California Appellate Tracker

A motion to compel arbitration was properly denied because current suit challenged a corporate acquisition while the arbitration clause covered only exclusive marketing arrangements. Read More

An insurer that was assigned its insured’s claim against its subcontractor could continue the suit in the insured’s name under CCP 368.5 after the assignment, but could not use that procedural convenience to avoid liability for the subcontractor’s attorney fees when it lost. Read More

Fair report privilege bars defamation and trade libel claims based on a press release issued by plaintiffs’ attorneys accurately summarizing jury verdict and proceedings in a False Claims Act suit against the defamation plaintiff.  Read More

The trial court did not abuse its discretion in granting terminating sanctions after plaintiff’s attorney repeatedly disobeyed in limine orders by referring to excluded evidence in his opening statement and questioning of witnesses, prejudicing defendants because jury might think their repeated, proper objections were hiding the true facts from the jury.  Read More

Although a state-law privilege exists to protect against discovery of tax returns, the privilege is not absolute, and can be overcome when another public policy outweighs the policy underlying the privilege—such as, here, the integrity of debtor examination proceedings.  Read More

Res judicata did not bar current because since the current defendants who were not parties to the prior suit and were not in privity with those parties, and because the record did not show the reason why the prior suit was dismissed on the pleadings. Read More

Under the FLSA, an employer may round work start and stop times to the nearest 15 minutes, if the rounding does not decrease work time considering all workers over an extended period; also, another practice that deprived plaintiff, alone, of one minute of work time was a de minimis violation for which the FLSA provided no remedy. Read More

State law claims based on manufacturer’s failure to adequately train physicians on installation of its lap-band implant is preempted by the federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act since, apart from the FDCA, state law imposed no duty on a manufacturer to train physicians Read More

A parent corporation lacked standing to seek a declaratory judgment regarding coverage under an insurance policy under which only its subsidiary corporation was an insured.  Read More

A loan servicer, and its principal, the loan’s owner, can be held liable to a borrower for negligence  in handling the borrower's loan modification application; however, the borrower has no breach of contract claim for the loan servicer’s failure to offer a permanent loan modification after performance of a non-HAMP trial period plan.  Read More

To prove a common law dedication, plaintiff need only show the owner’s intent to dedicate the property to public use and the public’s acceptance of the dedication; no written conveyance or acceptance by a public entity is required.  Read More

Because a property owner has no right to unobstructed views, the owner cannot sue a city in inverse condemnation for planting trees that block views even if the loss of views lowers the value of the property.  Read More

A party moving to compel arbitration need not authenticate the opposing party's signature on the agreement containing the arbitration clause in its initial moving papers, but can wait until after the opposing party has challenged the authenticity of his signature, so defendant's supplemental declaration which was submitted after its moving papers but before plaintiff's opposition was not untimely.  Read More

Whether the burden on the employer of allowing two 10-minute rest breaks in the middle of the work periods before and after the meal break justified the employer’s practice of allowing only one 20-minute rest break before the meal break was a disputed factual issue precluding summary judgment.  Read More

Policeman stated a viable claim for wrongful termination in violation of his First Amendment rights by alleging that he was demoted because the police department mistakenly thought it observed him supporting a rival candidate for mayor instead of the incumbent.  Read More

Trust beneficiary did not have any right to obtain information about the disposition of assets while the trust was revocable.  Read More

A 998 offer requiring the opposing party to enter into a settlement agreement is not a valid 998 offer; while cases have allowed a 998 offer to demand a release, a settlement agreement is different, more extensive and more subject to disagreement as to form and contents.  Read More

Plaintiff was properly deemed a vexatious litigant because, despite the court’s warning, she filed a third meritless motion attacking a final judgment from which she had not appealed.  Read More

The use of a settled statement on appeal (in lieu of a reporter's transcript) does not negate the implied findings doctrine if the parties have waived a statement of decision, since the settled statement is a record of what was said, rather than a record of the trial court's reasoning Read More

Defendant’s anti-SLAPP motion was properly denied in a suit based on his public distribution of a video of fight between two neighbors, not involving any public figure or  issue of public interest. Read More