Author: automatic

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

Center for Biological Diversity v. Public Utilities Commission — On remand from Supreme Court, Court of Appeal again upholds Net Energy Metering 3.0 successor tariff under Yamaha standard

automatic / March 9, 2026

On remand from the California Supreme Court, the First District again upholds the Public Utilities Commission's NEM 3.0 successor tariff for rooftop solar exports, applying the Yamaha standard of deference.

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

Alameda County Taxpayers’ Association v. City of Oakland — Oakland Zoo parcel tax initiative survives challenge after severing references to private operator

automatic / March 9, 2026

First District holds that an Oakland voter initiative funding the Oakland Zoo violated the California Constitution by naming a private operator, but the offending references can be severed and the measure passed with the required simple majority.

1st District Court of Appeal, Administrative Law, Litigation

Doe v. Regents of the University of California — UC Berkeley’s expulsion of student for sexual misconduct affirmed despite no Stage Four cross-examination

automatic / March 6, 2026

First District affirms UC Berkeley's expulsion of a student in a non-Title IX sexual misconduct case, holding that any limit on direct cross-examination at the campus hearing was harmless given the prior criminal preliminary hearing.

1st District Court of Appeal, Family Law

In re L.G. — Juvenile court must show reasonable efforts to prevent removal of a child from a mentally ill parent’s care

automatic / March 6, 2026

First District affirms juvenile court jurisdiction but reverses removal of an infant from a mother with serious mental illness because the agency did not show reasonable efforts to prevent removal.

2nd District Court of Appeal, Litigation, Real Estate Law

Montecito Country Club v. Root — Recorded golf cart easement is not abandoned by rerouting and can be expanded by prescription to include hedge maintenance

automatic / March 6, 2026

Second District holds that a recorded golf cart easement was not abandoned when the country club rerouted the path and that the easement was prescriptively expanded to include hedge and landscaping maintenance.

1st District Court of Appeal, Criminal Law

People v. Uceda — Murder conviction affirmed but drive-by shooting conviction reversed for failure to instruct on lesser included offense

automatic / March 5, 2026

First District affirms a murder conviction but reverses a drive-by shooting conviction because the trial court failed to instruct the jury on grossly negligent discharge of a firearm as a lesser included offense.

2nd District Court of Appeal, Environmental Law, Real Estate Law

Las Posas Valley Water Rights Coalition v. Ventura County Waterworks — Comprehensive groundwater adjudication and physical solution affirmed against landowner objections

automatic / March 5, 2026

Second District affirms a comprehensive adjudication of the Las Posas Valley Groundwater Basin, upholding the trial court's physical solution allocating water to overlying landowners and appointing Fox Canyon as watermaster.

2nd District Court of Appeal, Criminal Law

People v. Nelson — Trial court’s denial of mental health diversion is reviewed deferentially; concurring justice criticizes contrary Fourth District opinion

automatic / March 5, 2026

Second District affirms denial of mental health diversion under Penal Code section 1001.36, with a notable concurrence sharply criticizing a recent Fourth District decision that overturned a similar denial.

2nd District Court of Appeal, Criminal Law

People v. Superior Court (Taylor) — Mental health diversion requires evidence the defendant will actually comply with treatment, not just willingness

automatic / March 5, 2026

Second District grants writ vacating mental health diversion in a violent hate-crime case, holding that the trial court must consider evidence of past treatment noncompliance when applying the public safety prong of Penal Code section 1001.36.

4th District Court of Appeal, Family Law, Litigation

Domestic Partnership of Campos & Munoz — $5,000 in sanctions imposed for citing AI-generated fake cases in pet custody dispute

automatic / March 5, 2026

Fourth District affirms a pet custody order but imposes $5,000 in sanctions on counsel for repeatedly citing AI-generated fake cases and reports the conduct to the State Bar of California.

2nd District Court of Appeal, Litigation, Personal Injury & Tort

LAOSD Asbestos Cases (Chapman v. Avon Products) — $51 million asbestos verdict against Avon affirmed; appellant’s failure to recite all evidence forfeits sufficiency challenge

automatic / March 4, 2026

Second District affirms a $51 million asbestos-talc verdict against Avon Products and holds that Avon's appellate brief forfeited its sufficiency-of-the-evidence challenge by failing to fairly summarize the trial evidence.

3rd District Court of Appeal, Environmental Law, Litigation

Physicians for Social Responsibility v. Department of Toxic Substances Control — Losing CEQA plaintiffs not entitled to private attorney general fees on a catalyst theory

automatic / March 4, 2026

Third District holds plaintiffs who lost their CEQA challenge cannot recover catalyst-theory attorney fees under Code of Civil Procedure section 1021.5 when the agency's later action came years after final defeat in court.

4th District Court of Appeal, Administrative Law, Litigation

Harrington v. Housing Authority of Riverside County — Trial court cannot uphold Section 8 termination on grounds the agency never decided

automatic / March 4, 2026

Fourth District holds that even under independent judgment review, a trial court cannot uphold a Section 8 termination on grounds the housing authority's hearing officer never adjudicated.

1st District Court of Appeal, Labor & Employment Law, Litigation

Sorokunov v. NetApp, Inc. — Arbitrator’s findings on individual wage claims preclude PAGA standing in court

automatic / March 3, 2026

First District holds that an arbitrator's merits-based finding that an employee did not suffer Labor Code violations preclusively destroys the same employee's PAGA standing in the companion court action.

1st District Court of Appeal, Labor & Employment Law, Litigation

Ehrenkranz v. San Francisco Zen Center — Ministerial exception requires actual ecclesiastical concern; Labor Code bond requirement applies only to employer entities

automatic / March 2, 2026

First District holds the First Amendment ministerial exception does not categorically bar a Zen Center worker's wage-and-hour claims, but Labor Code section 98.2's appeal bond is required only of the employing entity, not individuals also liable under section 558.1.

2nd District Court of Appeal, Administrative Law, Constitutional Law

Fix the City v. City of Los Angeles — Mayor Bass’s Local Housing/Homelessness Emergency Declaration Was Authorized by City Code and Not Preempted by State Emergency Services Act

automatic / February 27, 2026

Second District affirms denial of a writ challenge to Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass's 2023 housing-and-homelessness emergency declaration, holding section 8.33 of the Los Angeles Administrative Code is not preempted by the California Emergency Services Act.

2nd District Court of Appeal, Civil Procedure, Litigation

Woodhouse v. State Bar of California — Vexatious-Litigant Determination Affirmed; Future Pro Per Filings Require Pre-Filing Approval and Security

automatic / February 27, 2026

Second District affirms a trial-court ruling declaring an inactive California attorney a vexatious litigant and barring his future pro per suits absent pre-filing approval and posted security, in light of a long history of dismissed federal cases and frivolous filings.

California Supreme Court, Criminal Law

People v. Morgan — Assault Is Not a Lesser Included Offense of Resisting an Officer by Force or Violence

automatic / February 26, 2026

The California Supreme Court holds that assault is not a lesser included offense of resisting an officer by force or violence under Penal Code section 69, because resistance does not require the present ability to inflict harm.

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

Fisher v. Fisher — Wrongful-Death Verdict Affirmed Where Brothers’ False Police Report Caused Recovering-Alcoholic Brother’s Fatal Relapse

automatic / February 26, 2026

Fourth District affirms a $9.4 million wrongful-death judgment against two brothers who falsely reported their deceased mother missing to police, triggering a phone call to a recovering-alcoholic brother whose resulting relapse caused his death.

5th District Court of Appeal, Criminal Law

People v. Gonzalez — Trial Court Properly Used Aggravating Factors Tied to Prior Convictions for Upper-Term Sentence; Strike Vacated After Fletcher

automatic / February 26, 2026

Fifth District holds (on transfer from the California Supreme Court) that trial courts may impose upper-term sentences based on California Rules of Court rule 4.421(b) factors derived from prior convictions, but vacates the prior-strike finding under People v. Fletcher.

4th District Court of Appeal, Criminal Law, Family Law, Litigation

J.S. v. D.A. — Trial Court Again Erred by Issuing DVRO Without Addressing Incarcerated Respondent’s Request to Appear by Phone

automatic / February 25, 2026

Fourth District reverses a five-year DVRO for the second time, holding the trial court again denied the incarcerated respondent meaningful access to the courts by issuing the order without addressing his request to appear telephonically.

2nd District Court of Appeal, Business Transactions, Litigation

Jogani v. Jogani — $6.85 Billion Verdict in Brothers’ Real-Estate Partnership Suit Conditionally Affirmed; Lost-Profits Expert Testimony Excluded

automatic / February 24, 2026

Second District conditionally affirms a $6.85 billion verdict in a five-month trial over the Jogani brothers' real-estate partnership, but orders a remittitur because Shashi Jogani's damages expert testified to an undisclosed lost-profits opinion exceeding $1.9 billion.

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

In re Christian V. — Amended Juvenile Restitution Statute Did Not Apply Retroactively Where Minor’s Case Became Final Before the Effective Date

automatic / February 24, 2026

Fourth District affirms a juvenile court's joint-and-several restitution order, holding the January 2025 amendment to Welfare and Institutions Code section 730.6 — which replaced joint-and-several liability with several liability based on percentage of fault — does not apply retroactively to a case that became final before the amendment took effect.

4th District Court of Appeal, Litigation, Real Estate Law

Ashirwad, LLC v. Bradbury — Tenant’s Post-Lease Payment During COVID Did Not Necessarily Create a Month-to-Month Tenancy Under Civil Code Section 1945

automatic / February 23, 2026

Fourth District affirms a bench-trial finding that commercial tenants rebutted Civil Code section 1945's presumption of month-to-month tenancy after their lease expired during COVID-19, where the tenants paid one month as a goodwill gesture and never agreed to continue.

4th District Court of Appeal, Environmental Law, Litigation

Environmental Health Advocates v. Pancho Villa’s — Substantial Compliance Governs Proposition 65 Pre-Suit Notice Requirements

automatic / February 20, 2026

Fourth District holds Proposition 65's pre-suit notice regulation is directory rather than mandatory, and that substantial compliance — not strict compliance — governs the validity of the 60-day notice for private-enforcement actions.