California Appellate Tracker

An entity that collects debts that it has purchased for its own account is not a “debt collector” for FDCPA purposes, since it is collecting on the debts for itself and not for another.  Read More

11 USC 727(e) sets a one-year-from-discharge time limit on a bankruptcy trustee’s request to revoke the discharge based on debtor’s fraud,  but since it is a statute of limitations, the debtor waives its protection if he fails to plead that defense in his answer.  Read More

A Court of Appeals lacks jurisdiction to entertain an appeal from a district court order denying class certification or striking class allegations after the named plaintiff has voluntarily dismissed his individual claims.  Read More

Committing a senile elderly person to a residential care facility is a "health care" decision, so only a person holding a health care power of attorney may make that decision for the elder; as a result, a facility’s arbitration agreement signed by an agent with only a regular power of attorney was not binding.  Read More

An order denying a motion to dismiss an antitrust action based on state action immunity is not immediately appealable under the collateral order doctrine.  Read More

An elderly couple stated an elder abuse claim against an insurance agency that schemed to gut their whole life insurance policies and replace them with a less desirable policy, all for the purpose of earning a larger commission.  Read More

Defendant hospital was entitled to summary judgment after plaintiff’s expert declaration stated only that husband "could have survived" had defendant treated him in accord with the standard of care—but stopped short of saying that survival was more likely than not but for the hospital’s acts, which is the standard for showing causation in a medical malpractice wrongful death action.   Read More

An SEC enforcement action brought in federal court seeking civil penalties, disgorgement, and an injunction is subject to 28 USC 2642's five-year limitations period for suits on a statutory penalty.  Read More

A party that seeks to intervene in a pending action as of right under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 24(a)(2) must meet Article III standing requirements if it wishes to pursue relief that is different from or in addition to the relief requested by the plaintiff, such as, here, a money judgment in favor of the intervenor against the defendant.  Read More

To establish taxpayer standing under California Code of Civil Procedure 526a, a plaintiff need not allege he paid real property taxes, payment or liability to pay any tax assessed by the defendant government entity suffices.  Read More

Only the prosecutor, not any third party, owes a criminal defendant a duty to disclose material exculpatory evidence, and even the prosecutor need not disclose such evidence if it is developed by a third party not acting under the prosecutor’s control.  Read More

Although Civil Code 1692(b) allows a court in a rescission action to grant "any party any other relief to which he may be entitled under the circumstances" if it finds that the parties' contract has not been rescinded, the quoted language does not allow a trial court to readjust the parties' rights or grant relief if the plaintiff does not… Read More

Under the Knox-Keene Health Care Services Act, an out-of-network provider who gave substance abuse treatment to PPO subscribers was entitled to be paid by the PPO only the amount shown on its explanation of benefits form, since the treatment was not an emergency medical service and the provider had no contract with the PPO.  Read More

It was not an abuse its discretion to assess defendant $6.8 million in civil penalties for false advertising and UCL violations in light of factual findings that defendant falsely advertised its products using price comparisons with similar (but not the same) products, choosing the highest available price rather than average price for comparison, and using formulas rather than real list… Read More

Entry of an arbitration award does not deprive the arbitrator of jurisdiction to enter a later supplemental award of costs under CCP 998, nor does CCP 1281.4’s general rule that each party bear a pro rata share of arbitration costs bar such an award.  Read More

Montana cannot exercise general jurisdiction over a defendant railroad that is incorporated and has a principal place of business in another state, and so cannot adjudicate claims against the railroad arising from transactions or events outside Montana, even though the railroad maintains 2,000 miles of track and has 2,000 employees in Montana.  Read More

A contractor that provides pre-construction services to a public entity may perform a public function in advising the entity about the construction contract, thus subjecting itself to Gov. Code 1090’s prohibition of conflicts of interest in the award of public contracts.  Read More

A vexatious litigant pre-filing order applies to the litigant’s petition for a writ of administrative mandamus to challenge the decision in an administrative proceeding commenced against him.  Read More

Trial court did not violate the parties’ right to a jury trial when it bifurcated a trial in a case involving mixed legal and equitable claims, trying the equitable claims first—after which it ruled plaintiff had not proven causation, thus precluding legal as well as equitable claims.  Read More

Denial of a motion for judgment under CCP 631.8 is a sufficient ruling on the merits to invoke the interim adverse judgment rule, precluding a later malicious prosecution claim.  Read More