Torts

Trader Joe's label on honey saying "100% New Zealand Manuka Honey" was not false advertising in violation of the UCL.  Under FDA honey guidelines, a honey label may indicate the flower of origin of the honey if the producer has reason to believe that the designated flower is the chief floral source of the honey.  Here, Trader Joe's had evidence… Read More

Under 31 U.S.C.§ 3730, the government may dismiss a federal False Claims Act case despite the objection of the relator who filed it.  The DC Circuit has held that the executive branch wields unreviewable discretion in choosing to dismiss a False Claims Act suit.  (Swift v. United States (D.C. Cir. 2003) 318 F.3d 250, 252.)  The Ninth Circuit holds that… Read More

Gov. Code 831.7 immunizes governmental entities from liability for any injury arising out of a hazardous recreational activity.  This decision holds that unlike Gov. Code 846 which applies only to premises liability claims, section 831.7 more broadly immunizes government entities from claims whether for hazardous conditions of property or employee negligence in connection with hazardous recreational activities.  The decision also… Read More

The nature of the right sued upon and not the form of action nor the relief demanded determines the applicability of the statute of limitations.  So, in this case where plaintiff alleged that the seller's disclosures regarding real property sold to plaintiff were inaccurate or incomplete, the action was governed by the 3-year limitations period for fraud even though the… Read More

The trial court properly granted summary judgment to defendant in this invasion of privacy suit which alleged that the defendant neighbor invaded plaintiff's privacy by audio and video recordings made by defendant's security cameras and recorders of goings on in plaintiff's backyard.  The opinion states that defendant had a legitimate need for the security equipment as she was a media… Read More

Though the filming and exhibition of a public television reality show regarding persons aspiring to be models was entitled to protection under the Anti-SLAPP statute (CCP 425.16(e)), the plaintiff, a real, well-known model, presented enough evidence to show a probability of success on her claims for invasion of privacy, intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress and misappropriation of her… Read More

The Justice Against Sponsors of International Terrorism Act of 2016 (JASTA; 18 USC 2333) amended the ATA to include secondary civil liability for aiding and abetting, or conspiring to commit, acts of international terrorism.  To recover under that section on an aiding and abetting claim, the plaintiff must show (1) the party the defendant aided committed an act of international… Read More

To invoke the fraud-on-the-market presumption of reliance under Basic, Inc. v. Levinson (1988) 108 S.Ct. 978, the plaintiff must  prove: (1) that the alleged misrepresentation was publicly known; (2) that it was material; (3) that the stock traded in an efficient market; and (4) that the plaintiff traded the stock between the time the misrepresentation was made and when the… Read More

An independent insurance agent that transacts business with many insurance companies is an agent of the insured, not any of the insurance companies, more akin to an insurance broker than a true insurance agent.  The insurer owes no duty of care to supervise such an agent and is not liable for the agent's torts.  In determining whether an applicant meets… Read More

An indigent prisoner filed this medical malpractice case, claiming that the defendant doctor had failed to tighten a screw in the artificial elbow he implanted in plaintiff's right arm, with the result that the screw came loose, causing serious injury to plaintiff's arm.  The trial court denied plaintiff's motion for appointment of a lawyer and a medical expert.  This opinion… Read More