Primary practice area
California Court of Appeal holds that a railcar repairman doing stationary maintenance work in a Wilmington rail yard is not a ‘transportation worker’ exempt from the Federal Arbitration Act, so his class action waiver is enforceable.
The Ninth Circuit denies en banc rehearing in a Nevada death-penalty habeas case, leaving in place a panel decision allowing the petitioner to invoke Martinez v. Ryan to revive long-defaulted trial-ineffective-assistance claims, over a forceful dissent from nine judges.
First District partially reverses animal rights activist’s trespass convictions arising from open-rescue activities at Sonoma County poultry farms, holding the trial court erred by limiting evidence of the defendant’s good-faith mistake of law about the legality of his conduct under the necessity doctrine, while affirming the misdemeanor trespass conviction and rejecting First Amendment challenges.
The Ninth Circuit reverses a federal habeas grant in a California death-penalty case, holding that under AEDPA’s doubly deferential standard the California Supreme Court reasonably rejected the petitioner’s ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claims, including those based on cumulative prejudice.
Second District reverses judgment on the pleadings in Proposition 65 enforcement action against Kroger and other grocery companies, holding that providing outside counsel contact information in the 60-day notice substantially complies with California Code of Regulations title 27, section 25903.
Sixth District holds that trial courts lack inherent jurisdiction to correct unauthorized sentences after judgment becomes final, treats the appeal as a habeas petition, and orders the trial court to vacate a post-judgment resentencing that increased the defendant’s sentence.
First District affirms joint and several liability of pesticide trade associations for private attorney general fees following successful CEQA challenge to rodenticide registrations, holding that intervenors who asserted pecuniary interests cannot disclaim those interests to avoid fee liability.
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.
Second District reverses summary judgment for malicious prosecution defendant, holding that an English-language declaration purportedly reflecting the words of a witness who could not read or speak English is not competent evidence without attestation from a qualified interpreter or translator.
Fourth District holds that a defendant’s appearance through counsel under Penal Code section 977 satisfies the appearance requirement for bail bond exoneration and that the trial court retained jurisdiction to award extradition costs after conditional exoneration.