forbidding enlargement, renovation, or reconstruction of nonconforming residential units if the unit had experienced a "no-fault" eviction within the last ten years. Read More
Although “health studios” are required to have an AED on the premises, a health studio’s landlord is not required to do so. Read More
Defendant was entitled to Anti-SLAPP protection against celebrity plaintiff’s complaint alleging that defendant’s TV docu-drama misappropriated her right to publicity. Read More