California Appellate Tracker

Though LA's city council adopted a resolution approving deeding a parcel of city-owned real property to plaintiff, the resolution was not a contract and did not bind the city to convey the property.  Instead, the city would be bound only if its charter provisions and administrative code provisions governing city contracts were properly followed.  Since discretion was involved in the… Read More

A court may properly sustain a general demurrer to a declaratory relief cause of action when it can determine as a matter of law that the plaintiff is not entitled to the declaration that it seeks. Read More

Lessee of a condominium unit owed an invitee to a political gathering in the condo unit no duty of care to prevent her injury from the allegedly dangerous condition of a walkway through the condominium complex to the lessee's unit.  The lessee did not own, possess or exercise control over the walkway.  The lessee did not assume a duty of… Read More

Emphasizing the difference between the broad duty to defend and the narrower duty to indemnify, this decision holds that the defendant insurer breached its contractual duty to defend plaintiff homeowner against a suit for damages caused by two pit bull dogs that the complaint alleged were owned by the homeowner.  The homeowners insurance policy contained an express exclusion of coverage… Read More

Reversing an Anti-SLAPP order striking plaintiff's complaint, this decision holds that Civ. Code 1788.17 incorporates into the Rosenthal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, the strict liability standard of 15 USC 1692(e) for false statements made in collecting a debt or regarding the legal status of the debt.  Thus, the debt collector may be held liable under the Rosenthal Act for… Read More

This decision extensively analyzes the trivial defect doctrine as applied to sidewalk discontinuities.  It rejects the defendant city's argument that the 1-3/4" discontinuity in this case was trivial as a matter of law.  A defect of that height generally is left to the jury to evaluate.  Also, the court's holistic consideration of other surrounding circumstances led it to reject the… Read More

A plaintiff may state a viable CLRA claim based on the defendant's nondisclosure in any of the four circumstances that Limandri allows a fraud claim based on nondisclosure.  Here, plaintiff states a viable CLRA claim based on the defendant hospital's failure to disclose to emergency room patients that it would charge an evaluation and management services fee that could amount… Read More

The allegation of temporary loss of use of property resulting from pandemic-related government closure orders—without any physical loss of the property—is not sufficient to support a claim against an insurer for business income coverage under a policy that requires the suspension be caused by “direct physical loss of or damage to” insured property.  Instead some physical alteration of the premises… Read More

Rule 60(a) provides that a court “may correct a clerical mistake or a mistake arising from oversight or omission whenever one is found in a judgment, order, or other part of the record.”  This portion of the rule allows only for correction of "clerical errors"--blunders in framing the judgment to reflect the district court's actual rulings.  Rule 60(a) is limited… Read More

In this case, plaintiff obtained a UIM arbitration award for the entire $1 million umbrella policy limit due to emotional distress plaintiff suffered from seeing the underinsured motorist hit her mother who was crossing the street with her.  Before the arbitration award, plaintiff made a 998 offer for a penny less than the umbrella policy limits, which the insurer refused. … Read More

The force majeure clause in the parties' lease allowed a party to defer performance if a force majeure delayed, interrupted or prevented performance of obligations under the lease.  This decision holds that though COVID-19 and related governmental restrictions on use of the premises for its intended purpose as a brewpub, the pandemic did not delay, interrupt or prevent the tenant… Read More

Though the ministerial exception to employment discrimination laws is in the nature of an affirmative defense that the defendant must allege and prove, the trial court did not err in allowing the defendant in this case to raise the exception for the first time by a summary judgment motion after the close of discovery.  Plaintiff couldn't show any prejudice because… Read More

Plaintiff wanted to give her cat "a good death."  She alleged an actionable fraud claim against the defendant vet for promising to give the cat a painless death, thereby getting plaintiff to agree to an intracardiac injection.  Plaintiff suffered damage from her reliance on that representation when her cat suffered a long and painful death instead.  Plaintiff also stated a… Read More

Plaintiff's claim against the city was barred because he did not adequately comply with the Government Claims statute.  He filed a timely government claim, but it asserted plaintiff was injured due to tripping on an uplifted surface of pavement on a public sidewalk.  But in his deposition, plaintiff said he actually fell into hole--a tree well without a tree in… Read More

Claiming plaintiffs assaulted him, defendant filed a police report which led to plaintiffs' arrest.  However, the DA declined to file charges against plaintiffs and they were released without a criminal prosecution ever being commenced against them.  Following Van Audenhove v. Perry (2017) 11 Cal.App.5th 915, this decision holds that mere arrest without the filing of criminal charges is insufficient to… Read More

Primary assumption of the risk bars a golfer's claim of injury suffered from tripping over a tree root as he traversed the course while playing golf.  One of the inherent risks of playing golf on an outdoor course is the uneven nature of the course's terrain.  That risk could not be reduced without drastically altering the nature of the game. Read More

This decision affirms a summary judgment for the insurer against a business interruption insurance claim by a casino due to COVID-19.  The decision holds that while it may be enough to overcome a demurrer for the complaint to allege simply that COVID-19 altered the surfaces of the plaintiff's business property, at the summary judgment stage much more is required to… Read More

A bicyclist was killed when he collided with a truck making a right turn in a section of a city street that lacked a marked bicycle lane, unlike most of the rest of the street which had a bike lane marking.  The city established the three elements of its design immunity defense under Gov. Code 830.6.  The city had approved… Read More

On federal law claims, the prevailing party may recover its attorney fees only if federal law so provides.  Here, plaintiff prevailed on claims under the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.  Neither that act nor any other federal law permits an attorney fee award on such a claim.  Plaintiff could not recover fees allowed under state law, such as CCP 1021.5. … Read More

Plaintiff mother sued for negligent infliction of emotional distress.  She was on the telephone with her daughter while the daughter drove a car at an intersection where her vision of on-coming traffic was obscured by defendants' negligent maintenance of vegetation on adjoining property.  That mother heard the crash on the phone was insufficient in itself to allow her to sue. … Read More