Judge Anne Hwang sua sponte remanded a Mercedes-Benz lemon-law case after finding the defendant’s actual-damages calculation ignored the new January 2025 statutory offsets under Cal. Civ. Code § 871.27 and the conclusory willfulness allegation could not support adding $124,012 in civil penalti
Central District of California denies remand of a Song-Beverly lemon-law case, holding that a state-court civil case cover sheet checking a damages box is not an “initial pleading” or “other paper” that starts the 30-day removal clock.
Magistrate Judge Cisneros remands a foreclosure-following unlawful detainer action to Alameda County Superior Court for the second time and partially grants attorney’s fees against the pro se removing tenant, holding the Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act provides a federal defense, not federal-q
Central District of California remands a putative wage-and-hour class action, holding that an employer’s speculative estimate of the named plaintiff’s attorneys’ fees cannot satisfy the $75,000 federal amount-in-controversy requirement.
Central District of California denies a federal prisoner’s petition to be transported approximately 1,500 miles to testify in person at a private Texas civil trial, finding the cost and security burdens outweigh the benefits.
In a personal-injury case alleging that a recalled bone allograft caused the plaintiff to test positive for tuberculosis, the court denied remand to state court, ruling that the LLC defendant the plaintiff identified as a California citizen was actually a wholly owned subsidiary of a Japanese corpor
Magistrate Judge Stephanie S. Christensen remanded a car-accident case to Los Angeles Superior Court after The Hertz Corporation — the only out-of-state defendant whose removal had created federal jurisdiction — was dismissed, leaving only California citizens and destroying complete diversity.
Judge Hernán D. Vera remanded a music-rights case to Los Angeles Superior Court after Pardis Music dropped its federal copyright infringement claims (which it could not pursue federally because it lacked a registered copyright under 17 U.S.C. § 411(a)), eliminating federal-question jurisdiction.
Fourth District holds that a party who wins a discrete court petition to appoint a new arbitrator is the prevailing party in that proceeding and is entitled to attorney fees under the underlying contract, even though the parties’ substantive disputes remained pending in arbitration and a paral
Judge Christina Snyder awarded $247,897 in attorneys’ fees and $4,037 in costs to plaintiffs after a $1.6 million fraud verdict against former Baldwin Park City Attorney Tafoya, but declined to apply any lodestar multiplier — finding the legal issues were not extraordinary, counsel displayed o