Litigation

3rd District Court of Appeal, Healthcare Law, Litigation

Wright v. WellQuest Elk Grove — California arbitration procedural rules apply by default; trial court properly refused to compel arbitration over wrongful death and elder neglect claims

automatic / March 18, 2026

Third District holds that a memory care facility's selection of the FAA does not displace California's section 1281.2(c) procedural provisions, allowing the trial court to deny arbitration of survivor and wrongful death claims based on the risk of conflicting rulings.

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

Ayala-Ventura v. Superior Court — Janitorial worker’s arbitration agreement enforced; trial courts may distinguish, but should explain departures from binding precedent

automatic / March 17, 2026

Fifth District enforces a janitorial worker's mutual arbitration agreement and explains how trial courts should distinguish, but document their departures from, binding California Court of Appeal precedent like Cook v. USC.

2nd District Court of Appeal, Civil Procedure, Litigation

Clapkin v. Levin — Anti-SLAPP motion fails where claims arise from underlying business dispute, not protected litigation activity; orders denying related fee motions are not appealable

automatic / March 16, 2026

Second District affirms denial of an anti-SLAPP motion in a family corporation dispute and reaffirms that orders denying related attorney fee motions are not separately appealable, deepening a split with other appellate divisions.

4th District Court of Appeal, Business Transactions, Litigation

Clarke v. Yu — Statute of frauds applies to oral and implied joint venture agreements that cannot be performed within one year

automatic / March 16, 2026

Fourth District holds that California's one-year statute of frauds applies to oral and implied joint venture agreements and affirms summary judgment for Scripps scientists in a biotech startup dispute with a venture capitalist.

3rd District Court of Appeal, Civil Procedure, Litigation

Jacobs v. Papez — Successor attorney can resolve all attorney lien priorities in a single declaratory relief action against client and prior counsel

automatic / March 13, 2026

Third District holds that an attorney with a competing lien can bring a single declaratory relief action against both the client and the prior attorney to resolve the validity, amount, and priority of all attorney liens on settlement proceeds.

2nd District Court of Appeal, Healthcare Law, Litigation

Pomona Valley Hospital v. Kaiser Foundation Health Plan — Expired contract rates are admissible in quantum meruit dispute over emergency room reimbursement; prejudgment interest capped at 7 percent

automatic / March 12, 2026

Second District holds that a hospital's expired 2004 contract with Kaiser was admissible in a quantum meruit dispute over emergency reimbursement and that prejudgment interest in such actions is 7 percent, not 10 percent.

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

Yan v. City of Diamond Bar — Prior branch falls from same species of street tree are admissible to show city’s notice of dangerous condition

automatic / March 11, 2026

Second District holds that evidence of prior branch failures from same-species street trees in the same neighborhood is admissible to prove a city's notice of a dangerous condition under Government Code section 835.

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.

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.

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, 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.

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.

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, 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.

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

Nichols v. Alghannam — Late-Added Pain-Pump Doctor Could Not Be Sued After Statute of Limitations; No Elder-Abuse Conduct Pleaded

automatic / February 18, 2026

Third District affirms dismissal of malpractice and elder-abuse claims against a pain-management doctor added years after the patient's overdose death, holding the negligence claims were time-barred and the complaint did not allege elder-abuse-level conduct.

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

Haun v. Pagano — Successful Petitioner in Financial-Elder-Abuse Case Could Recover Fees Even Though He Defended Competing Cross-Claim

automatic / February 18, 2026

Fourth District holds that a successful petitioner in a financial-elder-abuse trust dispute may recover attorney fees under Welfare and Institutions Code section 15657.5(a), even though he also defended against the wrongdoers' competing cross-claim for elder abuse.

4th District Court of Appeal, Criminal Law, Litigation

People v. T.B. — ‘Less Onerous Alternatives’ to Court-Ordered ECT Means Medical Alternatives, Not Surrogate-Consent Procedures

automatic / February 18, 2026

Fourth District affirms a trial court order authorizing electroconvulsive therapy for an incarcerated patient with treatment-resistant schizoaffective disorder, holding that 'no less onerous alternatives' under Penal Code section 2679(b) refers to medical alternatives, not surrogate-consent procedures.

4th District Court of Appeal, Criminal Law, Litigation

Flareau v. Superior Court — Trial Court Abused ‘Residual’ Discretion to Deny Mental-Health Diversion Without Proper Analysis

automatic / February 18, 2026

Fourth District grants writ relief, holding that a Riverside County trial court abused its 'residual' discretion under Penal Code section 1001.36 by denying mental-health diversion without proper analysis of the statute's eligibility and suitability criteria.