Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Immigration, Litigation
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June 25, 2026
The Ninth Circuit denies en banc review of a panel ruling that 8 U.S.C. § 1252(g) does not strip federal district courts of jurisdiction over an FTCA damages claim by a noncitizen removed to Mexico when his removal order did not name Mexico as the destination.
2nd District Court of Appeal, Business Transactions, Litigation
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June 24, 2026
The Second District reverses a quashal of service, holding that Yuri Shefler — Swiss-resident billionaire and beneficial owner of SPI Group — is subject to personal jurisdiction in California because he directed, financed, and personally communicated about the purchase of Angelina Jolie's California LLC (Nouvel) in a deal governed by California law.
5th District Court of Appeal, Civil Procedure, Litigation
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June 24, 2026
The Fifth District holds that a law firm is not disqualified after firing a laterally hired attorney who had a conflict, where the trial court found no confidential client information was shared with the firm's remaining lawyers before the conflicted attorney was terminated.
4th District Court of Appeal, Civil Procedure, Litigation
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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
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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.
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Labor & Employment Law, Litigation
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June 23, 2026
The Ninth Circuit reversed a district court's refusal to enforce a pre-dispute employment arbitration agreement, holding that the agreement's scope was limited to employment-related claims under ejusdem generis, distinguishing Cook v. USC's broader unconscionability holding.
1st District Court of Appeal, Civil Procedure, Insurance Law, Litigation
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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.
2nd District Court of Appeal, Constitutional Law, Litigation, Tax (non-estate)
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June 22, 2026
The Second Appellate District affirmed summary judgment for the City of Los Angeles, holding that the 5.5% SoCalGas franchise fee — including a 3.5% surcharge billed to customers — is a charge for use of City streets exempt from Proposition 26's voter-approval requirement, and that no independent reasonableness showing is required under the exemption.
2nd District Court of Appeal, Administrative Law, Labor & Employment Law, Litigation
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June 18, 2026
California's Second Appellate District held that Cal/OSHA can compel Uber to produce records about a deceased Uber Eats driver's employment status even without first proving the driver was an employee, but remanded for narrowing of overbroad document requests.
1st District Court of Appeal, Criminal Law, Litigation
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June 17, 2026
The First District reversed a second-degree murder conviction because the trial court failed to clarify — when the jury asked mid-deliberation — that the rule ending self-defense once danger passes does not also eliminate the lesser defense of imperfect self-defense.
4th District Court of Appeal, Labor & Employment Law, Litigation
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June 17, 2026
The Fourth District affirmed a PAGA judgment in which the trial court reduced penalties on a per-employee (not per-pay-period) basis and applied a 0.70 downward multiplier to the attorney fee lodestar, holding that neither the PAGA statute nor applicable precedent limits the court's discretion on either point.
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Criminal Law, Litigation
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June 17, 2026
In an en banc opinion, the Ninth Circuit affirmed denial of habeas relief to an Arizona death-row prisoner, clarifying that merely including an underlying petition as an exhibit does not 'fairly present' a claim to a state supreme court, and that Martinez v. Ryan requires a showing of reasonable probability of a different outcome in state postconviction proceedings — not just the potential merit of the underlying IAC claim.
Litigation, Personal Injury & Tort
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June 11, 2026
Judge Carolyn Kuhl denies Meta's and YouTube's JNOV and new-trial motions, upholding the $6M verdict (incl. $3M punitive) in the first social media addiction bellwether trial, JCCP 5255.
1st District Court of Appeal, Civil Procedure, Litigation, Real Estate Law
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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
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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.
1st District Court of Appeal, Labor & Employment Law, Litigation
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June 11, 2026
Tesla's yard hostlers — who move 53-foot interstate trailers within factory grounds to facilitate unloading — are 'transportation workers engaged in interstate commerce' exempt from the Federal Arbitration Act, the First District held, because their work is a necessary step in completing an interstate delivery.
4th District Court of Appeal, Civil Procedure, Litigation
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June 10, 2026
California's Fourth District Court of Appeal holds that a class representative's family tie to class counsel does not automatically defeat probable cause in a subsequent malicious prosecution action — the key question is whether the underlying claims had legal merit, not whether any particular plaintiff was the right vehicle for them.
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Labor & Employment Law, Litigation
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June 9, 2026
The Ninth Circuit grants a UPS delivery driver a writ of mandamus requiring the district court to first determine whether the FAA or California Arbitration Act governs her employment agreement before compelling arbitration — a threshold question courts cannot punt to arbitrators.
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Environmental Law, Litigation
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June 9, 2026
The Ninth Circuit holds that a landfill owner suing California's CDCR Secretary and DGS Director for RCRA hazardous waste violations ran into Eleventh Amendment immunity because general supervisory authority over agencies is not a "fairly direct" connection to the specific violations required to sustain a citizen suit against state officials.
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Immigration, Litigation
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June 9, 2026
The Ninth Circuit's en banc court vacates its own earlier denial of a stay of removal and re-grants the stay in an immigration case, while soliciting briefing on whether to overrule its 2023 precedent on the nexus element for asylum — drawing sharp dissents about the court's inconsistency.
4th District Court of Appeal, Family Law, Litigation
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June 5, 2026
In a case of first impression, the Fourth District holds that section 300(e) juvenile dependency jurisdiction requires the child to be under five at the time of the hearing, not when the abuse occurred — reversing findings against a child who turned five before the hearing.
1st District Court of Appeal, Civil Procedure, Environmental Law, Litigation
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June 5, 2026
The First District affirms that a CEQA challenge to the Bay Bridge's Bay Lights 360 LED installation is time-barred, holding that a subsequent Caltrans encroachment permit does not create a new project or restart the limitations period, and issue preclusion bars relitigating questions resolved in an earlier dismissed suit.
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Constitutional Law, Criminal Law, Litigation
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June 5, 2026
The Ninth Circuit denies qualified immunity to two former SFPD inspectors accused of fabricating evidence that led to Joaquin Ciria's 32-year wrongful imprisonment, holding that the right not to be charged based on deliberately fabricated evidence was clearly established by 1990.
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Litigation, Real Estate Law
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June 4, 2026
The Ninth Circuit reversed dismissal of a TCPA class action, holding that unsolicited calls asking homeowners if they want to sell their property qualify as telephone solicitations because the caller's underlying purpose was to encourage the purchase of real estate brokerage services.
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Constitutional Law, Litigation
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June 4, 2026
The Ninth Circuit reversed dismissal of a civil RICO action against tribal officials, holding that officials sued in their individual capacities for money damages are not protected by tribal sovereign immunity and the tribe was not a required party.