California Appellate Tracker

Following Wilson & Wilson v. City Council of Redwood City (2011) 191 Cal.App.4th 1559, this decision holds that an appeal from a judgment denying administrative mandamus review of the county's issuance of a building permit (allegedly in violation of CEQA) was moot.  While the case was pending, the real party in interest had completed the construction of an extension of… Read More

A contractor repairing a highway owes a duty of care to motorists using the highway.  The duty of care extends to protecting motorists from dangers on property adjacent to the repairs the contractor is performing.  See Ray v. Silverado Constructors (2002) 98 Cal.App.4th 1120, 1134; Thirion v. Fredrickson & Watson Construction Co. (1961) 193 Cal.App.2d 299, 304-305,  Here, the contractor… Read More

In this case, after plaintiff demanded that it do so, a restaurant altered its premises to make it conform to current standards of accessability for the disabled.  However, the restaurant was under no statutory duty to do so.  H&S Code 19955 did not require the alterations because the restaurant was not newly constructed nor had it undergone other alterations that… Read More

In this case, a pedestrian tripped and fell in a pothole located on city-owned property where the lip of a driveway and the gutter meet. The decision holds that the commercial business leasing the property that the driveway services did not exercise control over the location of the pothole (so as to create a duty of care to passersby) when… Read More

Jury verdict that car did not have "a window defect that rendered it unfit for the ordinary purpose of providing transportation" should have ended the jury's task on the plaintiff's claim for breach of implied warranty.  But due to an error in the jury verdict form, the jury went on to award plaintiff damages.  Held, the trial court correctly granted… Read More

To qualify as a notice of entry of judgment under Code of Civil Procedure section 664.5, the clerk’s mailed notice must affirmatively state that it was given ‘upon order by the court’ or ‘under section 664.5,’ and a certificate of mailing the notice must be executed and placed in the file.” (Van Beurden Ins. Services, Inc. v. Customized Worldwide Weather… Read More

After negotiating unsuccessfully to buy plaintiff or "acqui-hire" its key employees, Apple enticed those key employees to quit plaintiff and go to work for Apple.  Held, summary judgment for Apple affirmed.  Plaintiff's fraud claim was based on three promises Apple made during negotiations.  Promises are actionable as fraud only when, at the time the promise is made, the promisor does… Read More

Ramos leased a new Mercedes.  It made grinding sounds when he backed up and turned the steering wheel.  He took the car in to be fixed many times.  It was never repaired to the point of stopping the noises.  At lease end, Ramos returned the car, but also sued to recover damages unde the Song-Beverly Act.  The jury found that… Read More

Revitch was a long-time DIRECTV subscriber.  In 2011, when Revitch upgraded his mobile phone, he signed a new contract with AT&T Mobility which contained an arbitration clause requiring arbitration of any disputes arising out of or related to his relationship with AT&T or its affiliates.  In 2015 AT&T acquired DIRECTV.  In 2018, Revitch sued DIRECTV for violating the TCPA by… Read More

California has specific personal jurisdiction over Avon in a suit brought by a Calfiornia resident who used Avon's talc products and claims they were defective, containing asbestos which gave her mesothelioma.  Plaintiff adequately alleged facts showing that Avon had purposefully availed itself of California's benefits and that those contacts were related to her suit by showing that she had purchased… Read More

Alborzi is a doctor who was on a panel of infectious disease specialists that USC' Verdugo Hills Hospital called on to assist with patients having serious infectious diseases.  He complained about USC's arrangements with a group of hospitalist doctors, claiming that they violated anti-kickback legislation by charging USC less than market value for their hospitalist services but then made it… Read More

Defendant LLC was one of several companies run by Garrick.  It was a shell without assets or its own employees.  Other Garrick companies deposited funds in defendant's accounts when they wanted to pay its creditors including its defense attorneys.  This decision holds that the trial court did not err in adding Garrick and his other companies to the stipulated judgment… Read More

Assuming that long-distance, non-competitive bicycle riding is a sport to which the primary assumption of the risk doctrine applies, the County owed the cyclist a duty not to increase the inherent risks of that sports by failing to properly maintain its roads on which the cyclist traveled.  Imposing such a duty on the County would not significantly increase its burdens… Read More

The Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act of 1994 preempts state laws "related to a price, route, or service of any motor carrier . . . , broker, or freight forwarder with respect to the transportation of property."  (49 U.S.C. § 14501(c).)  In this case, an injured motorist brought a common law negligence action against a transportation broker for negligently selecting… Read More

In an attempt to settle the many coordinated suits by local governmental entities against drug companies, doctors and others about over-prescribing opiod drugs, the district certified a "negotiation class" of all cities and counties for the sole purpose of attempting to negotiate a settlement to the litigation.  This decision holds that the certification was in error.  Rule 23 allows litigation… Read More

One dentist brought a defamation action against his former partner, another dentist, for statements the defendant made to various other persons impugning the quality of the plaintiff's dentistry work.  The defendant filed an Anti-SLAPP motion which was granted, and plaintiff appealed.  Held:  Statements about the competency of a professional, like a dentist, concern a matter of public importance and so… Read More

The NLRA did not preempt plaintiff employees' claims that Google's (and its emplyment agency's) policies forbidding employees from disclosing their wages and working conditions to others violated various Labor Code sections giving rise to plaintiff's PAGA suit.  The NLRA did not arguably protect or prohibit the nondisclosure policies insofar as they blocked disclosure to persons other than co-workers.  Moreover, California's… Read More

Plaintiffs were minority shareholders in ALI who sought to bring a double derivative claim on its behalf against AIG.  This decision affirms dismissal of the suit on the ground that ALI had not alleged these claims as compulsory cross-complaints against AIG when AIG had sued it previosly.  Although the shareholders were not parties to the prior action between ALI and… Read More

California recognizes the tort of intentional interference with expected inheritance. (Beckwith v. Dahl (2012) 205 Cal.App.4th 1039, 1050-1056.)  There are six elements to the tort.  Here, substantial evidence supported the trial court's findings that each of the elements was satisfied.  The decedent's wife had reason to expect an inheritance from her husband, who had consulted his probate attorney about changing… Read More

This decision holds that a bank or other non-savings and loan that acquired a loan originated by a savings and loan before the Dodd-Frank Act, is entitled to assert the same Home Owners Loan Act field preemption of state law as the originating savings institution could have.  To hold otherwise would impair an essential feature of how savings institutions worked… Read More