California Appellate Tracker

Following Helicopteros Nacionales de Colombia v. Hall (1984) 466 U.S. 408, this decision holds that the district court erred in judging specific personal jurisdiction on the particular transaction that gave rise to the lawsuit rather than on the whole business relationship between the parties, of which the particular transaction was a part.  Defendant was a Honduran company that imported into… Read More

This decision holds that the Fair Housing Act (42 USC 3613) sets a broad, loose standard of proximate causation and that Oakland's claim of decreased property tax revenue due to Wells Fargo's housing discrimination against Black and Hispanic borrowers both in terms of giving them less satisfactory loan terms and in foreclosing on them disproportionately--all as demonstated by multiple regression… Read More

Under the FRCivP 58(e), a judgment is final and appealable when entered, even though the district court retains jurisdiction to rule on a motion to tax costs or award attorney fees, unless the district court orders that the judgment is not final until the motion is ruled upon.  A notice of appeal filed within 30 days of entry of the… Read More

Since Alexander v. Sandoval (2001) 121 S.Ct. 1511, federal courts do not imply private causes of action unless a federal statute evinces an intent to create one.  The Hobbs Act (18 U.S.C. § 1951) does not show any intent to create a private right of action.  It is a simple criminal statute, outlawing use of robbery, extortion or threats of… Read More

Two employees filed separate PAGA suits against employer.  Employer settled with the first employee who sued it, and the Labor and Workforce Development Agency (LWDA) accepted its share of the settlement proceeds.  The second employee then moved to intervene and object to the settlement.  Held:  The trial court did not err in denying the motion to invtervene.  The motion was… Read More

Under CCP 170.6, a party may peremptorily challenge a judge who presided at a prior trial of the action if the judgment is reversed and the case is remanded for a new trial.  However, as Peracchi v. Superior Court (2003) 30 Cal.4th 1245 held, a new trial is “a reexamination of an issue of fact in the same court after… Read More

Following Jaramillo v. JH Real Estate Partners Inc. (2003) 111 Cal.App.4th 394 and Harris v. University Village Thousand Oaks, CCRC, LLC. (2020) 49 Cal.App.5th 847, this decision holds that Civ. Code 1953(a)(4) renders unenforceable any arbitration clause in a residential lease--at least so long as the FAA does not apply to the lease. Read More

Police officers owe a duty of care to a person they have arrested and taken into custody to assure that person's safety and well-being.  As the arrestee cannont care for himself, police must do so.  Here, the arrestee swallowed a large dose of drugs to keep the police from finding it as they searched him before the arrest.  He repeatedly… Read More

Joining the 1st Circuit, this decision holds that a worker can be "engaged in interstate commerce" and thus exempt from the FAA even though the worker, himself, does not cross state lines--so long as he is part of a distribution chain that extends across state lines.  Thus, Amazon's "last-mile" delivery drivers were exempt from the FAA.  Though they didn't cross… Read More

Effective Jan. 1, 2017, Lab. Code 1197.1 was amended to require that an employer post a bond in the amount of wages, liquidated damages and interest (but not civil penalties) assessed by the DLSE if the employer wishes to challenge the DLSE's wage order through a petition for administrative mandate in superior court.  This decision holds that the new bond… Read More

This decision affirms an order denying an employer's motion to compel arbitration.  Though it found only a minimal degree of procedural unconscionability in that the arbitration agreement was an adhesion contract, it holds that there was a high degree of unconscionability inherent in the arbitration agreement's (a) too restrictive limitation of discovery and (b) non-mutuality.  Discovery was limited to two… Read More

Disabled residents of New Orleans had Article III standing to sue Uber for refusing to make uberWAV (wheelchair accessable rides) available in New Orleans.  The residents didn't have to sign up to use Uber's app (and thus agree to its arbitration clause) to have Article III standing since doing so would have been a futile gesture.  As there was no… Read More

Under CCP 391.6, litigation is stayed in a case once a vexatious litigant motion is filed pursuant to CCP 391.1.  Here, the defendant filed the motion while it already had pending several motions seeking sanctions for discovery abuse.  The trial court decided those motions at the same hearing it granted the vexatious litigant motion.  This decision holds that was error… Read More

Following Cable Connection, Inc. v. DirecTV, Inc. (2008) 44 Cal.4th 1334, this decision holds that an arbitrration clause which provided that "either party may file an application to correct or vacate the arbitration award or an application for de novo review on all questions of law based on the arbitrator’s finding[s] of fact" allowed the courts to review the arbitration… Read More

The district court correctly dismissed this copyright infringement suit against the Polish owner of a Polish porn website for lack of personal jurisdiction.  To establish specific personal jurisdiction under the Calder "effects" test, the plaintiff must show (1) the defendant purposefully availed himself of the privileges of conducting activities in the forum or purposefully directed his activities to the forum,… Read More

The bankruptcy court did not abuse its discretion in converting this Chapter 13 bankruptcy into a Chapter 7 bankruptcy despite the fact that the debtors had filed a motion to voluntarily dismiss their Chapter 13 case under 11 USC 1307(b).  That section gives the debtors an absolute right to leave Chapter 13, but not to leave the bankruptcy court.  And… Read More

(A creditor need not prove that it was harmed or that the debtor was rendered unable to pay his debt to the creditor in order to prevail in seeking to set aside a transfer of the debtor's property on the ground the transfer was made with actual intent to defraud creditors under Civ. Code 3439.04(a)(1). Read More

Brembo, an Italian corporation, was not subject to specific jurisdiction in California in a suit by its distributor TAW, which though originally a California entity, had moved its principal place of business to North Carolina before entering into the distributorship agreement that was the subject of this suit.  The agreement authorized TAW to distribute Brembo products throughout the United States,… Read More

When this suit was filed, AMG was only loosely affiliated with two Indian tribes, being run by and for the benefit of a non-Indian to make pay-day loans at high interest rates.  Shortly thereafter, the Indian tribes seized control of AMG, ousted its non-Indian officers, directors and backers, and, after assuming control, paid state and federal regulators many millions of… Read More

Plaintiff bought a used car on credit, signing a contract with an arbitration clause requiring arbitration of any dispute "which arises out of or relates to . . . condition of this vehicle, this contract or any resulting transaction or relationship (including any such relationship with third parties who do not sign this contract)."  This decision holds that the clause… Read More