Secondary practice area
First District reverses a trial-court order that bound a wife to the date of separation alleged in her amended dissolution petition, holding that allegation was not a judicial admission where the parties had treated a different date as in dispute throughout the litigation.
Second District holds that California’s Investigative Consumer Reporting Agencies Act gives applicants standing to sue for $10,000 in statutory damages without proving actual harm, but Unfair Competition Law claims still require a concrete economic injury.
Fourth District imposes $25,000 in sanctions on attorney T. Matthew Phillips for filing a frivolous writ petition that accused the trial judge of retaliation, discrimination, and acting in concert with opposing counsel — none of which was supported by evidence in the record.
Third District affirms mandatory dismissal under Code of Civil Procedure section 583.310, holding that a defendant’s failure to object when a trial date is set beyond the five-year (plus emergency-rule six-month) deadline does not amount to an oral stipulation to extend the deadline.
Fourth District holds that a party who wins a discrete court petition to appoint a new arbitrator is the prevailing party in that proceeding and is entitled to attorney fees under the underlying contract, even though the parties’ substantive disputes remained pending in arbitration and a parallel lawsuit.
First District holds California courts may exercise specific personal jurisdiction over Citgo Petroleum in coordinated climate-damages litigation brought by California cities and counties, based on Citgo’s longstanding gasoline supply contracts with California retailers.