2nd District Court of Appeal

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.

2nd District Court of Appeal, Civil Procedure, Collections & Creditor Rights, Criminal Law

People v. Bankers Insurance Co. — Bail exoneration could remain conditioned on later-calculated extradition costs

automatic / September 18, 2026

A court may exonerate a bail bond subject to later-calculated extradition costs, and the expiration of the appearance period does not erase that reimbursement condition.

2nd District Court of Appeal, Criminal Law

People v. Ammons — Voluntary-intoxication instruction did not prejudice attempted-murder verdict

automatic / September 16, 2026

The Second District held that any omission from a voluntary-intoxication instruction was harmless because the jury found intent to kill and the record foreclosed a different premeditation finding.

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.

2nd District Court of Appeal, Criminal Law

People v. Singh — Lost College Scholarship Was Proper Victim Restitution

automatic / September 14, 2026

A rape victim’s lost college scholarship was a compensable economic loss, and the defendant had no right to a jury determination of its amount.

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.

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.

2nd District Court of Appeal, Criminal Law, Litigation

People v. Campbell — Murder Resentencing Denied Despite Claimed Instructional Ambiguity

automatic / September 1, 2026

The Second District held that Lopez removed a procedural bar to Campbell’s instructional theory but that his jury necessarily found a still-valid form of malice.

2nd District Court of Appeal, Family Law

Marriage of Traweek — Domestic-violence conviction did not automatically bar spousal support

automatic / August 28, 2026

A domestic-violence conviction creates a rebuttable presumption, not an absolute bar, when a California court decides spousal support.

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

City of Los Angeles v. AFSCME — Labor board could order make-whole relief for failure to bargain over pension changes

automatic / August 28, 2026

A Los Angeles labor board could compensate employees for losses caused by the City's failure to bargain over the effects of a pension change.

2nd District Court of Appeal, Criminal Law

People v. Santistevan — Great-Bodily-Injury Enhancement Cannot Attach to Serious-Bodily-Injury Battery

automatic / August 27, 2026

A great-bodily-injury enhancement must be stricken when imposed on battery causing serious bodily injury based on the same injury.

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

Buchheim v. Anaya — Unsupported Belief Cannot Defeat Objective Proof of Loan Repayment

automatic / August 25, 2026

The Court of Appeal held that unsupported assertions of nonpayment could not create a triable issue against admitted escrow records showing that a consolidated real-estate loan was repaid.

2nd District Court of Appeal, Civil Procedure, Healthcare Law, Litigation

Conservatorship of K.L. — Written Notice Alone Did Not Establish a Valid Jury Waiver

automatic / August 25, 2026

A written citation mentioning the jury right did not establish that an LPS conservatee knowingly waived a jury where neither counsel nor the court explained the right.

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

Doe v. Adventist Health — health-site tracking claims may proceed as classes

automatic / August 24, 2026

A California appellate court revived class-certification efforts over tracking technology on health-risk and patient-portal pages.

2nd District Court of Appeal, Business Transactions, Collections & Creditor Rights, Litigation

Lakeshore Investment v. Now Solutions — tripled settlement default is an unenforceable penalty

automatic / August 24, 2026

A $1.5 million stipulated judgment triggered by default on a $450,000 settlement was an unenforceable penalty without evidence supporting the estimate.

2nd District Court of Appeal, Civil Procedure, Criminal Law

People v. Lossing — injury DUI is not a lesser included offense of vehicular manslaughter

automatic / August 24, 2026

The court held that injury DUI is not necessarily included within gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated.

2nd District Court of Appeal, Criminal Law

People v. Veliz — Attempted Robbery Does Not Require Actual Force or Fear

automatic / August 18, 2026

The Second District held that attempted robbery requires robbery intent and a direct step, but not proof that the defendant actually used force or caused fear.

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

People v. Maldonado — Exclusion from competency hearing was harmless where presence would not aid fairness

automatic / August 11, 2026

A defendant's absence from a pretrial competency hearing did not require reversal because his presence would not have contributed to the hearing's fairness.

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

Leviss v. Madix — anti-SLAPP does not protect alleged copying and sharing of intimate videos

automatic / August 5, 2026

A public controversy did not make the alleged copying and sharing of private sexual videos protected activity under California’s anti-SLAPP statute.

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

CHP v. State Personnel Board — one-year suspension upheld despite overtime misconduct

automatic / August 5, 2026

The State Personnel Board acted within its discretion by reducing a CHP officer’s dismissal to a one-year suspension in light of mitigating circumstances.

2nd District Court of Appeal, Civil Procedure, Litigation

A Company Hungary KFT v. Bespalov — Unsupported accusations of judicial bias bring contempt sanction

automatic / August 4, 2026

The court held appellate counsel in contempt and imposed a $1,000 fine for repeatedly accusing the trial judge of bias without record support.

2nd District Court of Appeal, Family Law

In re Miguel J. — Domestic Violence Can Support Dependency Jurisdiction Even When the Child Is Struck Accidentally

automatic / August 3, 2026

Intentional domestic violence in a child’s presence can support dependency jurisdiction even if contact with the child was accidental.

2nd District Court of Appeal, Business Transactions, Environmental Law, Litigation

Consumer Protection Group v. Signal Brands — Proposition 65 Settlement Bars Duplicative Public-Enforcement Suit

automatic / July 31, 2026

A published California decision holds that a court-approved Proposition 65 settlement can bar a later private-enforcement suit over products covered by the consent judgment.