Plaintiff, the tenant in a commercial building, was injured when his head struck a low beam at the entrance to an upstairs door and as a result he fell down the stairs. This decision affirms a summary judgment for the landlord based on an exculpatory clause in the lease which absolved the landlord of liability for personal injuries suffered as… Read More
After plaintiff sustained a loss that its insurer contended was excluded from coverage, plaintiff and insurer entered into a loan receipt agreement under which the insurer lent plaintiff the funds needed to repair the damage to its property. The plaintiff was not personally liable to repay the loan but agreed to repay out of any proceeds it received from suing… Read More
Plaintiff, a Coptic church, bought a residence to serve as the Coptic pope's western US residence and a residence for visiting bishops. Its insurance broker arranged for it to obtain a commercial property insurance policy which had an exclusion for loss due to water damage if the property had been vacant for 60 days or more before the loss. This… Read More
This decision reverses a judgment confirming an arbitration award. The arbitrator exceeded his powers by issuing an award that enforced an employment contract's provision that violated the employee's unwaivable statutory rights. The employment agreement's confidentiality clause was so broadly written that it prohibited the employee from using any information not generally known to the securities industry for the benefit of… Read More
Plaintiffs alleged that defendant had agreed to cremate plaintiff's two dogs individually, but sent them random ashes rather than those of their dogs. Plaintiffs sought to recover for the emotional distress they suffered as a result. Held: Plaintiffs didn't state a breach of contract claim as their vet, not they, had contracted with defendant, but on remand plaintiffs should be… Read More
In a poorly lawyered case, this decision affirms an order denying a motion to compel arbitration, holding that the trial court properly held the arbitration clause was unconscionable. It was procedurally unconscionable because it was a form contract presented to the patient only moments before the laser hair removal operation in a large stack of other paper she didn't have… Read More
Under Labor Code 92(f), a forum selection clause in an employment contract is invalid and unenforceable if the contract was "“entered into, modified, or extended on or after January 1, 2017." This decision holds that any modification of the employment contract after January 1, 2017 triggers the application of section 925, even if the modification did not affect the forum… Read More
The FELA (45 U.S.C. § 55) invalidates any contractual provision “the purpose or intent of which shall be to enable any common carrier to exempt itself from any liability created by this act [FELA]." However, a release provided in settlement of a specific liability claim is enforceable. (See Callen v. Pennsylvania R. Co. (1948) 332 U.S. 625, 631.) Federal courts… Read More
Defendant's arbitration clause required arbitration of disputes "to the fullest extent permitted by law." It also contained a class action waiver. The "fullest extent" provision did not, on its face, preclude court litigation of public injunction claims, and so did not violate McGill. But in federal court. plaintiff also had to establish Article III standing to proceed on the public… Read More
Stover signed up for a credit score program with Experian in 2014, cancelling her subscription the same year. That year's clickwrap agreement, to which Stover assented, included both a broad arbitration clause encompassing all disputes “to the fullest extent permitted by law,” and a change of terms clause, stating that Stover would be bound by changed terms if she used… Read More
Following Woods v. Fox Broadcasting Sub. Inc. (2005) 129 Cal.App.4th 344 and Asahi Kasei Pharma Corp. v. Actelion, Ltd. (2013) 222 Cal.App.4th 945, not PM Group, Inc. v. Stewart (2007) 154 Cal.App.4th 55, this decision holds that a claim for intentional interference with (or inducing breach of) contract may be stated against any defendant that was not a party to… Read More
Bus. & Prof. Code 7031(b) allows any person who uses an unlicensed contractor to bring an action for disgorgement of all compensation paid the contractor for construction work. This decision holds that a claim under this statute is a suit for a statutory penalty which must be brought within a year of completion of the unlicensed contractor's work under CCP… Read More
Plaintiff invested in a "forked" cryptocurrency which he kept in his Coinbase "wallet." Coinbase refused to allow plaintiff to access the forked currency because it thought the network using that currency was unsafe. This decision affirms a summary judgment for Coinbase. On plaintiff's breach of contract claim, it holds that Coinbase's user agreement contained no provision requiring Coinbase to help… Read More
Reversing the district court's judgment and permanent injunction, this decision finds that Qualcomm's patent licensing practices do not violate the Sherman Act. The district court erred in finding anticompetitive harm from the effect Qualcomm's licensing practices had on cell phone manufacturersp--a market in which Qualcomm did not compete--rather than on rival chip manufacturers with which Qualcomm did compete. Qualcomm's practice… Read More
The parties' contract contained a choice of law clause choosing New York law. Under New York law, prejudgment interest is to be awarded on any contract claim regardless of whether the damages are fixed or reasonably calculable, and interest is awarded at 9%, rather than at 10% as in California. Under Restatement (Second) of Conflicts of Law, section 207, if… Read More
A forum selection clause that applies to claims that "arising out of" a contract are limited to those relating to the interpretation and performance of the contract itself, whereas a clause that applies to claims "relating to" the contract encompasses disputes that reference the agreement or have some “logical or causal connection” to the agreement; here, the clause in the… Read More
Defendant motorcycle dealer could not enforce an arbitration clause in financing agreement between motorcycle buyer and lender, as a dealer is not an express third party beneficiary of the arbitration clause. Read More
A borrower may challenge an interest rate as unconscionable even when the Legislature has exempted the loan from usury rate limitations. Read More
Even though compensatory damages were reduced to zero by an offset for the other party’s breach of an independent covenant of a contract, a $2 million punitive damage award is affirmed on a breach of fiduciary duty claim. Read More
Plaintiff’s shareholder derivative action against a corporation's executives and auditor in California was properly dismissed on forum non-conveniens grounds since corporation’s by-laws included a forum selection clause in favor of Delaware and auditor had consented to jurisdiction in Delaware. Read More
