California Case Summaries

Civil Procedure

Secondary practice area

California Supreme Court, Civil Procedure, Litigation

Maniago v. Desert Cardiology Consultants — Voluntary Dismissal Forfeits Right to Appeal Adverse Pretrial Rulings

automatic / July 16, 2026

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 purpose was to expedite review of adverse pretrial rulings.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Banking & Finance, Civil Procedure, Litigation

Relator LLC v. Erskine — Ninth Circuit Revives PPP Fraud Whistleblower Suit, Holds Mortgage Company’s Own Website Is Not “News Media” Under False Claims Act

automatic / July 15, 2026

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 the Act's public disclosure bar.

1st District Court of Appeal, Civil Procedure, Litigation, Personal Injury & Tort

Wilkins v. Cruise, LLC — Autonomous Vehicle Company’s Sign-In Wrap Agreement Enforces Arbitration Clause Against Injured Rider

automatic / July 14, 2026

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 related corporate entities were not "third parties" under the CCP §1281.2(c) exception.

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

Victor Valley Union High School District v. Superior Court — School District Immunity Turns on Where Negligence Occurred, Not Where Student Was Harmed

automatic / July 13, 2026

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.

4th District Court of Appeal, Civil Procedure, Criminal Law

In re King — Trial Court Must Expressly Find No Less Restrictive Alternative Before Ordering Pretrial Detention

automatic / July 13, 2026

The Fourth District Court of Appeal, on remand from the California Supreme Court, holds that a trial court ordering pretrial detention must make an express finding by clear and convincing evidence that no less restrictive condition than incarceration will adequately protect public safety — “balancing” alternatives against danger is not enough.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Civil Procedure, Litigation

Price v. Diab — ADA Plaintiff Who Wins Accessibility Injunction via Default Judgment Is a “Prevailing Party” Entitled to Attorney’s Fees

automatic / July 13, 2026

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.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Civil Procedure, Immigration, Litigation

Menjivar-Ayala v. Blanche — Ninth Circuit Holds BIA Must Consider Ineffective Assistance Claim Even When Attorney’s Failure Occurred Before a Different Court

automatic / July 9, 2026

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 represented noncitizen does not overcome the presumption of prejudice from counsel's failure to notify them.

4th District Court of Appeal, Civil Procedure, Litigation

Damak v. Superior Court — Trial Courts Must Apply Section 2023.050’s Mandatory $1,000 Sanction for Bad-Faith Discovery Conduct, Regardless of Whether the Moving Party Incurred Expenses

automatic / July 8, 2026

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 stonewalling by opposing counsel is not left without a remedy.

3rd District Court of Appeal, Civil Procedure, Labor & Employment Law

Phan v. Knight Sacramento SU Inc. — Car Dealership Arbitration Agreements Struck as Unconscionable Under Cook v. USC Standard

automatic / July 2, 2026

The Third District Court of Appeal affirms the trial court's refusal to compel arbitration of an auto dealership employee's wage and hour claims, finding the employer's adhesive arbitration agreements unconscionable under Cook v. University of Southern California (2024) due to high economic coercion and one-sided third-party beneficiary provisions.

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

Smith v. Superior Court — Court of Appeal Allows 440 Tesla Racial Discrimination Plaintiffs to Proceed in Joint Complaints

automatic / June 30, 2026

The First District grants a writ of mandate requiring Tesla to face five joint complaints from 440 Black factory workers, holding that permissive joinder under CCP § 378 is proper where all plaintiffs allege injury from the same factory-wide pattern of racial discrimination — and that manageability concerns cannot justify ordering mass individual re-filings.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Civil Procedure, Criminal Law

Cannon v. United States — Government Cannot Keep Cash Stolen by Its Own Agent After Recovering It in Restitution

automatic / June 29, 2026

The Ninth Circuit ruled that sovereign immunity does not block a person from recovering seized cash that a federal agent stole and the government later recouped in restitution proceedings, reversing summary judgment for the government in a case where an FBI agent pocketed $218,200 of money seized during a drug investigation.

4th District Court of Appeal, Civil Procedure, Family Law

In re N.J. — Implied Findings Doctrine Supplies Missing Presumed Father Finding in Dependency; ICWA Remand Required

automatic / June 26, 2026

The Fourth District holds that where a juvenile court treats a father as a presumed father throughout dependency proceedings without expressly saying so, the implied findings doctrine satisfies the requirement — but an explicit finding must be directed on remand, alongside mandatory ICWA compliance.

4th District Court of Appeal, Civil Procedure, Litigation

Popa v. Simpson — Disqualifying Opposing Counsel Requires Clearly Privileged Document, Not Just a Lawyer’s Folder Name

automatic / June 23, 2026

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 support disqualification.

4th District Court of Appeal, Civil Procedure, Construction Law, Litigation

Fazel v. Pete Fowler Construction Services — Litigation Privilege Bars Negligence Suit Against Expert for Defective Repair Recommendations

automatic / June 23, 2026

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.

1st District Court of Appeal, Civil Procedure, Insurance Law, Litigation

Guthrie v. Transamerica Life Insurance Co. — Class Certification Denied for UCL Claims Over Bundled Life Insurance Premium

automatic / June 22, 2026

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 communications and policy data pages prevented class-wide proof of deception.

1st District Court of Appeal, Civil Procedure, Litigation, Real Estate Law

County of Del Norte v. Britt — Homeowners Wrongly Named in Housing Receivership Can Recover Attorney Fees from the County

automatic / June 11, 2026

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 general bar on cost awards against municipalities.

1st District Court of Appeal, Civil Procedure, Litigation

Quinteros v. Harbor Distributing — Court Upholds $6,000 Sanctions for AI-Generated Brief With Eight Fabricated Case Quotations

automatic / June 11, 2026

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 accuracy of every filing regardless of who drafted it.

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