The bankruptcy court did not abuse its discretion in converting this Chapter 13 bankruptcy into a Chapter 7 bankruptcy despite the fact that the debtors had filed a motion to voluntarily dismiss their Chapter 13 case under 11 USC 1307(b). That section gives the debtors an absolute right to leave Chapter 13, but not to leave the bankruptcy court. And… Read More
(A creditor need not prove that it was harmed or that the debtor was rendered unable to pay his debt to the creditor in order to prevail in seeking to set aside a transfer of the debtor's property on the ground the transfer was made with actual intent to defraud creditors under Civ. Code 3439.04(a)(1). Read More
Brembo, an Italian corporation, was not subject to specific jurisdiction in California in a suit by its distributor TAW, which though originally a California entity, had moved its principal place of business to North Carolina before entering into the distributorship agreement that was the subject of this suit. The agreement authorized TAW to distribute Brembo products throughout the United States,… Read More
When this suit was filed, AMG was only loosely affiliated with two Indian tribes, being run by and for the benefit of a non-Indian to make pay-day loans at high interest rates. Shortly thereafter, the Indian tribes seized control of AMG, ousted its non-Indian officers, directors and backers, and, after assuming control, paid state and federal regulators many millions of… Read More
Plaintiff bought a used car on credit, signing a contract with an arbitration clause requiring arbitration of any dispute "which arises out of or relates to . . . condition of this vehicle, this contract or any resulting transaction or relationship (including any such relationship with third parties who do not sign this contract)." This decision holds that the clause… Read More
California has jurisdiction over the mother, her brother, and her daughters, all of whom now live in other states, in a suit filed by the son challenging actions taken by the others in connection with the family trust. Mother and trust had deep California roots. She lived in Santa Monica until 2016 and formed the trust there. In 2016, the… Read More
Health and Safety Code section 1430(b) allows a resident or patient of a nursing home to sue the facility for breach of any rights guaranteed by the Patients' Bill of Rights Act and for violation of regulations not relating to health and safety. It allows up to $500 in damages, plus attorney fees and costs. This opinion holds that the… Read More
The Medical Device Act did not preempt a state law duty to warn products liability claim with respect to an intervenous blood filter. The FDA had reclassified IVC blood filters as Class II devices that were subject to three requirements applicable to all IVC blood filters. Since the MDA preempts only state laws adding to or changing FDA requirements for… Read More
Generally, an order denying summary judgment is not reviewable on an appeal from a judgment entered after trial. Ortiz v. Jordan (2011) 562 U.S. 180, 184-185. However, at least in the Ninth Circuit, the Court of Appeals may review an order denying summary judgment on a post-trial appeal if the denial was based on a purely legal issue, such as… Read More
A doctor who was joined a hosptial's staff and was given clinical privileges and performed surgery at the hospital was an independent contractor, not an employee and so could not state a Title VII claim for discrimination in employment against the hospital. He was on call with the hospital only 5 days a month, and his earnings from the hospital… Read More
Plaintiff invested in a "forked" cryptocurrency which he kept in his Coinbase "wallet." Coinbase refused to allow plaintiff to access the forked currency because it thought the network using that currency was unsafe. This decision affirms a summary judgment for Coinbase. On plaintiff's breach of contract claim, it holds that Coinbase's user agreement contained no provision requiring Coinbase to help… Read More
Citing Arias v. Superior Court (2009) 46 Cal.4th 969, this decision holds that the settlement and judgment in a prior class action and PAGA suit against the employer alleging the same meal and rest break violations is res judicata of plaintiff's similar PAGA claims. Even though plaintiff opted out of the class action portion of the earlier case, he could… Read More
Summary judgment for defendant in an age and racial association FEHA discrimination case is affirmed. The employer provided evidence of a non-discriminatory reason for firing plaintiff. Plaintiff failed to introduce evidence raising a triable issue of fact that the stated reason was pretextual. The few alleged comments about plaintiff's age--mostly that she looked much younger than her age--were harmless and… Read More
Amazon can be held liable on a strict products liability theory for physical injuries caused by products sold through Amazon's website. Here, plaintiff was injured when a battery he had bought from Amazon (which had been stored in and was shipped from an Amazon warehouse) exploded. Amazon was pivotal in bringing the battery to the customer, standing in between the… Read More
This decision outlines the seven factors a trial court should consider in deciding a third party's motion to quash a subpoena served on it by a criminal defendant. Most important of those factors, particularly when the subpoena seeks social media posts, are the defendant's proof of a plausible justification for needing the subpoenaed documents and the consideration of privacy and… Read More
A private citizen group of taxpayers had taxpayer standing under CCP 526a to sue the District Attorney seeking an injunction to stop his office's confidential informant program, the principal aim of which was to secure confessions from criminal defendants in violation of their constitutional rights. The suit was brought by taxpayers to enjoin waste of public funds on an illegal… Read More
Reversing the district court's judgment and permanent injunction, this decision finds that Qualcomm's patent licensing practices do not violate the Sherman Act. The district court erred in finding anticompetitive harm from the effect Qualcomm's licensing practices had on cell phone manufacturersp--a market in which Qualcomm did not compete--rather than on rival chip manufacturers with which Qualcomm did compete. Qualcomm's practice… Read More
Under the “sudden emergency” or “imminent peril” doctrine, “a person who, without negligence on his part, is suddenly and unexpectedly confronted with peril, arising from either the actual presence, or the appearance, of imminent danger to himself or to others, is not expected nor required to use the same judgment and prudence that is required of him in the exercise… Read More
James and Diane were temporary conservators of Elizabeth's person, but not of her estate. When they had Elizabeth admitted to defendant's old folks home, James and Diane signed an arbitration agreement on Elizabeth's behalf. This deision holds that the arbittration agreement was unenforceable against James and Diane sinnce they didn't sign in their individual capacity and unenforceable against Elizabeth because… Read More
The trial court wrongly granted a health insurer summary judgment on the insured's bad faith and UCL claims. The insured's son was autistic and, before he turned 7 was given 157 hours a month of insured treatments. When he turned 7, Magellan reduced the monthly allotment to 57 hours. On the insured's appeal to the Department of Managed Health Care,… Read More
