California Appellate Tracker

Bankruptcy trustee may recoup debtor’s mortgage payoff to lender, which was made less than 90 days before filing bankruptcy.  Read More

A pre-dispute arbitration clause cannot be enforced to require arbitration of a claim based on the Private Attorney General Act, since the claim is brought on behalf of the state which is not party to the arbitration agreement.  Read More

A charter school is not exempt from liability for penalties for failing to pay workers the amounts due when their employment is terminated.  Read More

Although a governmental entity is legally required to grant a minor leave to file a late government claim, when it fails to do so, the minor must petition the superior court within a year or lose the right to sue.  Read More

Trial court did not abuse its discretion in appointing a receiver to cause defendant’s hotel to remediate housing code violations after judgment was entered against defendant and defendant was given 18 months in which to cure the violations on his own.  Read More

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act's whistleblower protection section applies to protect employees who report potential securities law violations internally to their supervisors as well as employees who report violations to the SEC.  Read More

A company with a website for anonymous online postings about employment experiences has standing to assert the privacy and First Amendment rights of its posters, and to force disclosure of their identities, the plaintiff must first prove a prima facie claim against the poster.  Read More

Trial court did not err by giving jury instructions on comparative negligence in legal malpractice claim brought against plaintiff’s former lawyer for drafting a trust instrument for the plaintiff that did not retain the character of her separate property, since plaintiff had herself read and understood relevant portions of the trust before signing it.  Read More

District court did not abuse its discretion in allowing dismissal without prejudice of lawsuit when plaintiff died, after his widow filed a new lawsuit in state court rather than timely substituting in her husband’s place.  Read More

Juror was discharged and replaced too hastily without adequate investigation, after two fellow jurors complained that she did not participate in the first 90 minutes of deliberations.  Read More

Defendant's 170.6 challenge was timely, even though it was filed after the challenged judge had heard and granted a temporary order removing minor from defendant’s custody.  Read More

A case is not placed automatically in the superior court’s limited jurisdiction based on the sum in controversy; so in this case since no party acted to have the case referred to limited jurisdiction, it remained in the court’s unlimited jurisdiction, and the longer period for seeking fees in an unlimited jurisdiction case applied.  Read More

Pre-judgment interest on improperly denied retroactive disability retirement benefits began running on the date at which defendant retirement board issued the wrongful denial.  Read More

Writings in a public employee’s or officer’s private e-mail account must be produced pursuant to a California Public Records Act request if the writings concern the conduct of public business.  Read More

Summary judgment was properly granted against truck repairman plaintiff who had sued brake manufacturers and designers for asbestos exposure, since he introduced no evidence linking defendants to any products that he had used in repairing trucks.  Read More

One-year statute of limitations on legal malpractice claim started running when defendant law firm filed a motion to withdraw from representing plaintiff—not when the court later granted that motion.  Read More

California’s Civil Discovery Act applies to California Public Records Act proceedings, but trial courts should manage discovery tightly in those proceedings.  Read More

A factoring agreement under which an agricultural products distributor sells its accounts receivable to a factor at a discount is not a breach of the distributor’s fiduciary duties to growers, so the factor is not liable for the distributor’s debts to growers.  Read More

Statements and conduct during a hospital’s peer review of a staff physician are protected under the Anti-SLAPP statute, and cannot be challenged by the physician unless he has successfully sought relief in court from the peer review’s conclusion.  Read More

Defendant hospital's report to Board of Registered Nursing regarding plaintiff, a registered nurse, and her allegedly improper monitoring of a patient to whom she had given narcotics, was absolutely privileged under Civ. Code 47(b) and therefore could not be the subject of a viable defamation claim.  Read More