California Appellate Tracker

This decision reverses a judgment on a jury verdict in favor of the plaintiff disinherited son and grandchildren of the client who hired the defendant lawyer to draft his will.  It holds that the plaintiffs cannot prevail because there was no “clear, certain and undisputed evidence" of the decedent's intent to benefit the plaintiffs by leaving some of his estate… Read More

The trial court properly dismissed the insured's complaint against two higher level excess insurers on the ground that the complaint didn't and couldn't allege exhaustion of the primary and first level excess insurance.  Since the higher level excess insurer's duty to indemnify didn't kick in until exhaustion of the primary and first level excess insurance was exhausted, the insured couldn't… Read More

Following Doe v. Software One (2022) 85 Cal.App.5th 98, this decision holds that when a trial court actually rules on evidentiary objections to summary judgment evidence, those rulings are reviewed for abuse of discretion. Read More

Answering a question left open in Robinson Helicopter Co. v. Dana Corp. (2004) 34 Cal.4th 979, this decision holds that a plaintiff may assert a fraudulent concealment cause of action based on conduct occurring in the course of a contractual relationship if the elements of the claim can be established independently of the parties’ contractual rights and obligations, and the… Read More

Following Doe v. Software One (2022) 85 Cal.App.5th 98, this decision holds that when a trial court actually rules on evidentiary objections to summary judgment evidence, those rulings are reviewed for abuse of discretion. Read More

Defendant owed no duty of care to plaintiff who stored her personal property on real estate in which defendant's step-father held a life estate and defendant held a remainder interest.  Since defendant did not control the premises during the step-father's life estate, she could not be liable for what happened on the property while her step-father lived. Read More

In re O'Gorman (Lovering Tubbs Trust v. Hoffman) (9th Cir. 2024) (A Chapter 7 trustee had standing to sue to recover a fraudulent conveyance under 11 USC 548.  The conveyance harmed the bankrupt estate by removing property from the estate.  As estate representative, the trustee had standing to redress that harm.  The trustee did not need to show that any… Read More

  In re O'Gorman (Lovering Tubbs Trust v. Hoffman) (9th Cir. 2024) (A Chapter 7 trustee had standing to sue to recover a fraudulent conveyance under 11 USC 548.  The conveyance harmed the bankrupt estate by removing property from the estate.  As estate representative, the trustee had standing to redress that harm.  The trustee did not need to show that… Read More

(Distinguishing Weseloh Family Limited Partnership v. K.L. Wessel Construction Co., Inc. (2004) 125 Cal.App.4th 152, this decision holds that a soils engineer which was hired by a construction contractor to plan the foundation for an addition to a family home owes a duty of care to the owner of the property even though not in contractual privity with the owner. … Read More

(A trial court abuses its discretion when it sustains all of a  party's evidentiary objections on a summary judgment motion without explanation of which ground of objection is sustained and why.  Blanket rulings on objections are impermissible.) Read More

(While a trial judge may grant a summary judgment motion on a ground not argued by the moving party, the judge must give the opponent notice and an opportunity to oppose judgment on the new ground with new facts or legal arguments.) Read More

(A San Francisco ordinance which required landlords to give an additional 10 days’ notice before serving the statutory 3-day notice to quit for non-payment of rent or other cause was preempted by the state's unlawful detainer statutes which prescribe the notice and time of notice that must be given.  There was both conflict preemption and implied field preemption of the… Read More

Bankruptcy, Foreign Bankruptcy, Effect Of Reversed Order Denying Stay, 11 USC 1520, 2, 9 A foreign corporation that is undergoing bankruptcy proceedings in the foreign country of its origin may file a petition in US bankruptcy courts.  If the petition is granted, actions against the foreign corporation or its property are automatically stayed.  15 USC 1520.  Black Gold filed such… Read More

Under 9 USC 402(a), a pre-dispute arbitration agreement is not enforceable with respect to a case that relates to sexual assault or harassment.  This decision holds that the statute applies to claims of harassment that began before the statute became effective and continued afterwards.  In addition, the decision holds that the entire case becomes non-arbitrable even though it also includes… Read More

Settlement, 998 Offer, Simultaneous Offers Ineffective, Offers Tied To Arbitration Are Ineffective, 1, 10 To be effective to shift costs and fees, a 998 offer must be sufficiently certain so that the offeree can evaluate its worth and decide whether to accept it and so that the trial court, after resolution of the case, can determine whether the offer exceeded… Read More

Employee's pre-suit letter to the employer's HR department was protected by the litigation privilege even though the letter did not expressly threaten suit.  By the time, plaintiff had complained many times to management without redress and had hired a lawyer.  She also submitted a declaration attesting that she was seriously contemplating suit at the time she sent the letter. Read More

(The trial court abused its discretion in granting Kaiser summary judgment based on the judicial abstention doctrine.  Here, a district attorney brought suit against Kaiser under the UCL and FAL for violating Health & Safety Code 1367.27 by failing to update its provider directory to remove providers who were no longer accepting new patients or no longer had contracts with… Read More

  Consumer Protection, Rees-Levering, Limitations, One-Year Statute Applies, 1, 10 If the seller does not comply with Rees-Levering's disclosure requirements, the car buyer may elect to rescind a car purchase contract, return the car, and receive back all money he paid under the contract.  (Civ. Code 2983, 2983.1.)  This decision holds that the remedy is a statutory penalty because it… Read More

A spouse who is left out of the decedent's testamentary instruments that were executed before his marriage to the spouse is entitled to half of the decedent's community and quasi-community property plus a share of his separate property equal to what she would receive by intestate succession.  (Prob. Code 21610.)  The pretermitted spouse may obtain her statutory share from the… Read More

(The trial court prejudicially erred in excluding plaintiff's expert's testimony.  Plaintiff was a train worker who broke his leg on a fall from a train.  The expert had been an engineer for the same railroad for many years and would have testified that the engineer on the train from which plaintiff was injured released the brake before hitting the accelerator,… Read More