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
Judge Percy Anderson denied remand of a FedEx wage-and-hour class action, holding CAFA’s minimal diversity and $5 million amount-in-controversy thresholds were both established by conservative assumptions and workforce evidence. The court rejected plaintiff’s Sonner argument because the
Judge Dale S. Fischer remanded a FEHA whistleblower-retaliation suit against U.S. Bank, holding that Bogaski’s self-serving denial declaration could not establish fraudulent joinder where the plaintiff could possibly amend to allege the FEHA aiding-and-abetting elements (knowledge plus substan
Judge Fernando Aenlle-Rocha ordered serial ADA plaintiff German Perez to show cause why the court should not decline supplemental jurisdiction over his Unruh Act claim under Schutza v. Cuddeback, requiring a declaration on his high-frequency-litigant status under Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 425.55.
Judge Breyer denies a pro se plaintiff’s preliminary injunction and dismisses her federal suit asking the Northern District to compel the Contra Costa Superior Court to hear her custody motions, suspend child support, and invalidate her vexatious-litigant designation, applying domestic-relations abs
Magistrate Judge DeMarchi denies remand of a putative class action by Nixplay digital-photo-frame customers, holding that complete diversity exists between the plaintiffs and Nixplay, Inc. (Delaware/U.K.) and Creedon Technologies USA, LLC (Hong Kong via its sole member), even though defendants’ init
After a hearing, the federal court granted the plaintiffs’ motion to remand a wrongful-death case to state court and ordered the removing defendants to pay attorney’s fees, finding their removal lacked an objectively reasonable basis under the Ninth Circuit’s recent decision in Chi
Magistrate Judge Pedro V. Castillo denied remand of a 2019 GMC Sierra 2500 lemon-law case, holding documented actual damages of $41,341 plus civil penalties (twice actual damages, supported by nine unsuccessful repair attempts) brought the amount in controversy to roughly $124,023 — well over the $7
Judge David O. Carter sua sponte remanded an Amazon employee’s wrongful-termination suit, refusing to credit speculative emotional-distress, punitive, and attorneys’ fees damages — leaving roughly $71,780 in calculated wages and vacation, just under the $75,000 threshold. He again called
Judge Lin transfers a putative class action accusing Hilton of placing third-party tracking cookies on consumers’ devices despite their opt-outs to the Eastern District of Virginia, holding that the named plaintiffs’ Hilton Honors Program forum-selection clause requires venue there.
Judge Fernando Aenlle-Rocha dismissed pro se plaintiffs’ fifth duplicative lawsuit alleging a $22 billion mining-royalty price-fixing conspiracy, granted defendants’ motion for § 1927 sanctions for bad-faith ex parte filings (despite two prior warnings), and ordered plaintiffs to show ca
Judge R. Gary Klausner denied a remand motion in a Foot Locker premises-liability case, holding that ‘Employee Sam’ — identified only by first name and physical description — remained a fictitious defendant whose California citizenship must be disregarded under 28 U.S.C. § 1441(b)(1).
Judge John F. Walter sua sponte ordered defendants to show cause why a Textron-related case should not be remanded after Alliance Ground International’s filings inconsistently identified it as both ‘Inc.’ and ‘LLC,’ leaving the court unable to verify whether complete di
Judge Sunshine Sykes denied remand of a Chevrolet Silverado lemon-law case where GM documented $67,065.58 in actual damages and plaintiff specifically alleged willfulness based on eight unsuccessful repair attempts, allowing civil penalties to push the amount in controversy to about $128,833 — well
Judge Sunshine Sykes denied remand of a Wayfair wrongful-termination suit, counting $32,302 in past lost wages plus 1:1 ratios for emotional-distress and punitive damages to reach roughly $96,908 — well above the $75,000 diversity threshold. Plaintiff’s mitigation argument was rejected because
Judge David O. Carter sua sponte remanded a Walgreens wrongful-termination case after refusing to credit speculative emotional-distress, punitive, and attorneys’ fees damages — leaving only $24,327 in past lost wages, well below the $75,000 threshold. He used the opinion to call on Congress to
Judge Hernán D. Vera remanded a janitor’s FEHA discrimination and wage-and-hour suit to state court, rejecting the employer’s argument that the plaintiff’s possible undocumented status and the IRCA/Hoffman back-pay defense created federal-question jurisdiction under Grable. The cou
Magistrate Judge Pedro V. Castillo denied remand of a 2021 GMC Yukon lemon-law case, holding GM had no duty to investigate beyond the complaint and the documented $78,776 in actual damages plus civil penalties (twice actual damages, supported by at least five repair attempts) brought the amount in c
Magistrate Judge Pedro V. Castillo denied remand of a 2019 Chevy Silverado lemon-law case, holding documented actual damages of $54,232 plus civil penalties (twice actual damages, supported by at least ten repair attempts) brought the amount in controversy to roughly $162,698 — well over the $75,000
Judge Breyer adopts a magistrate’s report and recommendation dismissing pro se plaintiff Chikodi Chima’s second federal lawsuit against 26 defendants — lawyers, social workers, police, financial institutions, and the City and County of San Francisco — arising from a state-court child custody dispute
Magistrate Judge Pedro V. Castillo denied remand of a 2022 Chevy Silverado lemon-law suit where actual damages were modest ($34,932) after the mileage offset, but specific willfulness allegations and six repair attempts justified including civil penalties (twice actual damages), bringing the amount
First District holds California courts may exercise specific personal jurisdiction over Citgo Petroleum in coordinated climate-damages litigation brought by California cities and counties, based on Citgo’s longstanding gasoline supply contracts with California retailers.
Judge Fernando Aenlle-Rocha dismissed with prejudice a § 1983 suit against a Los Angeles court reporter who allegedly delayed producing family-law transcripts, holding that plaintiff could not show actual prejudice because his underlying state-court cases were barred by the California litigation pri