California’s ALPR statute requires a plaintiff to show actual harm caused by a violation; a technical violation and subjective privacy concern are not enough.
Strict liability for loss of lateral support requires excavation, and a joint section 998 offer cannot shift expert fees without a proven unity of interest.
The California Supreme Court held that a restitution order is appropriate in attorney discipline cases where an attorney’s intentional, fraudulent misconduct caused direct financial harm to a non-client, correcting a State Bar Court misreading of prior precedent that had treated tort-based dam
The California Supreme Court held that when plaintiffs voluntarily dismiss their action before any of their claims have been finally resolved by the trial court, the dismissal terminates the action and forfeits the right to appeal — it does not create an appealable judgment even if the stated purpos
The Ninth Circuit reversed dismissal of a False Claims Act qui tam suit alleging PPP fraud by a California mortgage company, holding that a NAICS industry code alone does not publicly disclose fraud and that a company’s own website does not qualify as ‘news media’ for purposes of t
California’s First District Court of Appeal reversed a trial court that had refused to compel arbitration, holding that Cruise’s mobile app sign-in screen gave an injured employee-rider sufficiently conspicuous notice of the arbitration clause in its Terms of Service, and that GM’s
The Ninth Circuit vacated a $40 million jury verdict for semiconductor component maker Comet Technologies and ordered a new trial after finding that the district court erroneously placed the burden of proving “ready ascertainability” of alleged trade secrets on XP Power rather than on Co
A California Court of Appeal holds that writing “Loss is ongoing” with no dates or date ranges on a government claim form does not substantially comply with Government Code section 910, barring the claimants’ suit against a public agency.
The Fourth District Court of Appeal clarifies that a school district’s immunity under Education Code section 44808 depends on where the district’s negligent act occurred — not where the student was ultimately injured — overruling two of its own prior decisions in the process.
The Ninth Circuit holds that an ADA plaintiff who obtains a default judgment and injunction requiring a Fontana Family Dollar to fix accessibility barriers is a “prevailing party” entitled to seek attorney’s fees — even though the injunction only requires what federal law already mandates.
A California appellate court sanctioned an attorney $1,500 for AI-generated fabricated case quotations and held that contractual “attorneys’ fees” clauses presumptively include separately billed paralegal time.
The Third District reversed a civil asset forfeiture judgment as to one claimant because the jury’s special verdict was internally inconsistent: it found he had an ownership interest in the seized cash and that some of it was innocent, yet awarded him nothing.
The Fifth District held that driving under the influence causing injury is not a lesser included offense of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, because the manslaughter statute can be committed in ways that do not require violating the DUI-with-injury statute.
The Ninth Circuit vacated a district court’s sua sponte remand of two California lemon law cases, holding that the $75,000 amount-in-controversy threshold is a fixed statutory requirement that cannot be adjusted for inflation, and that civil penalties and attorneys’ fees must be counted
California’s Second District Court of Appeal holds that a percentage-of-gross-income rent clause in a public port district’s commercial lease is neither a voter-approval tax under Proposition 26 nor an unconstitutional regulation of alcohol sales.
A California Court of Appeal ruling holds that parties who stipulate to bifurcation in a dissolution case must promptly raise any same-judge objection or face Family Code section 271 sanctions — waiting eight months while attending multiple trial setting conferences is not timely.
The Ninth Circuit holds that the Board of Immigration Appeals has authority — and obligation — to consider ineffective assistance of counsel claims arising from an attorney’s post-final-order misconduct before a different tribunal, and that mailing a courtesy copy of a BIA decision to a repres
The Fourth District held that trial courts must consider Code of Civil Procedure section 2023.050 — which imposes a mandatory $1,000 sanction for bad-faith document production conduct regardless of the other party’s actual expenses — and that a self-represented litigant facing discovery stonew
In a matter of first impression, the Ninth Circuit held that under the EFAA’s timing provision, a “dispute arises” when an employee registers internal disagreement with an employer and the employer expressly or constructively opposes it — not when the employee later files a formal
The Second District holds that harassment based on sexual orientation is “sexual harassment” under FEHA, triggering the federal EFAA’s bar on mandatory arbitration of the entire case.
The Fourth District holds that an employer’s statutory right to seek a workplace violence restraining order on behalf of its employees cannot be signed away in a separation agreement, and strikes as a First Amendment violation a provision barring an elected board member from discussing the res
The First District publishes this opinion specifically to flag a recurring error: at a section 1172.6 evidentiary hearing, the trial court is an independent fact-finder who must decide whether the petitioner IS guilty beyond a reasonable doubt under current law — not whether a jury ‘could̵
The California Supreme Court unanimously holds that the federal two-dismissal rule (FRCP 41(a)(1)(B)) bars re-filing only in federal court and does not preclude a subsequent action in California state court, reversing dismissal of school sexual abuse claims.
The Ninth Circuit vacated a sophisticated-laundering sentencing enhancement because the district court applied the enhancement without first working through the required preceding step in U.S.S.G. § 2S1.1(b)(2), remanding for limited resentencing of three defendants convicted in a large-scale gift-c