California Appellate Tracker

The trial court abused its discretion in holding that environmental protection parties were not entitled to attorney fees against a homeowner's association under CCP 1021.5 under the Adoption of Joshua S. (2008) 42 Cal.4th 945 exception.  That exception is narrow; it applies only to parties that litigate purely private matters that happen to raise issues of public importance.  It does… Read More

The trial court did not abuse its discretion in holding that a plaintiff homeowners association was not entitled to private attorney general fees under the catalyst theory.  To prevail on that theory, the court must find that the plaintiff's lawsuit was a material factor that contributed in a significant way to the defendant's adopting a changed plan or conduct that… Read More

Following Tsasu LLC v. U.S. Bank Trust, N.A. (2021) 62 Cal.App.5th 704, this decision applies CCP 764.060 according to its clear terms, holding that the lien of Ridec an encumbrancer for value and without actual or constructive knowledge could not be expunged in favor of a defendant named in a prior in rem quiet title suit but never properly served. … Read More

The interim adverse judgment rule bars malicious prosecution actions by establishing probable cause for bringing the action.  However, that rule applies only to judgments or rulings on formal dispositive motions, not oral remarks from the bench during the course of trial which are not rulings on any matter then pending for decision.  Furthermore, the fraud or perjury exception to the… Read More

An order allowing a plaintiff to withdraw from arbitration under CCP 1281.98(b) because the defendant has not timely paid arbitration fees is appealable because it overrides the earlier court order compelling arbitration and operates effectively as a denial of the motion to compel. Read More

Defendant employer did not pay its arbitration fees within 30 days after their due date.  Under CCP 1287.98, plaintiff therefore had and exercised the right to withdraw his claim from arbitration and pursue it in court.  The arbitrator or arbitration administrator had no power to avoid the effect of defendant's nonpayment by extending the due date after defendant's default.  Also,… Read More

This decision holds that the trial court erred in granting defendant summary judgment against plaintiff's claim to quiet title to a railroad easement across plaintiff's property benefiting defendant's parcel.  Plaintiff claimed the railroad had abandoned the easement.  Abandonment depends on cessation of use of the easement for permitted purposes and the easement owner's intent not to use the easement in… Read More

A judgment creditor may recover costs and fees incurred in enforcing the judgment by either filing a memorandum of costs including both fees and costs or a motion for the award of costs and fees.  The memorandum or motion must be filed within two years after the costs or fees are incurred and before the judgment is satisfied.  The judgment… Read More

The First Amendment bars Colorado from applying its law banning discrimination in places of public accommodation to a person whose business is creating websites to celebrate and document the couple's wedding.  The website designer's collaborative effort with the couple to create a website that celebrates the story of their marriage is pure speech, not commercial speech, and it is speech… Read More

Under Title VII (42 USC 2000e(j)), an employer must accommodate an employee's religious observance practice unless it is unable to do so without undue hardship in the conduct of the employer's business.  Undue hardship requires substantially more than "more than de minimus cost."  Instead, to establish "undue hardship," an employer must show is that the burden of granting an accommodation… Read More

Federal legislation is presumed to apply only within the territorial jurisdiction of the United States unless Congress affirmatively and unmistakably instructs otherwise.  Absent such an instruction, the court must determine the focus of congressional concern underlying the legislation and then determine whether the conduct relevant to that focus occurred in the US or elsewhere.  Here, the focus of the Lanham… Read More

While Lab. Code 1102.5 protects whistleblowers who are employees of a city or other governmental agency, the section does not apply to or protect elected governmental officials, like plaintiff who was a city treasurer.  By contrast, Lab. Code 3351 defines "employee" for purposes of the Workers Compensation Act to include all elected, paid public officers.  So the Workers Compensation Act… Read More

While the act of demoting or firing a city employee or official is not protected activity, city council members' votes and debates are protected speech under the Anti-SLAPP statute.  Here, a city treasurer sued city council members individually (and not the city) for acts taken to deprive her office of most of its functions and salary.  Held, the claim against… Read More

The trial court properly granted summary judgment against the plaintiff insureds who sought coverage under their named peril property insurance policy for loss of their frozen embryos due to a failure of the refrigeration unit of the embryo storage company.  The insureds could not prove that the embryos had suffered physical damage.  The storage company refused to say, and the… Read More

Although recognizing that a minority of decisions apply a substantial evidence standard of review on appeal from an order granting or enforcement to a forum selection clause, this decision adopts what it says is the majority rule applying, instead, an abuse of discretion standard of review.  In this case, the contract included not only a clause selecting Illinois as the… Read More

The Song-Beverly Act (Civ. Code 1790.1) renders any waiver of its provisions contrary to public policy, unenforceable and void.  This decision holds that while the antiwaiver provision does not bar all settlement agreements resolving Song-Beverly Act claims, it did invalidate the waiver of Song-Beverly Act rights in the pre-litigation settlement agreement in this case because there was no evidence that… Read More

A corporation that is incorporated elsewhere but has registered to do business in a state that requires as a condition of that registration that the corporation appoint an in-state agent for service of process is subject to general personal jurisdiction in that state's courts on all causes of action.  Such forced consent to general personal jurisdiction does not offend the… Read More

True threats are not protected by the First Amendment.  True threats are “serious expressions conveying that a speaker means to “commit an act of unlawful violence.”  This decision holds that to prosecute a defendant for making a true threat, a state need only prove that the defendant was reckless in consciously disregarding a substantial and unjustifiable risk that his conduct… Read More

Disagreeing with Felisilda v. FCA US LLC (2020) 53 Cal.App.5th 486, this decision holds that a standard California car sale contract with an arbitration clause does not require the car buyer to arbitrate his warranty claims against the car's manufacturer.  Breach of warranty claims are based on statute, not the car sale contract, and so are not intertwined with the… Read More

This decision holds that a party seeking to vacate an arbitration award must file a petition to vacate or a response (seeking vacatur) to a petition to confirm an arbitration award within 100 days of service of the arbitration award.  (CCP 1288, 1288.2.)  A response seeking to vacate is untimely if filed beyond that 100 day limit even if filed… Read More