1st District Court of Appeal, Administrative Law, Environmental Law

Russian Riverkeeper v. County of Sonoma — Well-permit ordinance survives public-trust review but requires CEQA compliance

automatic / August 4, 2026

Sonoma County adequately considered public-trust impacts when revising its groundwater-well ordinance, but lacked substantial evidence for exempting the revision from CEQA.

4th District Court of Appeal, Administrative Law, Business Transactions, Environmental Law

Applied Medical Resources Corp. v. PUC — Commission may reject private microgrid tariff proposal

automatic / August 4, 2026

The PUC acted within its broad authority when it adopted utility microgrid tariffs while rejecting a manufacturer's competing proposal.

2nd District Court of Appeal, Civil Procedure, Litigation

A Company Hungary KFT v. Bespalov — Unsupported accusations of judicial bias bring contempt sanction

automatic / August 4, 2026

The court held appellate counsel in contempt and imposed a $1,000 fine for repeatedly accusing the trial judge of bias without record support.

4th District Court of Appeal, Insurance Law, Litigation, Personal Injury & Tort

Farmers Insurance Exchange v. Superior Court — Timely acceptance formed binding policy-limits settlement

automatic / August 4, 2026

A claimant's policy-limits demand became a binding settlement when Farmers timely accepted and supplied the requested declarations page.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Intellectual Property, Litigation

VIP Products v. Jack Daniel’s — Dog-toy parody does not tarnish famous whiskey marks

automatic / August 4, 2026

The Ninth Circuit vacated Jack Daniel's injunction because its evidence did not show that the Bad Spaniels parody was likely to harm the reputation of its famous marks.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Business Transactions, Intellectual Property, Litigation

Amazon v. Perplexity AI — User-directed shopping agent likely does not “access” Amazon under hacking laws

automatic / August 4, 2026

The Ninth Circuit vacated an injunction against Perplexity's shopping assistant because users, not the AI company, likely accessed Amazon's computers.

4th District Court of Appeal, Labor & Employment Law, Litigation

Cluck v. GEO Secure Services — Related Onboarding Agreements Made Employment Arbitration Impermissibly One-Sided

automatic / August 3, 2026

The court refused arbitration because related onboarding documents sent employee claims to arbitration while preserving GEO’s preferred claims for court.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Administrative Law, Constitutional Law

Przybocki v. USDA — Consumers and Food Sellers Can Pursue First Amendment Challenges to FODMAP Label Restrictions

automatic / August 3, 2026

The Ninth Circuit found standing for consumers and food sellers challenging federal restrictions on FODMAP label information.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Criminal Law

United States v. Ridley-Thomas — Ninth Circuit Upholds Los Angeles Public-Corruption Convictions

automatic / August 3, 2026

The Ninth Circuit upheld Mark Ridley-Thomas’s bribery and honest-services fraud convictions based on a $100,000 funneling arrangement.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Business Transactions, Civil Procedure

Shenzhen Zehuijin Investment Center v. Yingkui — Physical Presence Supports Personal Jurisdiction Without In-Person Service

automatic / August 3, 2026

Physical presence supports personal jurisdiction even without in-person service, and a separate service objection can be waived.

1st District Court of Appeal, Civil Procedure, Constitutional Law, Healthcare Law

Conservatorship of C.O. — Counsel may communicate conservatee’s jury-trial waiver

automatic / August 3, 2026

An LPS conservatee may knowingly waive a jury trial through counsel, although the trial court should personally advise the conservatee of that right.

California Supreme Court, Administrative Law, Labor & Employment Law

L.A. County Employees Retirement Association v. County of Los Angeles — Pension Boards Cannot Unilaterally Set Staff Classifications and Pay

automatic / August 3, 2026

California pension boards control system administration but cannot unilaterally dictate county staff classifications or salaries.

California Supreme Court, Healthcare Law, Personal Injury & Tort

Gilead Tenofovir Cases — Drug Makers Owe No Negligence Duty to Launch a Safer Alternative Sooner

automatic / August 3, 2026

The California Supreme Court rejected negligence liability based solely on delaying a safer alternative to a nondefective drug.

2nd District Court of Appeal, Family Law

In re Miguel J. — Domestic Violence Can Support Dependency Jurisdiction Even When the Child Is Struck Accidentally

automatic / August 3, 2026

Intentional domestic violence in a child’s presence can support dependency jurisdiction even if contact with the child was accidental.

1st District Court of Appeal, Criminal Law

People v. Keene — Section 654 Bars Multiple Punishment for the Same Drug-and-Firearm Possession

automatic / August 3, 2026

The Court of Appeal required stays for overlapping drug and firearm possession terms but upheld the upper term as harmless error.

4th District Court of Appeal, Labor & Employment Law, Litigation

Morales v. Superior Court — Narrow Employment Arbitration Clause Does Not Reach Statutory Wrongful-Termination Claims

automatic / August 3, 2026

A clause limited to disputes about an employment agreement did not cover independent FEHA, CFRA, and public-policy claims.

2nd District Court of Appeal, Business Transactions, Environmental Law, Litigation

Consumer Protection Group v. Signal Brands — Proposition 65 Settlement Bars Duplicative Public-Enforcement Suit

automatic / July 31, 2026

A published California decision holds that a court-approved Proposition 65 settlement can bar a later private-enforcement suit over products covered by the consent judgment.

1st District Court of Appeal, Business Transactions, Litigation

Salamon v. Orchid Global — Delaware Forum Clause Cannot Reduce California Shareholder Inspection Rights

automatic / July 31, 2026

A published California decision refuses to enforce a Delaware forum clause because the corporation failed to show that Delaware litigation would preserve nonwaivable California shareholder inspection rights.

2nd District Court of Appeal, Civil Procedure, Labor & Employment Law, Litigation

Glick v. City of Los Angeles — Court reinstates jury’s $13 million emotional-distress awards

automatic / July 30, 2026

A trial court could not impose an arbitrary ceiling on emotional-distress damages or disregard admissible employee testimony about future losses.

4th District Court of Appeal, Administrative Law, Family Law

In re Violet S. — Eligible nonminor dependent keeps extended foster-care jurisdiction

automatic / July 30, 2026

A juvenile court could not terminate jurisdiction over an eligible nonminor dependent merely because another agency also provided lifelong services.

3rd District Court of Appeal, Administrative Law, Environmental Law, Litigation

AquAlliance v. Vina Groundwater Sustainability Agency — Agency review may precede a court’s sustainability analysis

automatic / July 30, 2026

A trial court properly deferred to the Department of Water Resources and dismissed a duplicative challenge to a groundwater plan’s sustainability evaluation.

1st District Court of Appeal, Constitutional Law, Criminal Law

Thompson v. Superior Court — Mental-health diversion may include rehabilitative search conditions

automatic / July 30, 2026

Trial courts may impose reasonable, rehabilitation-focused conditions when granting pretrial mental-health diversion.

3rd District Court of Appeal, Criminal Law

People v. McAllister — One case permits one restitution fine despite multiple counts

automatic / July 30, 2026

A trial court must impose a single restitution fine for one criminal case rather than separate fines for individual counts.

4th District Court of Appeal, Criminal Law

People v. Kazarian — Omitted traffic-law definitions were harmless in felony-evasion trial

automatic / July 30, 2026

Any failure to define the traffic violations supporting felony evasion was harmless where the undisputed driving conduct clearly violated those laws.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Banking & Finance, Labor & Employment Law, Litigation

Pover v. Capital Group — ERISA plan-wide claims cannot be stripped by arbitration waiver

automatic / July 30, 2026

The Ninth Circuit refused to enforce an arbitration provision that prevented a retirement-plan participant from seeking plan-wide ERISA relief.