California Appellate Tracker

An arbitration clause that states each party gives up the right to discovery and appeal does not waive the right to a judicial review of the arbitration award on the limited grounds available under the Federal Arbitration Act or the California Arbitration Act, nor does it waive the right to appeal from a judgment confirming or vacating the arbitration award.  Read More

An arbitration clause in a high executive’s employment contract was enforceable after severance of its single unconscionable provision exempting from arbitration any claim for breach by the employee of the employer’s confidentiality agreement.  Read More

A bankruptcy trustee may recover principal distributions from a spendthrift trust that are already due and payable to the bankrupt and up to 25% of future anticipated distributions from the trust to the bankrupt, both diminished by sums needed for the bankrupt’s and his/her dependents’ needs for support and education.  Read More

To withhold attorney-client communications from a successor trustee, a predecessor trustee must take affirmative steps, at the time of seeking the attorney advice, to show the consultation was made in the trustee’s personal, not fiduciary, capacity.  Read More

San Francisco’s ordinance requiring landlords to pay enhanced relocation assistance amounts to tenants evicted under the Ellis Act is pre-empted by that Act.  Read More

On an Anti-SLAPP motion attacking a “mixed” claim alleging both protected and unprotected conduct, the allegations of protected conduct are viewed separately, and if not merely incidental, are stricken unless the plaintiff shows a probability of succeeding on the claim based on those allegations alone. Read More

The trial court did not abuse its discretion in admitting a letter, containing a remark showing callous indifference to worker death from asbestos, because the letter showed the employer was on notice of the risks of asbestos early, and prejudice from the callous remark was avoided by a jury instruction limiting consideration of the letter to the issue of notice… Read More

A patent infringer cannot avoid liability for damages during the 6-year statutory limitations period by raising an equitable defense of laches.  Read More

Designs on cheerleaders’ uniforms were copyright protected because they could both (a) be perceived as two-dimensional artwork separate from the uniform itself, and (b) qualify as a protectable pictorial or graphic artworks in their own right or as applied on another medium.  Read More

A home loan borrower could survive summary judgment on her claims for breach of contract and violation of the unfair competition law based on deceptive processing and denial of the borrower's loan modification applications, since servicer should have known from the beginning that borrower’s loan exceeded eligibility guidelines yet reviewed her three times anyway.  Read More

Successive suits by mortgage borrower based on breach of contract and the Truth in Lending Act are not barred by the merger-and-bar aspect of res judicata, since the primary right sued upon is different—TILA protects a right of disclosure of key loan terms, whereas contract law protects the parties' agreement.  Read More

City settled a class action lawsuit involving garbage fees by returning the money it had charged class members and agreeing not to impose similar charges in the future, so would-be plaintiffs in a second concurrent class action had already received all the relief they sought in that second case for themselves and no longer had standing to proceed.  Read More

Unless it expressly provides otherwise, a statute granting a right to an attorney fee award contemplates a fee calculated by the lodestar method, whether or not the party seeking the fee award was personally liable to pay the attorney.  Read More

A trial court may not vacate an arbitration award for the arbitrator’s failure to disclose a possible ground for disqualification unless it is shown that the arbitrator actually knew (not merely should have known) of the undisclosed ground for disqualification.  Read More

Plaintiffs were not required to exhaust administrative remedies before suing county over nonjudicial forfeiture proceedings, since county had not complied with relevant statutes and therefore the forfeiture was void.  Read More

Police officer recruits who sustained temporary injuries while training at the Police Academy were unable to prove claims for disability discrimination, but they nevertheless were entitled to judgment on their claim that the City had failed to accommodate their disabilities when it eliminated a program under which injured recruits were assigned to light administrative duties while they recovered.  Read More

The $500 cap on statutory damages for violations of Health and Safety Code § 1430(b) by a nursing home is not per lawsuit, but rather per cause of action.  Read More

Attorney-client privilege does not shield communications among plaintiff, his attorney, and a third party public relations firm whom plaintiff hired to smear defendants in an attempt to induce a favorable settlement.  Read More

In extraordinary circumstances, a Court of Appeal may issue a precedential decision denying a writ petition without first issuing an order to show cause or alternative writ, if it gives the parties ample notice of its proposed action.  Read More

A purchaser at a foreclosure sale need not perfect its title in the property by recording a trustee's deed upon sale before serving the occupant(s) with a notice to quit, so long as title is perfected before the ensuing unlawful detainer action is filed and served.  Read More