California Case Summaries

Personal Injury & Tort

Secondary practice area

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

Mary D. v. McCauley — Incarcerated Civil Defendant Entitled to Meaningful Trial Access

automatic / August 12, 2026

The Court of Appeal reversed for a new trial. Once McCauley met the threshold showing governing incarcerated civil litigants, the trial court had to meaningfully consider practical measures that would permit access to court; denying additional time to secure counsel under these circumstances was an abuse of discretion and violated constitutional access rights.

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.

2nd District Court of Appeal, Administrative Law, Healthcare Law, Personal Injury & Tort

Sgaraglino v. County of Ventura — LPS Act Immunizes Hospital From Wrongful Death Suit After Psychiatric Patient’s Post-Discharge Suicide

automatic / June 9, 2026

California's Second District confirms that Welfare and Institutions Code section 5113 grants absolute immunity to psychiatric hospitals for any action taken by a patient after a 5150 hold is released — including the patient's own suicide — with no exception for gross negligence.

1st District Court of Appeal, Family Law, Personal Injury & Tort

C.F. v. Alternative Family Services — Foster Family Agency Owes Duty to Protect Children from Abuse It Knew or Should Have Known About

automatic / June 4, 2026

The First District affirmed a $24.7 million verdict against a foster family agency, holding that FFAs have a duty to protect foster children from abuse they knew or should have known about, but rejecting both an unlimited protective duty and one requiring actual knowledge.

Civil Procedure, Personal Injury & Tort

McGarry v. Uber Technologies — Fourth District Affirms Summary Judgment for Rideshare in Intoxicated Passenger’s Off-Route Freeway Death

automatic / May 21, 2026

The Fourth Appellate District (Division One) affirmed summary judgment for Uber in a wrongful-death suit, holding that an intoxicated college passenger’s death after she was struck on a freeway interchange roughly four miles from where two Uber drivers had left her was not within the scope of risk created by the drivers’ conduct.

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

Sargenti v. City of Long Beach — Court Affirms Summary Judgment for City in E-Scooter Sidewalk Fall, Limits Sweetwater Doctrine

automatic / May 15, 2026

The Second District affirmed summary judgment for the City of Long Beach in an e-scooter sidewalk injury case, holding that amended interrogatory responses don’t automatically create triable issues and that the Sweetwater rule for anti-SLAPP evidence does not extend to summary judgment.

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

Fuhr v. City of Seattle — Ninth Circuit Grants Qualified Immunity to SWAT Officer Who Shot Fleeing Father Holding Infant Daughter

automatic / May 7, 2026

Ninth Circuit affirms summary judgment for a Seattle SWAT officer who shot and killed an armed, fleeing father holding his infant daughter, holding that no clearly established law put the officer on notice that deadly force in those circumstances was unconstitutional.

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

Chang v. Southern California Permanente Medical Group — Going and Coming Rule Bars Vicarious Liability for Employee’s Commute Even Where Employee Sometimes Worked from Home

automatic / April 28, 2026

Second District affirms summary judgment for medical group under the going and coming rule in case where employee struck a bicyclist while turning into a parking lot during her morning commute, holding that the employee's permission to work from home on certain days did not convert her home into a second worksite for purposes of the day in question.

1st District Court of Appeal, Construction Law, Personal Injury & Tort

Cordero v. Ghilotti Construction — Privette Doctrine Bars Subcontractor Worker’s Claim Against Turnkey Contractor for Slip-and-Fall Despite Cal-OSHA Regulation

automatic / April 10, 2026

First District affirms summary judgment for turnkey contractor under the Privette doctrine in suit by injured rebar subcontractor employee, holding that morning site preparation including dewatering does not constitute affirmative contribution under Hooker and that Cal-OSHA regulations are generally delegable through subcontracts.

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

Pagan v. City of San Rafael — Open and Obvious Roadway Conditions Defeat Dangerous Condition Claim

automatic / April 1, 2026

First District affirms summary judgment for City of San Rafael in dangerous condition case where teenage driver hydroplaned on wet curve, holding the conditions were open and obvious as a matter of law and that plaintiff could not defeat summary judgment by raising new pavement-defect theories outside the pleadings.

6th District Court of Appeal, Litigation, Personal Injury & Tort

Harcourt v. Tesla — Consumer Expectations Test Cannot Be Used to Prove Defect in Complex Vehicle Safety System

automatic / April 1, 2026

Sixth District affirms nonsuit for Tesla in case where toddler started Model X and ran over his pregnant mother, holding that the consumer expectations test does not apply to complex modern vehicle safety systems and the plaintiff failed to identify any specific design feature that violated ordinary consumer expectations.

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