California cannot exercise personal jurisdiction over non-residents’ claims against a foreign corporation merely because the corporation engaged in the same conduct in California as to resident plaintiffs. Read More
Senior citizen who held controlling interest in corporate borrower could not state elder abuse claim against lender that foreclosed on borrower; the senior citizen suffered only derivative harm; any damage claim belonged solely to the corporate borrower. Read More
An order denying a motion to vacate judgment is a separately appealable order, even if the issues raised on appeal overlap issues that the appellant could have or did raise on an appeal from the underlying judgment. Read More
A Court of Appeals lacks jurisdiction to entertain an appeal from a district court order denying class certification or striking class allegations after the named plaintiff has voluntarily dismissed his individual claims. Read More
A party that seeks to intervene in a pending action as of right under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 24(a)(2) must meet Article III standing requirements if it wishes to pursue relief that is different from or in addition to the relief requested by the plaintiff, such as, here, a money judgment in favor of the intervenor against the defendant. Read More
To establish taxpayer standing under California Code of Civil Procedure 526a, a plaintiff need not allege he paid real property taxes, payment or liability to pay any tax assessed by the defendant government entity suffices. Read More
Only the prosecutor, not any third party, owes a criminal defendant a duty to disclose material exculpatory evidence, and even the prosecutor need not disclose such evidence if it is developed by a third party not acting under the prosecutor’s control. Read More
Montana cannot exercise general jurisdiction over a defendant railroad that is incorporated and has a principal place of business in another state, and so cannot adjudicate claims against the railroad arising from transactions or events outside Montana, even though the railroad maintains 2,000 miles of track and has 2,000 employees in Montana. Read More
A contractor that provides pre-construction services to a public entity may perform a public function in advising the entity about the construction contract, thus subjecting itself to Gov. Code 1090’s prohibition of conflicts of interest in the award of public contracts. Read More
A vexatious litigant pre-filing order applies to the litigant’s petition for a writ of administrative mandamus to challenge the decision in an administrative proceeding commenced against him. Read More
Trial court did not violate the parties’ right to a jury trial when it bifurcated a trial in a case involving mixed legal and equitable claims, trying the equitable claims first—after which it ruled plaintiff had not proven causation, thus precluding legal as well as equitable claims. Read More
Denial of a motion for judgment under CCP 631.8 is a sufficient ruling on the merits to invoke the interim adverse judgment rule, precluding a later malicious prosecution claim. Read More
An order denying a motion for reconsideration based on new evidence per California Code of Civil Procedure 1008(b) is not appealable. Read More
A district court may not, sua sponte, remand an action to state court for procedural defects in the removal, but may do so only on a timely remand motion. Read More
If the statute of limitations expires before a case is removed to federal court, the plaintiff is not given additional time to serve the summons after removal. Read More
A defendant cannot be deemed a vexatious litigant under CCP 391(b)(4) for having been sued on the same facts by someone else. Read More
Because an injunction may not issue to enforce penal laws, a taxpayer action cannot be brought to enjoin public expenditures that allegedly are illegal solely because they violate a penal statute. Read More
A superior court's order granting a writ of administrative mandate and remanding the proceeding to the administrative agency for a new hearing and determination may be an appealable order depending on the particular circumstances of the case; here a remand order contained conclusive findings construing the appellant’s by-laws, so appellate review is justified. Read More
Though not itself a licensed dealer, a plaintiff may recover under Vehicle Code 11726 for its franchisor’s violation of other Vehicle Code sections enacted to protect franchisees. Read More
When a plaintiff seeks a default judgment, the trial court must act as gatekeeper, disallowing recovery if the complaint fails to allege a viable cause of action. Read More
