The Supreme Court of California isn’t always interested in money disputes, but throw attorney misconduct into the mix and you get the City of LA v. Pricewaterhousecoopers reinstating a sanction for “egregious” city attorney’s office collusion totaling $2.5 million. Angling for contractual attorneys’ fees in your defense? The recent Am. Bldg. Innovation v. Balfour Beatty...
Los Angeles Superior Court will now offer electronic recordings where a court reporter is not available. But not all courts have the equipment. And even if they do, by statute these recordings may not be used to create an appellate record. So what does it mean? Also, the Supreme Court in Meinhardt v. City of...
In motions for summary judgment, the separate statement is a very important document because the trial judge uses it as a roadmap to the evidence. But on appeal, the court uses a different roadmap to the evidence: your brief. And if your brief just cites to the separate statement—or worse, merely to the trial court...
CEB has published my article, “Are Anti-SLAPP Orders Judgments?” The article is about the anti-SLAPP judgment in Wastexperts, Inc. v. Arakelian Enters. (D2d4 Jul. 11, 2024 No. B325299) [pub. opn.]. After the court entered the anti-SLAPP judgment, the plaintiff where appealed from the anti-SLAPP order—not the judgment. The defendant moved to dismiss the appeal because,...
It’s very clear that you are entitled to contractual attorneys’ fees for prevailing on a contract claim. But what about prevailing on a contract affirmative defense? There was some unfortunate confusion on that point in the California Supreme Court’s decision in Mountain Air Enterprises, LLC v. Sundowner Towers, LLC (2017) 3 Cal.5th 744, 751, where...
CEB DailyNews has published my article, “Courts Cannot Limit Code of Civil Procedure Section 170.6 Challenges By Local Rule, Fourth District Holds.” The article is about the published opinion in *Lorch v. Superior Court* (D4d1 May 16, 2024 No. D083609), about peremptory challenges to a trial judge. In a “master calendar” court, rather than the...
After discussing SCOTUS voting blocs and public perception, in part two of our discussion Adam Feldman rounds up the 2023-2024 term. We cover: Adam Feldman biography, LinkedIn profile, and Twitter feed. Appellate Specialist Jeff Lewis' biography, LinkedIn profile, and Twitter feed. Appellate Specialist Tim Kowal's biography, LinkedIn profile, Twitter feed, and YouTube page. Sign up...
CEB has published my article, “Late payment does not defeat arbitration because that CAA rule is preempted by FAA—but Justice Baker dissents.” The article is about the split opinion in Hernandez v. Sohnen Enters. (D2d5 May 22, 2024 No. B323303) [cert. for pub.], that Justice Baker says in dissent “rather obviously invites a grant of...
Adam Feldman watches Supreme Court trends: voting blocs both usual and unusual, numbers of concurring and dissenting opinions, and other analytical ways of predicting outcomes. In our discussion, we cover: We then tee things up to do a round up of the 2023-2024 term. Adam Feldman biography, LinkedIn profile, and Twitter feed. Appellate Specialist Jeff...
Here are a few cases I did not have time to write up but seemed either important or irritating enough to mention: (Artwork by Randall Holbrook, RNDL.DESIGN.) Related Posts: YOU MAY BE ABLE TO LIMIT “CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES" IN YOUR CONTRACTS SLAPP NEWS: CALIFORNIA SUPREME COURT REITERATES, AGAIN, THAT WRONGDOING IS NOT “SPEECH” JUST BECAUSE SOMEONE...
CEB has published my article, “Criticizing belated policy reversal, 9th Cir. holds fight over LAUSD Covid-19 vaccine mandate is not moot and distinguishes SCOTUS Jacobson ruling.” The article is a cautionary tale about being completely forthcoming at oral argument. And it suggests that theories attempting to distinguish a century-old SCOTUS opinion affirming a state vaccine...
While the Supreme Court wrapped up its term, the Ninth Circuit had some interesting cases of its own. Carjacking is “nonviolent,” for-profit prisons are constitutional, and Covid vaccine religious exemptions are on the table. Practitioners might also look forward to focus letters and earlier panel notifications. All this and other recent cases and news. Appellate...
CEB DailyNews has published my article, “The 15 days to file a 170.6 does not start running if a “significant issue” was left unassigned.” The article is about Taylor v. Superior Court (D4d2 May 9, 2024 No. E082661) [nonpub. opn.], involving two wrinkles to the peremptory-challenge deadline. Wrinkle #1: When the trial judge denied a...
A ransomware attack hit the Los Angeles County Superior Court in July 2024, affecting e-filing services. Did you miss a filing deadline because of this? We discuss two Rules of Court that could help. We also cover: Appellate Specialist Jeff Lewis' biography, LinkedIn profile, and Twitter feed. Appellate Specialist Tim Kowal's biography, LinkedIn profile, Twitter...
Previously in part one, criminal-defense attorney Don Hammond explained why, post-Bruen, states may no longer impose discretionary constraints in concealed-carry permitting regimes. But will that change after the Supreme Court’s recent 8-1 decision in Rahimi, holding that a restraining order prohibiting a particularly violent actor from possessing firearms was consistent with the Second Amendment tests...
Justice Anita Earls of the North Carolina Supreme Court knows about some reforms that will improve our justice system. But she also knows about some that will provoke an unhappy response—including an investigation against her personally. In this second half of our interview, Justice Earls talks about how she found herself under investigation for calling...
Here are a few cases I did not have time to write up but seemed either important or irritating enough to mention: (Artwork by Randall Holbrook, RNDL.DESIGN.) Related Posts: YOU MAY BE ABLE TO LIMIT “CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES" IN YOUR CONTRACTS SLAPP NEWS: CALIFORNIA SUPREME COURT REITERATES, AGAIN, THAT WRONGDOING IS NOT “SPEECH” JUST BECAUSE SOMEONE...
You already know that an order granting an anti-SLAPP motion is immediately appealable—that is, you should not wait around for a formal judgment before appealing. That’s why the plaintiff in Wastexperts, Inc. v. Arakelian Enters. (D2d4 Jul. 11, 2024 No. B325299) [pub. opn.] appealed immediately. But what about when the court later enters a formal...
Here are a few cases I did not have time to write up but seemed either important or irritating enough to mention: (Artwork by Randall Holbrook, RNDL.DESIGN.) Related Posts: YOU MAY BE ABLE TO LIMIT “CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES" IN YOUR CONTRACTS SLAPP NEWS: CALIFORNIA SUPREME COURT REITERATES, AGAIN, THAT WRONGDOING IS NOT “SPEECH” JUST BECAUSE SOMEONE...
Just because you’re law-abiding doesn’t mean you won’t need a criminal-defense attorney. There are more criminal laws in federal and California state law books than you could read in a decade. (I asked ChatGPT: if you printed them all out, they would be taller than the 24-story AT&T building in San Diego.) Enter Criminal Defense...
This is the inaugural edition of Headnotes—cases I did not have time to write up, but seemed either important or irritating enough to mention anyway: Related Posts: YOU MAY BE ABLE TO LIMIT “CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES" IN YOUR CONTRACTS SLAPP NEWS: CALIFORNIA SUPREME COURT REITERATES, AGAIN, THAT WRONGDOING IS NOT “SPEECH” JUST BECAUSE SOMEONE TALKED ABOUT...
Restraining orders deprive defendants of their right to possess firearms. They are very easy to get, even against defendants not so violent as Zackey Rahimi, who roughed up his girlfriend and mother of his young child, then fired a gun—at the girlfriend or a bystander was not clear. The girlfriend got a two-year restraining order...
Justice Anita Earls of the North Carolina Supreme Court knows about some reforms that will improve our justice system. But she also knows about some that will provoke an unhappy response—including an investigation against her personally. In this first part of our interview, we discuss Justice Earls’ path from a 30-year civil rights attorney to...
Because the deadline to appeal is jurisdictional, the court cannot excuse a late appeal, even for very, very good reason. Sorry, no exceptions. Well, there are five official exceptions. And sometimes the court looks the other way on untimely appeals. But other than that, the rule is iron-clad. One of those exceptions is constructive filing,...
We have a few big cases to cover: Appellate Specialist Jeff Lewis' biography, LinkedIn profile, and Twitter feed. Appellate Specialist Tim Kowal's biography, LinkedIn profile, Twitter feed, and YouTube page. Sign up for Not To Be Published, Tim Kowal’s weekly legal update, or view his blog of recent cases. Other items discussed in the episode:...
Unlike 9th Circuit panels who have no power to disregard other panel decisions, the California appellate courts are free to adopt or disregard other panel decisions. But like the 9th Circuit, state appellate courts have no power to overrule another appellate panel. That role, in California, is reserved to the Supreme Court. And now also,...
When the 9th Circuit panel asked counsel at oral argument whether LAUSD was going to reverse its Covid-19 vaccine mandate, counsel did not give a straightforward answer. Then walking out of the courthouse, LAUSD’s counsel turned to plaintiff’s counsel and said, “what are you going to do when we rescind the mandate?” And a few...
John Sylvester was the counsel of record in the controversial Abdelqader v. Abraham published opinion. In the previous episode we discussed why it was controversial. (Short version: because the Court of Appeal, sub silentio, thumbed its nose at the Supreme Court and concluded that a missing finding required by statute gives you a an automatic...
The first thing you do after filing a case is check the assigned judge. Once the judge has been assigned “for all purposes,” you have 15 days to file your peremptory challenge to disqualify that judge. There are a few wrinkles to that “all purpose assignment” deadline, however. The court addressed them in *Taylor v....
John Sylvester was the counsel of record in the controversial Abdelqader v. Abraham published opinion. Why was it controversial? Because the Court of Appeal thumbed its nose at the Supreme Court, which had held in F.P. v. Monier that just because the trial judge forgets to make a required written finding you don’t get an...
