Can you argue that a trial judge was biased based on a series of rulings against your client? Not without record evidence. In A Co. Hungary KFT v. Bespalov, the Court of Appeal sanctioned an attorney for baselessly attacking the trial court’s integrity in his appellate brief.
Detrick v. Shimada holds that an English language declaration signed by a non-English speaker is not competent evidence unless it is accompanied by a supporting declaration from the translator. Here is what both declarations need to say.
When a staffing agency places a worker with a client company, and the client later hires that worker directly, does the agency’s arbitration agreement follow the worker into the new job? The Court of Appeal says no unless the client is a party to the agreement.
The Court of Appeal holds for the first time that an oral or implied joint venture agreement is subject to the statute of frauds and creates a new argument against joint venture as a theory of vicarious liability.
When a party raises impracticability of performance as a defense to a breach of contract claim, who decides it: the judge or the jury? In Gonzalez v. Community Mortuary, the Court of Appeal held that the judge decides. The defense is equitable, and submitting it to a jury for a binding verdict is reversible error.
When an expert develops theories during litigation that the plaintiff never alleged in the complaint, those theories cannot create a triable issue at summary judgment. A recent published Court of Appeal opinion shows what that costs, and we discuss what to do before it happens.
Two recent published decisions from the California Court of Appeal clarify what defendants must show to strike a cause of action under California’s anti-SLAPP statute and flag an unresolved question about whether a denial of anti-SLAPP fees can be appealed alongside the denial of the motion itself.
When does an arbitration agreement in an elder care case delegate questions of arbitrability to the arbitrator, and when does it invoke the FAA’s procedural rules over California’s? The California Court of Appeal’s decision in Wright v. WellQuest Elk Grove answers both questions and gives trial counsel a powerful tool to oppose motions to compel arbitration.