California Appellate Tracker

Manufacturer of auto brake forming tools is strictly liable for worker’s injury caused by breathing asbestos dust while using the tools in the intended manner on asbestos-laced auto brakes, even though manufacturer did not make the brakes.  Read More

Conservator and attorney fees are not considered “support and maintenance” for purposes of Probate Code 3089, which allows community property to be divided for the support and maintenance of an incompetent spouse if the competent spouse refuses to pay for it voluntarily.  Read More

While Congress may elevate intangible injuries to allow standing to sue, it cannot, by granting a right to statutory damages, create Article III standing when the plaintiff has suffered no actual injury, as can be the case when the defendant violates a statute’s purely procedural requirements.  Read More

“Actual fraud” for purposes of the 11 USC 523(a)(2)(A) exemption is construed broadly to encompass fraudulent transfers of property designed to hinder or delay creditors.  Read More

The Federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act does not ban as false or misleading conduct collection letters sent by special counsel employed by the Attorney General to collect debts owed the state, using Attorney General stationery at the Attorney General’s direction.  Read More

Under Federal Securities Exchange Act section 27 (15 USC 78aa(a)), federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction if either (a) plaintiff’s claim is created by the Exchange Act, or rules or regulations adopted under it, or (b) if the suit necessarily raises a substantial, disputed federal securities law issue.  Read More

A district judge’s order slashing class counsel’s compensation by 70% in wake of a common fund settlement is overturned for failure to explain adequately the basis for the reduction.  Read More

A suit for pre-natal injuries caused by exposure to toxic chemicals is governed by CCP 340.4 (providing for a 6-year from birth limitations period not tolled during minority) rather than CCP 340.8 (providing for a two-year from discovery limitations period for suits for injuries from toxic chemicals, subject to tolling for minority).  Read More

Today the Supreme Court issued its long-awaited opinion in Spokeo, Inc. v. Robins, -- S.Ct. --, No. 13-1339, 2016 WL 2842447, at *6 (U.S. May 16, 2016).  In a victory for defendant Spokeo, the Supreme Court reversed the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, on grounds that the lower court—in finding Robins had Article III standing to sue—had erroneously focused only… Read More

Service of process after amendment naming defendant in place of a fictitious defendant is properly quashed when the plaintiff knew facts giving rise to his claim against defendant when the original complaint was filed. Read More

Labor Code 1164.9 ,which attempts to divest California superior courts of jurisdiction to review certain Agricultural Labor Relations Board decisions, is unconstitutional.  Read More

Borrower’s pre-foreclosure securitization suit was properly dismissed because judicially noticeable documents show that the challenged loan transfer was valid, not void as the borrower alleged.  Read More

The defendant’s jury demand in the bankruptcy trustee’s adversary proceeding did not deprive the bankruptcy court of jurisdiction to decide a non-merits issue, such as whether to compel arbitration, and arbitration was properly denied since, in claiming a fraudulent transfer, the trustee stepped into the shoes of a judgment creditor, not the debtor, which had signed the arbitration clause.  Read More

A vexatious litigant pre-filing order under CCP 391.7 prevents appeals by plaintiffs, but not by defendants. Read More

The local controversy exception to federal CAFA jurisdiction applied in this pollution class action because the plaintiffs sought significant relief from and based their suit in significant part on a nondiverse defendant’s negligence in performing its contract to remediate the diverse defendant’s pollution. Read More

Independent contractors hired by a governmental entity for purposes of letting public contracts are subject to the same anti-corruption prohibitions that apply to government officers and employees, who are forbidden from having any interest in public contracts that they let.  Read More

CCP 340.5’s one-year-from-discovery limitations period applies to a patient’s claim she was injured by a hospital negligent maintenance of its equipment or furniture if the particular equipment or furniture (here, guard rails on a hospital bed) are integrally related to medical diagnosis or treatment of the patient.  Read More

The actual facts, not the claimant’s allegations, determine whether an action arose from conduct in the course of employment for purposes of determining whether a governmental entity must reimburse its employee for cost incurred in defending the claimant’s suit.  Read More

Plaintiff suing a federal official in her individual capacity for violation of constitutional rights may recover only damages, not injunctive or declaratory relief.  Read More

A motion to compel arbitration was properly denied because current suit challenged a corporate acquisition while the arbitration clause covered only exclusive marketing arrangements. Read More