California Appellate Tracker

A judgment lien on the judgment debtor's property expires when the underlying judgment expires, 10 years after entry unless renewed.  Here, the judgment creditor with a first priority to proceeds of a partition action brought by creditors to satisfy the liens on the judgment debtor's property failed to renew its judgment, allowing it to expire in the midst of the… Read More

A party cannot acquire good title by adverse possession against the beneficiary of a deed of trust that was recorded on the property before the alleged adverse possession began.  This is for third reasons.  First, the beneficiary has no right to possession of the property until after foreclosure on the deed of trust.  Since the beneficiary cannot oust the alleged… Read More

The trial court erred in granting relief from a default judgment under CCP 473's attorney fault provision.  That provision permits relief only when the attorney error causes the client's default to be entered, not when, as in this case, the error occurs after entry of default and before entry of a default judgment.  This is true even in a quiet… Read More

Term of 998 offer requiring plaintiff to indemnify defendant against claims by third parties on the same allegations as the complaint rendered the 998 offer ineffective to shift costs after defendant was dismissed from the action.  Though it was understandable that defendant wanted preclude wrongful death claims by heirs of the plaintiff who claimed defendant was liable for his mesothelium… Read More

California's requirement that charitable organizations disclose to the attorney general Schedule B to their Form 990 filing with the IRS--a schedule that lists the organization's major donors--violates the First Amendment.  The disclosure causes a major intrusion on the donor's First Amendment right to freedom of association and is not justified by the public interest in preventing fraud or other wrongs… Read More

In a case involving a retaliatory firing of a deputy fire marshal, the appellate court affirms the judgment finding the defendant city liable, but reverses the award of $2 million for past noneconomic damages and $1.5 million in future noneconomic damages as excessive given the slight evidence of emotional distress, the fact that plaintiff found other employment, the fact that… Read More

An employee who had complained about his supervisor, was terminated and then claimed retaliation for his whistleblowing was not required to exhuast his administrative remedies before the employer's human relations commission because the commission's decision would have been subject to review and change by the supervisor in consultation with the mayor.  To have the personally involved supervisor (who had been… Read More

Following E.J. Franks Construction, Inc. v. Sahota (2014) 226 Cal.App.4th 1123, this decision holds that Bus. & Prof. Code 7031 does not preclude a contractor's recovery of compensation where at all times during the performance of work under the construction contract, the contractor's corporation was duly licensed--even though when the contractor entered into the contract and when he assigned it… Read More

The nature of the right sued upon and not the form of action nor the relief demanded determines the applicability of the statute of limitations.  So, in this case where plaintiff alleged that the seller's disclosures regarding real property sold to plaintiff were inaccurate or incomplete, the action was governed by the 3-year limitations period for fraud even though the… Read More

The trial court properly granted summary judgment to defendant in this invasion of privacy suit which alleged that the defendant neighbor invaded plaintiff's privacy by audio and video recordings made by defendant's security cameras and recorders of goings on in plaintiff's backyard.  The opinion states that defendant had a legitimate need for the security equipment as she was a media… Read More