California Appellate Tracker

A party may appeal from denial of its summary judgment motion by stipulating to entry of judgment after and based on the denial of the summary judgment motion and making clear that it is doing so only for the purpose of appealing the denial of summary judgment--because there was no full record developed at trial that could be said to… Read More

Equitable tolling could apply to a plaintiff's pursuit of an action in a foreign court to prevent destruction of evidence needed for proof of plaintiff's substantive claim eventually brought in state court.  It is not necesssary for equitable tolling that the prior suit seek substantive relief that lessens the plaintiff's injury or damage.  The plaintiff need only show notice to… Read More

A dismissal without prejudice in either state or federal court is not a final judgment given res judicata effect if the dismissal is entered after a demurrer has been sustained or motion to dismiss has been granted with leave to amend and the dismissal is filed within the time allowed for amendment. Read More

Disagreeing with Torres v. Adventist Health System/West (2022) 77 Cal.App.5th 500 and Naranjo v. Doctors Medical Center of Modesto, Inc. (2023) 90 Cal.App.5th 1193, this decision holds that a plaintiff cannot state an actionable UCL or CLRA claim based on emergency room management fees charged by hospitals if the hospital complies with state law in posting its fee schedule on… Read More

Since 2010, the public disclosure bar to a False Claims Act qui tam action (31 USC 3730) has applied to bar Federal False Claims Act suits only if (1) the disclosure at issue occurred through one of the channels specified in the statute; (2) the disclosure was public; and (3) the relator’s action is substantially the same as the allegation… Read More

When a debtor voluntarily converts a bankruptcy from Chapter 13 to Chapter 7, any appreciation in the value of the debtor's assets during the period between the filing of the original Chapter 13 petition and the date of conversion to Chapter 7 is property that belongs to the Chapter 7 estate, not the bankrupt debtor. Read More

A federal court can may compel a witness to appear at a trial if the court is within the same state or within 100 miles of the witness' residence or place of business.  FrCP 45.  The court may take remote testimony for good cause in compelling circumstances.  FRCP 43.  But the court cannot compel a witness outside the normal subpoena… Read More

The UCL’s standing requirements are satisfied when an organization, in furtherance of a bona fide, preexisting mission, incurs costs to respond to perceived unfair competition that threatens that mission, so long as those expenditures are independent of costs incurred in UCL litigation or preparations for such litigation.  When an organization has incurred such expenditures, it has “suffered injury in fact”… Read More

Defendant's "Nature Fusion" products featured those words on the front label along with a picture of an avocado on a leaf.  This decision holds that the label was not false advertising because it was ambiguous and the back label clarified the product's actual contents so that no reasonable consumer who examined both front and back would think that the product… Read More

Liapes, a 46-year-old woman, alleged an actionable claim under the Unruh Civil Rights Act (Civ. Code 51.5, 51) for intentionally discriminating on the basis of gender and age in targeting (and allowing advertisers to target) their ads to particular audiences of Facebook users based on chosen characteristics, including age and gender.  She claimed that as a result of the ad… Read More

Acknowledging that both issues have generated a split of authority and are now before the Supreme Court for its review, this decision holds that (1) direct physical loss or damage to property, rather than mere loss of the property’s use, is a prerequisite for coverage under normal business interruption insurance policies, and (2) the ephemeral existence of COVID-19 or its… Read More

This decision holds that the Anti-SLAPP motion in this case was properly denied because the suit fits within CCP 425.17(b)'s exception for suits in the public interest.  The plaintiff did not seek any relief greater than or different from the relief sought for the general public or a class of which the plaintiff was a member. Seeking individualized relief, such… Read More

Following prior 9th Circuit precedent, this decision holds that an order denying an Anti-SLAPP motion to dismiss is immediately appealable under the collateral order doctrine--unless the order denies the motion because the claim fits within one of CP 425.17's exceptions to the Anti-SLAPP statute--but in concurrences two of the panel's three judges urge the full court to overrule the prior… Read More

Plaintiff was employed by defendant.  While on a lunch break, he was hit by a pickup truck as he crossed a street near the store where he worked. He returned to work where he was given some minor first aid and then driven home, where it died.  This decision holds that the Worker's Compensation Act provides plaintiff's sole remedy against… Read More

Subject to various exceptions, CCP 699.730 provides that a judgment debtor's principal residence cannot be sold to satisfy a judgment for a "consumer debt" incurred by an individual for personal, family or household purposes.  This decision holds that a debt owed on a boat purchased for recreational purposes is a consumer debt within the statute's meaning. It also holds that… Read More

Under Civ. Code, §§ 3045.1-3045.6),1, when a hospital provides care for a patient, the hospital has a statutory lien against any recovery by the patient against the tortfeasor or his insurer that caused the injury requiring the hospital treatment.  The law prohibits the tortfeasor from paying off the patient if notified of the hospital's lien.  This decision holds that the… Read More

The trial court erred in sustaining defendants' demurrer to the class action allegations of the complaint in this case which sought actual and punitive damages for the defendants' misuse of the Ellis Act to evict tenants from rent-controlled units and then to list units in the same building on AirBnB for tenancies of up to three years.  The decision holds… Read More

Under Education Code 44808, a school district is generally not liable for injuries students receive while not on school property.  There is an exception to that immunity, however, when the district has undertaken to provide students transportation to and from school and the student is injured while he is or should be under the immediate and direct supervision of a… Read More

This decision holds that a stand-alone website, not acting as the gateway to a physical location is not a "place of public accommodation" within the meaning of the Americans with Disabilities Act.  Hence, maintaining a stand-alone website in a format that is not readable by standard programs for the visually impaired is not an ADA violation.  And, other than  extreme… Read More

Applying the test for conduct in furtherance of First Amendment activities stated in Filmon.com v. DoubleVerify, Inc. (2019) 7 Cal.5th 133, this decision holds that while the production of a TV program about rich Asian-Americans' adjustment to life in LA was an exercise of constitutionally protected expression, the wrongful conduct alleged in the complaint--denying the plaintiff a role in producing… Read More