Internal union disciplinary proceedings authorized by the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act are “official proceedings authorized by law” under California’s anti-SLAPP statute, the Second District holds, affirming dismissal of claims arising from participation in those p
A trial court abused its discretion in a domestic violence restraining order case by refusing to consider whether the respondent’s humiliating social media posts and calls to the petitioner’s mother constituted indirect abuse that “disturbed the peace” under the Domestic Viol
The Ninth Circuit denies en banc review of a panel ruling that 8 U.S.C. § 1252(g) does not strip federal district courts of jurisdiction over an FTCA damages claim by a noncitizen removed to Mexico when his removal order did not name Mexico as the destination.
The Second District reverses a quashal of service, holding that Yuri Shefler — Swiss-resident billionaire and beneficial owner of SPI Group — is subject to personal jurisdiction in California because he directed, financed, and personally communicated about the purchase of Angelina Jolie’s Cali
The Fifth District holds that a law firm is not disqualified after firing a laterally hired attorney who had a conflict, where the trial court found no confidential client information was shared with the firm’s remaining lawyers before the conflicted attorney was terminated.
California’s Fourth Appellate District reversed the disqualification of defense counsel in a sexual battery case, holding that an inadvertently produced Dropbox index was too ambiguous to trigger attorney stop-and-notify duties, and that using non-privileged discoverable documents cannot suppo
California’s Fourth Appellate District held that California’s absolute litigation privilege bars a property owner from suing an opposing construction expert for negligence in formulating repair recommendations contained in a litigation expert report, even after those repairs failed.
The Ninth Circuit reversed a district court’s refusal to enforce a pre-dispute employment arbitration agreement, holding that the agreement’s scope was limited to employment-related claims under ejusdem generis, distinguishing Cook v. USC’s broader unconscionability holding.
California’s First Appellate District affirmed denial of class certification in a UCL action alleging Transamerica’s bundled Trendsetter LB life insurance policy misled buyers about the cost of included accelerated death benefits, holding that individual differences in agent communicatio
The Second Appellate District affirmed summary judgment for the City of Los Angeles, holding that the 5.5% SoCalGas franchise fee — including a 3.5% surcharge billed to customers — is a charge for use of City streets exempt from Proposition 26’s voter-approval requirement, and that no independ
Case United States v. City of Los Angeles, et al. Court U.S. District Court — Central District of California Date […]
California’s Second Appellate District held that Cal/OSHA can compel Uber to produce records about a deceased Uber Eats driver’s employment status even without first proving the driver was an employee, but remanded for narrowing of overbroad document requests.
The First District reversed a second-degree murder conviction because the trial court failed to clarify — when the jury asked mid-deliberation — that the rule ending self-defense once danger passes does not also eliminate the lesser defense of imperfect self-defense.
The Fourth District affirmed a PAGA judgment in which the trial court reduced penalties on a per-employee (not per-pay-period) basis and applied a 0.70 downward multiplier to the attorney fee lodestar, holding that neither the PAGA statute nor applicable precedent limits the court’s discretion
In an en banc opinion, the Ninth Circuit affirmed denial of habeas relief to an Arizona death-row prisoner, clarifying that merely including an underlying petition as an exhibit does not ‘fairly present’ a claim to a state supreme court, and that Martinez v. Ryan requires a showing of re
When a county names the relatives of a deceased property owner in a housing receivership proceeding and then fails to establish their liability, those relatives are entitled to recover attorney fees from the county under Health and Safety Code section 17980.7(c)(11), which overrides the older, more
A California appeals court upheld $6,000 in sanctions against a law firm whose outsourced contract attorney filed a brief containing two nonexistent case citations and eight fabricated quotations — likely generated by AI — confirming that attorneys of record bear ultimate responsibility for the accu
Tesla’s yard hostlers — who move 53-foot interstate trailers within factory grounds to facilitate unloading — are ‘transportation workers engaged in interstate commerce’ exempt from the Federal Arbitration Act, the First District held, because their work is a necessary step in comp
California’s Fourth District Court of Appeal holds that a class representative’s family tie to class counsel does not automatically defeat probable cause in a subsequent malicious prosecution action — the key question is whether the underlying claims had legal merit, not whether any part
Judge Carolyn Kuhl denies Meta’s and YouTube’s JNOV and new-trial motions, upholding the $6M verdict (incl. $3M punitive) in the first social media addiction bellwether trial, JCCP 5255.
The Ninth Circuit grants a UPS delivery driver a writ of mandamus requiring the district court to first determine whether the FAA or California Arbitration Act governs her employment agreement before compelling arbitration — a threshold question courts cannot punt to arbitrators.
The Ninth Circuit holds that a landfill owner suing California’s CDCR Secretary and DGS Director for RCRA hazardous waste violations ran into Eleventh Amendment immunity because general supervisory authority over agencies is not a “fairly direct” connection to the specific violatio
The Ninth Circuit’s en banc court vacates its own earlier denial of a stay of removal and re-grants the stay in an immigration case, while soliciting briefing on whether to overrule its 2023 precedent on the nexus element for asylum — drawing sharp dissents about the court’s inconsistenc
In a case of first impression, the Fourth District holds that section 300(e) juvenile dependency jurisdiction requires the child to be under five at the time of the hearing, not when the abuse occurred — reversing findings against a child who turned five before the hearing.