California Court Of Appeal
Recent News About California Court Of Appeal
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Coroner must release records of police officer's suicide, court rules
SAN FRANCISCO (Legal Newsline) - Parents of a San Mateo police officer who question the coroner’s conclusion that he died by suicide can obtain the entire investigative file into his death, a California appeals ruled, reversing a trial judge’s decision allowing some of those records to be withheld. -
No evidence to support 'whistleblower' claim against addiction center, court rules
LOS ANGELES (Legal Newsline) - A would-be whistleblower who was on the job for less than six months convinced California insurance regulators a detoxification center ran up tens of millions of dollars in improper bills but a trial judge was correct to dismiss her claims for lack of evidence, an appeals court ruled. -
Lemon law attorneys denied six-figure fees after accepting same settlement that was rejected two years earlier
SAN JOSE, Calif. (Legal Newsline) - Lawyers whose client rejected a $160,000 settlement offer from BMW over an allegedly faulty car, only to accept the same amount two years later are not entitled to the windfall in fees they wanted. -
Longtime Avon exec hadn't been there long enough to testify about asbestos in talcum powder
LOS ANGELES (Legal Newsline) - The testimony of an Avon executive can't be used to defeat a lawsuit that alleges exposure to asbestos from the company's talcum powder, a California appeals court has found. -
Patient can sue over basketball smackdown in mental hospital
SAN FRANCISCO (Legal Newsline) - A woman who was admitted to a mental institution as “a danger to others” can sue the hospital for injuries she suffered after being slammed to the floor by another patient during a basketball game, a California appeals court ruled. -
School district off the hook for erasing video evidence of sexual assault
SAN DIEGO (Legal Newsline) - A California school district was unduly censured for routinely erasing video footage that might have been valuable evidence of a sexual assault, an appeals court ruled, finding there was not enough evidence the district knew at the time it would be sued. -
Court rejects plaintiff lawyers' attempt to eliminate California's cap on fees
FRESNO, Calif. (Legal Newsline) - A law firm has no basis for suing to eliminate California’s cap on contingency fees and non-economic damages in malpractice lawsuits, an appeals court ruled, citing previous decisions by the state Supreme Court as well as the law firm’s speculative theories about how the caps deny plaintiffs the right to sue. -
Massage chain can't escape assault lawsuit by citing clickwrap agreement
SAN FRANCISCO (Legal Newsline) - A massage parlor franchising company can’t escape a sexual assault lawsuit by one of its customers by citing an arbitration clause buried in a 10-page electronic agreement she never read when she checked in to her local outlet, a California appeals court ruled. -
Companies embroiled in talc litigation lose challenge to plaintiff experts in $12M case
SAN FRANCISCO (Legal Newsline) - Plaintiff experts who say cosmetic talcum powder causes the fatal cancer mesothelioma were properly allowed to testify in a trial that resulted in a $12 million plaintiff verdict, a California appeals court ruled, rejecting defense arguments they didn’t have scientific evidence to support their opinions. -
Chokehold victim can't sue Brazilian jiu-jitsu organization
LOS ANGELES (Legal Newsline) - A man who took up Brazilian jiu-jitsu at age 49 and was injured sparring with another man can’t sue the national organization affiliated with the studio where he was hurt, a California appeals court ruled. -
San Diego's school COVID vaccine mandate rejected by court
SAN DIEGO (Legal Newsline) - San Diego can’t impose a Covid vaccine mandate on students because state law governs which vaccinations are required to attend public school, an appeals court ruled, rejecting arguments officials had to act to protect students and the school district from liability. -
Lawyers' effort to call a neurosurgeon a 'debt collector' fails at appeals court
LOS ANGELES (Legal Newsline) - A neurosurgeon who outsources all of his billing to a debt-collection firm isn’t subject to California’s Rosenthal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, an appeals court ruled, rejecting a lawsuit by a woman who claimed she was harassed over a bill stemming from her husband’s trip to the emergency room. -
Software exec gets new trial over firing from 'boys club' firm
LOS ANGELES (Legal Newsline) - A woman who said she was fired from a Swiss software company after a high-ranking executive told her she’d never succeed because it was a “boys club” and accused her of being a “bitch” can proceed with her lawsuit, a California appeals court ruled. -
California court: Disability not a viable reason to dismiss juror
LOS ANGELES (Legal Newsline) - A woman who lost a malpractice lawsuit against her anesthesiologist will get a second chance after a California appeals court ruled a defense lawyer improperly challenged two potential jurors because they had disabled family members. -
Old marketing claims can't sustain California case over heart medication
SAN FRANCISCO (Legal Newsline) - A California appeals court upheld the dismissal of lawsuits against Wyeth and other pharmaceuticals companies over a heart drug that was once criticized by Ted Kennedy and is supposed to be used only as a last resort because of its dangerous side effects. -
Dissenting judge: California court just created 'sweeping new rule of tort liability'
LOS ANGELES (Legal Newsline) - Yamaha can be held liable for a dealer’s failure to install a motorcycle throttle assembly correctly, a California appeals court has ruled, in a decision a dissenting judge said “creates a sweeping new rule of tort liability that has no basis in California law.” -
Court rebuffs coffee-causes-cancer lawsuits
LOS ANGELES (Legal Newsline) - The group that once hoped to extract settlements to restaurants that sold coffee for lacking a cancer warning salvaged six figures in attorneys fees it was once ordered to pay. -
New trial for case that exposed insurers to billions in damages
LOS ANGELES (Legal Newsline) - A California appeals court ordered a new trial for a lawsuit that produced a state Supreme Court decision exposing life insurance companies to billions of dollars in damages, by ruling a 2013 law applied to retroactively to every policy sold in the state. -
Ambulance company may be liable for patient who jumped out of vehicle
SAN FRANCISCO (Legal Newsline) - An ambulance company may be liable for the injuries of a young woman who undid the safety belts holding her in a gurney and jumped out the back of the moving vehicle, a California appeals court ruled, rejecting comparisons to a nearly identical case where a woman also jumped out of an ambulance and was hit and killed in traffic. -
One-year limit doesn't apply to woman suing over stillbirth, court rules
SAN FRANCISCO (Legal Newsline) - A hospital that argued a woman was a day late in suing over the death of her fetus lost on appeal, as a California court ruled a judge or jury might decide she didn’t suspect medical malpractice until later.