Fees charged by a mediator for a mediation not ordered by the court may be recoverable as ordinary costs in the discretion of the trial court. Read More

When a law firm or client acquires an opponent's attorney-client information through surreptitious means such as hiring an outside counsel a former employee of the opposing party, the outside counsel in question must be disqualified from the representation. Read More

The litigation privilege did not immunize coverage counsel's transmission of the claimant's tax returns to the insurer and its forensic accountant, which enabled the claimant to state a viable invasion of privacy claim on the basis that tax returns are privileged. Read More

After employee provided uncontradicted evidence that he worked overtime hours he could not be denied compensation merely because his employer failed to keep accurate time records of the employee's hours of work; rather, at that point the employee's memory of time spent on special projects sufficed, and the burden shifted to the employer to disprove the claimed hours. Read More

Because the University of Southern California’s disciplinary procedures did not adequately allow for the accused student to cross-examine victim in a rape case, it denied fundamental fairness, and a subsequent disciplinary decision had to be overturned. Read More

A default judgment was vacated as it exceeded the sum prayed for in the indemnity cross-complaint on which it was based, even though it incorporated by reference the complaint which asked for $10 million. Read More

Delegation provision in the insurance contract’s arbitration clause was void because it was added by an endorsement that had not been filed with or approved by the Insurance Commissioner. Read More

There is a constitutional right to a jury trial of a claim for nominal statutory damages of $1000 under the California Confidentiality of Medical Information Act. Read More

Plaintiff’s 998 offer made 19 days after service of the complaint was ineffective because the defendant then lacked sufficient information about the plaintiff’s injuries to reasonably evaluate the offer. Read More

Union members need not arbitrate state statutory claims unless their collective bargaining agreement clearly and unmistakably consigns the claims to arbitration, expressly mentioning the statute or the rights it confers. Read More