Remedies

A cost award entered after entry of voluntary dismissal without prejudice is appealable as a final judgment in its own right. Read More

Plaintiff stated a viable claim for unjust enrichment after it contracted with a property owner to appeal property tax assessments in return for 30% of any resulting refund, but the property was foreclosed upon by defendant before the tax refund came through. Read More

An innocent recipient is liable to the victim if, at the time he receives stolen money from a thief, he has reason to suspect the money was stolen. Read More

Plaintiff contractor was entitled to recover its bid preparation costs on a promissory estoppel theory after it obtained an injunction to stop the winning bidder from proceeding with work but did not receive the contract itself. Read More

If a party seeks a contractual attorney fee award as an adjunct to a judgment, the court determines the fee award on motion after entry of judgment; but if the party instead seeks attorney fees as an item of damage in a suit on the contract, the claim is an ordinary contract claim on which there is a right to… 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

Defendant’s challenge to a settlement agreement clause providing for liquidated damages if defendant defaulted on its payment obligations required a fact-dependent determination from the trial judge, so it could not be raised for the first time on appeal.  Read More

Estate of elderly plaintiff was entitled to a constructive trust when plaintiff’s son’s wife diverted to her own use funds that son and wife agreed to hold in a bank account for plaintiff’s benefit.  Read More

The mandatory attorney-fault provision of Code of Civil Procedure section 473(b) applies only to judgments of dismissal or default and not to other types of judgment, such as, here, a trial on the merits of an administrative mandate proceeding in which judgment was rendered for the defendant agency.  Read More

No supersedeas bond is needed to stay enforcement of a money judgment on appeal if the appellant pays any damages the judgment awards and appeals only the judgment’s award of attorney fees and costs.  Read More