Litigation

2nd District Court of Appeal, Business Transactions, Intellectual Property, Litigation

Scott v. Ulta Beauty — Website trademark and access terms did not violate California’s Yelp Law

automatic / September 18, 2026

Ulta’s trademark-use and website-access provisions did not waive consumers’ right to criticize the company and therefore did not violate California’s Yelp Law on the pleaded facts.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Intellectual Property, Litigation

Doe v. GitHub — AI code-output allegations did not state a DMCA metadata claim

automatic / September 16, 2026

The Ninth Circuit held that programmers did not state a DMCA claim because they failed to allege removal of copyright information from copies of their own code.

4th District Court of Appeal, Healthcare Law, Litigation

Sujan v. UHS Corona — Physician had to exhaust hospital peer-review remedies before damages suit

automatic / September 16, 2026

The Fourth District affirmed summary judgment because a physician failed to exhaust hospital peer-review remedies and upheld the related attorney-fee award.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Administrative Law, Litigation

Blue Lake Rancheria v. Kalshi — Tribes likely to prevail against sports event contracts under IGRA

automatic / September 16, 2026

The Ninth Circuit held that California tribes were likely to prevail on an IGRA challenge to sports event contracts, while rejecting their Lanham Act theory.

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

Meehan v. Aguirre — A Plaintiff’s Final Section 998 Offer Controls Cost Shifting When the Judgment Falls Between Successive Offers

automatic / September 15, 2026

A plaintiff who increases a section 998 demand cannot rely on a lower earlier offer when the judgment fails to beat the final valid offer.

1st District Court of Appeal, Business Transactions, Litigation, Personal Injury & Tort

Caltrans v. Herc Rentals — Cargo Shipper May Share Fault for Unsafe Loading

automatic / September 14, 2026

A cargo shipper may share negligence liability when its own loading choices create an unsafe load, despite duties imposed on the carrier and driver.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Constitutional Law, Labor & Employment Law, Litigation

Lewis-Williams v. BART — Ninth Circuit Upholds Religious-Accommodation Verdict for Employees

automatic / September 11, 2026

The Ninth Circuit upheld a jury verdict for former BART employees who showed the agency could have accommodated sincere religious objections to its COVID-19 vaccination requirement without undue hardship.

Appellate Division (Superior Court), Civil Procedure, Litigation

Southland Homes v. Lam — Appellate Division Sanctions Lawyers for Filing AI-Fabricated Authorities

automatic / September 10, 2026

An Orange County appellate division imposed sanctions and State Bar reporting obligations after lawyers filed a petition containing fabricated AI-generated cases and propositions.

2nd District Court of Appeal, Constitutional Law, Litigation

Schneider v. Warner Bros. Discovery — Quiet on Set Documentary Defamation Claim Struck Under Anti-SLAPP Law

automatic / September 10, 2026

The Court of Appeal held that a documentary about children’s television was not reasonably capable of implying that producer Dan Schneider sexually abused child actors and ordered his defamation claim struck.

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

Civil Rights Department v. SpaceX — State Agency May Investigate Whether Out-of-State Conduct Violated FEHA

automatic / September 9, 2026

The Court of Appeal affirmed. At the investigative stage, the agency did not have to prove that every alleged act ultimately fell within FEHA before obtaining information reasonably relevant to that question. SpaceX therefore could not defeat the subpoena simply by characterizing the complaint as extraterritorial.

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

Universal Shopping Plaza v. Hong — Landlord Cannot Base Three-Day Eviction Notice Entirely on Rent More Than One Year Old

automatic / September 9, 2026

The Court of Appeal reversed and directed judgment for the tenant. A landlord cannot invoke the expedited unlawful-detainer remedy when the entire rent default identified in the notice arose more than one year earlier. Contractual payment-allocation language did not restart or evade the statutory window.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Litigation, Personal Injury & Tort

Vella v. MACD Helicopters — Federal 18-Year Repose Period Bars Claims Over Police Helicopter Crash

automatic / September 9, 2026

The Ninth Circuit affirmed. GARA’s definition turns on whether a type or airworthiness certificate was issued and on the statutory operating characteristics, not on whether certification was legally required or whether a public agency owned and used the aircraft.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Constitutional Law, Healthcare Law, Litigation

Adom v. CDCR — ADA accommodation duty does not turn solely on medical necessity

automatic / September 8, 2026

The Ninth Circuit held that CDCR could not defeat an ADA accommodation claim solely by deeming requested incontinence supplies medically unnecessary.

4th District Court of Appeal, Criminal Law, Litigation

People v. Hawthorn — Guilty Plea Does Not Preclude Resentencing Issues, but Error Was Harmless

automatic / September 4, 2026

A guilty plea does not preclude factual litigation at a Penal Code section 1172.6 hearing, though Hawthorn failed to show the error changed the result.

6th District Court of Appeal, Criminal Law, Litigation

People v. Stammers — Inflammatory Messages Unrelated to Charged Conduct Denied Defendant a Fair Trial

automatic / September 4, 2026

The Sixth District reversed a sexual-assault conviction because inflammatory messages with little connection to the charge became improper propensity evidence and denied a fair trial.

1st District Court of Appeal, Family Law, Litigation

Marriage of Trousset and Kelley — Family Court Must Make Express Need-Based Fee Findings

automatic / September 4, 2026

A family court must expressly compare access to litigation funds and ability to pay before denying need-based fees under Family Code section 2030.

3rd District Court of Appeal, Business Transactions, Litigation, Real Estate Law

Urban Sunrise v. Vogt — Dual Agents Defeat Fiduciary Claims Over Failed Commercial Property Deals

automatic / September 4, 2026

The Third District upheld summary judgment for dual real-estate agents because the buyer failed to produce a triable issue on the fiduciary breaches it pleaded.

3rd District Court of Appeal, Civil Procedure, Litigation, Personal Injury & Tort

Guzman v. Superior Court — Indigency Can Support Reduced Appeal Bond Despite Significant Assets

automatic / September 4, 2026

A court may reduce an appeal bond for an appellant with significant assets when the evidence shows those resources cannot support the much larger required undertaking.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Civil Procedure, Environmental Law, Litigation

Inland Empire Waterkeeper v. Corona Clay Company — Sackett Change Requires New Trial on Temescal Creek’s Federal Status

automatic / September 3, 2026

The Ninth Circuit ordered further proceedings on whether Temescal Creek remains federally covered after Sackett while holding that coverage is a merits issue, not jurisdictional.

4th District Court of Appeal, Estate Planning, Probate and Tax Law, Litigation, Probate

Sandford v. Sandford — Trust equalization clause cannot revive time-barred claims

automatic / September 2, 2026

A trust equalization clause covering loans and gifts did not permit a court to revive time-barred claims over decades of family property income.

5th District Court of Appeal, Healthcare Law, Labor & Employment Law, Litigation

Stallion Springs Medical Services v. Superior Court — Staffing company owed no common-law fair-procedure hearing

automatic / September 2, 2026

A physician staffing corporation was not a quasi-public institution and owed no common-law fair-procedure hearing before ending a staffing relationship.

4th District Court of Appeal, Administrative Law, Environmental Law, Litigation

Comite Civico del Valle v. County of Imperial — Lithium project EIR lacked support for long-term water supply

automatic / September 2, 2026

Imperial County’s lithium-project EIR lacked evidence of a 50-year water supply and failed to analyze related mitigation and air-quality risks.

2nd District Court of Appeal, Constitutional Law, Criminal Law, Litigation

In re J.C. — Juvenile transfer barred because 15-year-old was apprehended before jurisdiction ended

automatic / September 2, 2026

A person accused of murders committed at 15 could not be transferred to adult court because he was apprehended while juvenile jurisdiction remained available.

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

Godshall v. Peterson — Ongoing symptoms did not conclusively start malpractice limitations clock

automatic / September 2, 2026

Triable issues remained over when an injury from carpal-tunnel surgery manifested, so the malpractice action could not be dismissed on limitations grounds.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Administrative Law, Immigration, Litigation

Urias-Gaxiola v. Blanche — Noncitizen must be allowed to prove counsel’s factual admission was wrong

automatic / September 2, 2026

The Ninth Circuit required an immigration judge to hear evidence that counsel’s written admission about a noncitizen’s entry was factually wrong.