California Appellate Tracker

California's Medical Waste Management Act, which purports to require incineration of medical waste even after it is shipped outside of California, violates the dormant Commerce Clause. Read More

A judgment lien perfected before the judgment debtor’s death may be enforced at any time within 10 years after entry of judgment; the one-year-from-death limitations period applies only claims against the decedent on which judgment has not been entered. Read More

Plaintiff is not entitled to an equitable easement over a disputed area of an adjoining property owner's land because plaintiff was negligent in planting the disputed area with a permanent crop (pistachio trees) while being aware of a boundary dispute but failing to investigate it.  Read More

A party who has participated in good faith in arbitration but can no longer pay the arbitrator’s fees can apply to the court to have the dispute transferred to court unless the opposing party agrees to pay all remaining arbitration costs. Read More

A worker is treated as an independent contractor only if he or she meets a three-prong test involving control and direction of the hirer, the usual course of the hiring entity's business, and the worker's customary occupation. Read More

The 90-day statute of limitations for Title VII claims begins to run from the date plaintiff receives his or her right-to-sue letter from the EEOC. Read More

A prosecutor may freeze and seize a criminal defendant's assets to pay restitution or a restitution fine ordered as part of a criminal sentence for certain white-collar crimes, but the resulting property interest is only defensible against a later transferee of the property if the county finishes the procedure and perfects its lien. Read More

An abstract of judgment filed after the judgment debtor's death does not create a lien on estate property, nor is a criminal restitution judgment creditor entitled to priority of payment from the judgment debtor’s estate. Read More

Elder abuse case was properly remanded—and attorney fees properly awarded against defendant removing party—by the district court after defendant's fraudulent joinder theory was appropriately rejected. Read More

An employee of a gas station operated by an independent franchisee could not bring wage and hour action against the franchisor because the franchisor was not his employer under the relevant statutory test. Read More

A taxpayer who is not a party to a government contract nevertheless has the standing to seek invalidation of the contract on the ground the public officer letting the contract had a personal interest in it. Read More

The usual lodestar approach to an attorney fee award (under which the hourly rate is set by the market rate for attorney services) applies to proceedings involving teacher discharge before the Commission on Professional Competence. Read More

Clear error, alone, is insufficient grounds for the Ninth Circuit to issue a writ of mandate; substantial prejudice must also be shown. 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

An arbitration award was vacated as having been obtained by undue means when the arbitrators relied on a brief not served on the opposing party. Read More

Foreign corporations may not be sued as defendants under the Alien Tort Claims Act, 28 USC 1350. Read More

Inter partes review of challenges to a patent before the Patent Office does not violate Article III because a patent grant falls within the public rights doctrine.   Read More

Once inter partes review is commenced by the Patent Office, the proceeding must decide the patentability of all of the claims the petitioner has challenged. Read More

Naruto, the monkey, cannot sue for copyright infringement; the Copyright Act does not grant animals standing. Read More

Creditors of a bankrupt debtor could not be held in contempt of the discharge injunction and sanctioned for filing post-petition motions in a state court action for an award of attorney fees against the debtor, since they had a good faith (albeit incorrect and unreasonable) belief that the injunction did not apply. Read More