4th District Court of Appeal, Civil Procedure, Litigation

N.D. v. Superior Court — $25,000 Sanctions for Lawyer Who Filed Frivolous Writ Petition Accusing Trial Judge of Misconduct Without Evidence

automatic / January 20, 2026

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.

2nd District Court of Appeal, Family Law, Litigation

R.R. v. C.R. — Trial Court Erred by Applying Wrong Abuse Standard in Denying Domestic Violence Restraining Order Against Stalking Ex-Spouse

automatic / January 20, 2026

Second District reverses denial of a domestic violence restraining order, holding the trial court applied the wrong legal standard in evaluating whether the petitioner's ex-wife's conduct — repeated stalking, threats, and unwanted entries — constituted abuse under the Domestic Violence Prevention Act.

2nd District Court of Appeal, Business Transactions, Litigation

Barrios v. Chraghchian — Defeating an Early Bond Motion in a Derivative Suit Does Not Insulate the Plaintiff From Costs After Loss on the Merits

automatic / January 20, 2026

Second District holds that a plaintiff who defeats an early bond motion under Corporations Code section 17709.02 is still subject to the ordinary cost-shifting rules if he ultimately loses the derivative suit on the merits.

2nd District Court of Appeal, Family Law, Litigation

In re Bella L. — DCFS’s Inquiry of Parents and Seven Paternal Relatives Was Substantively Adequate Under ICWA Even Without Asking the Paternal Grandfather

automatic / January 20, 2026

Second District applies In re Dezi C.'s substantial-evidence review and holds that DCFS's failure to interview the paternal grandfather did not undermine an ICWA inquiry that included both parents and seven other paternal relatives.

2nd District Court of Appeal, Business Transactions, Litigation

Towns v. Hyundai Motor America — Only the Buyer Has Song-Beverly Standing, but Insurance Payouts Don’t Reduce Restitution

automatic / January 16, 2026

Second District holds that under California's Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Act, only the actual buyer has standing to sue for restitution, but a manufacturer cannot reduce its restitution by the amount of a third-party insurance payout the buyer received after the car was wrecked.

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

Hu v. XPO Logistics, LLC — Freight Broker Owes No Duty of Care to Carrier’s Employee Injured in Truck Crash

automatic / January 16, 2026

Second District affirms summary judgment for freight broker XPO Logistics in a personal-injury suit by an injured trucker employed by the carrier XPO had hired, holding the broker did not actually exercise control over the transportation and thus owed no duty of care to the carrier's employee.

3rd District Court of Appeal, Civil Procedure, Litigation

Randolph v. Trustees of California State University — Failure to Object to a Trial Date Past the Five-Year Deadline Is Not an Oral Stipulation to Extend

automatic / January 16, 2026

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.

4th District Court of Appeal, Administrative Law, Real Estate Law

Californians for Homeownership v. City of La Habra — City Manager May Adopt Housing-Element Revisions Without Additional Public Hearing

automatic / January 16, 2026

Fourth District affirms denial of writ relief in a Housing-Element Law challenge, holding that subsequent draft revisions made to obtain HCD certification need not be re-noticed for public hearing or readopted by the City Council.

1st District Court of Appeal, Administrative Law, Litigation

Berkeley People’s Alliance v. City of Berkeley — Brown Act Violation Adequately Alleged Where Council Moved Disrupted Meetings to Smaller Room Instead of Clearing the Original

automatic / January 15, 2026

First District reverses dismissal of a Brown Act suit, holding that plaintiffs adequately alleged the Berkeley City Council violated Government Code section 54957.9 by recessing disrupted meetings and reconvening them in a smaller room instead of clearing the original room and continuing in session there.

2nd District Court of Appeal, Criminal Law

People v. Rodriguez — Trial Court May Consider Preliminary-Hearing Hearsay at Section 1172.6 Prima Facie Stage; Petitioner Gets Chance to Amend

automatic / January 15, 2026

Second District affirms denial of a section 1172.6 murder-resentencing petition based in part on preliminary-hearing hearsay, but remands to give the petitioner 30 days to file an amended petition.

California Supreme Court, Administrative Law, Constitutional Law

City of Gilroy v. Superior Court — Public Records Act Allows Declaratory Relief Even After Records Are Disclosed, but Imposes No Three-Year Retention Duty

automatic / January 15, 2026

The California Supreme Court holds that requesters under the California Public Records Act can sometimes obtain declaratory relief even after the agency has produced everything responsive, but the statute does not impose a three-year duty to preserve records the agency has withheld as exempt.

2nd District Court of Appeal, Criminal Law

People v. Craig — Trial Court Used Wrong Standard When Denying Discretionary Resentencing Petition Under Section 1172.1

automatic / January 15, 2026

Second District holds an order denying a Penal Code section 1172.1 recall-and-resentencing petition is appealable, and reverses where the superior court applied an incorrect legal standard in deciding whether to resentence the petitioner.

4th District Court of Appeal, Labor & Employment Law, Litigation

The Merchant of Tennis, Inc. v. Superior Court — Curative Notice to Class Members Who Revoke Settlements Must Reflect California Rescission Statutes

automatic / January 14, 2026

Fourth District grants writ relief, holding that a curative class-action notice informing putative class members they may revoke individual settlement agreements must also tell them California rescission statutes require return of the settlement payment.

1st District Court of Appeal, Labor & Employment Law, Litigation

Carroll v. City and County of San Francisco — Disability-Pension ‘Formula 2’ Does Not Discriminate Against Late-Hire Employees Under FEHA

automatic / January 14, 2026

First District affirms judgment for the City and County of San Francisco in a FEHA age-discrimination challenge to the City's two-formula disability-retirement scheme, finding the City's pension structure did not violate FEHA.

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

Microsoft Corp. v. Superior Court — Nondisclosure Order Barring Notice to USC Survives CalECPA and First Amendment Challenge

automatic / January 14, 2026

Second District denies Microsoft's writ petition challenging a court-issued nondisclosure order that barred Microsoft from notifying its enterprise customer, USC, that the LAPD had served a search warrant on a USC graduate student's email account.

3rd District Court of Appeal, Environmental Law, Litigation

City of Vallejo v. City of American Canyon — Industrial Project EIR’s Water-Supply Analysis Survives CEQA Challenge

automatic / January 14, 2026

Third District affirms denial of Vallejo's CEQA writ challenge to American Canyon's certification of an EIR for a 2.6-million-square-foot warehouse complex, holding the EIR's water-supply analysis adequately addressed reasonably foreseeable demand under CEQA and the Water Code.

2nd District Court of Appeal, Criminal Law

People v. Washington — Inmate Released on Parole Before Resentencing Still Eligible for Section 1172.75 Relief

automatic / January 13, 2026

Second District holds an inmate identified by CDCR as eligible for resentencing under Penal Code section 1172.75 does not lose that eligibility by being released on parole before the resentencing hearing occurs.

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

Tuufuli v. West Coast Dental Administrative Services — Federal Arbitration Act Governs When the Parties Said It Does

automatic / January 13, 2026

Second District affirms an order compelling arbitration of an employee's individual wage claims and dismissing her class claims, holding the parties' arbitration agreement is governed by the Federal Arbitration Act because they expressly said so.

1st District Court of Appeal, Constitutional Law, Criminal Law

People v. McCowan — Inventory Search of Towed Vehicle Upheld; Bruen Does Not Invalidate California’s Assault-Weapon and Magazine Bans

automatic / January 13, 2026

First District affirms convictions for possessing an assault weapon and a large-capacity magazine, holding the inventory search of the defendant's vehicle was lawful and that California's assault-weapon and magazine bans survive Bruen.

1st District Court of Appeal, Constitutional Law, Criminal Law

In re Thai — Indeterminate-Life Inmates Not Constitutionally Entitled to Same Conduct Credits Toward Youth-Parole Eligibility as Toward Standard Parole

automatic / January 13, 2026

First District denies habeas relief, holding that CDCR may constitutionally permit only educational merit credits — and not other prison conduct credits — to advance an inmate's youth-parole eligibility date under Penal Code section 3051.

5th District Court of Appeal, Criminal Law

People v. Jimenez — Felony Vandalism Conviction Reversed Where More Specific Jail-Damage Statute Applies

automatic / January 12, 2026

Fifth District holds Penal Code section 4600's specific statute on damaging jail or prison property displaces the general felony vandalism statute, requiring reversal of an inmate's vandalism conviction and remand for resentencing.

1st District Court of Appeal, Criminal Law, Litigation

People v. Cagle — Court Affirms Mentally Disordered Offender Recommitment Despite No Actuarial Risk Tool

automatic / January 8, 2026

First District affirms a one-year extension of a mentally disordered offender's commitment at Coalinga State Hospital, holding the patient forfeited his due-process and equal-protection challenges to the lack of an actuarial risk-assessment tool, and that any instructional error was harmless.

2nd District Court of Appeal, Business Transactions, Litigation

Chong v. Mardirossian Akaragian LLP — Client’s Ratification of Unauthorized Settlement Triggers Full Contingency Fee

automatic / January 8, 2026

Second District holds that a personal-injury client who ratifies an unauthorized settlement after firing his lawyer must pay the agreed contingency fee, not just quantum meruit, because his ratification was truly voluntary.

4th District Court of Appeal, Civil Procedure, Litigation

Barbanell v. Lodge — Petitioner Who Wins a Court Order Appointing a New Arbitrator Is a ‘Prevailing Party’ Entitled to Fees

automatic / January 8, 2026

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.

1st District Court of Appeal, Administrative Law, Real Estate Law

Mendocino Railway v. Meyer — Skunk Train Operator Qualifies as a Public Utility With Eminent-Domain Authority

automatic / January 7, 2026

First District reverses a trial-court ruling that the Mendocino Railway (operator of the Skunk Train) was not a public utility, holding that the railroad's federal common-carrier status and demonstrated freight and passenger service make it a public utility entitled to exercise eminent domain.

1st District Court of Appeal, Labor & Employment Law, Litigation

Spilman v. The Salvation Army — Trial Court Used Wrong Test to Decide Whether Rehab Program Participants Were Volunteers or Employees

automatic / January 6, 2026

First District reverses summary judgment for the Salvation Army in a wage suit by adult-rehabilitation 'work therapy' participants, holding that the trial court applied the wrong legal standard for distinguishing a volunteer from an employee under California wage law.

3rd District Court of Appeal, Labor & Employment Law, Litigation

Sierra Pacific Industries Wage and Hour Cases — Defendant Waived Right to Compel Arbitration by Litigating for Years and Hiding Agreements

automatic / January 6, 2026

Third District affirms denial of Sierra Pacific's motion to compel arbitration in coordinated wage-and-hour class actions, finding the company waived arbitration rights by litigating for years and refusing to produce signed arbitration agreements until after class certification.

3rd District Court of Appeal, Litigation, Real Estate Law

Ruffier v. Volcano Hills Road Maintenance Association — HOA Board Could Not Quintuple Annual Assessment Without Required Member Vote

automatic / January 6, 2026

Third District holds a small road-maintenance HOA's board exceeded its authority when it raised parcel assessments fivefold without obtaining the majority-of-a-quorum member vote required by the Davis-Stirling Act and the association's governing documents.

4th District Court of Appeal, Insurance Law, Litigation

People ex rel. Henggeler v. Dauod — Insurance-Fraud Qui Tam Suit Survives Public-Disclosure Bar Even When Based on Trial Testimony

automatic / January 6, 2026

Fourth District holds the public-disclosure bar in California's Insurance Frauds Prevention Act stops a qui tam plaintiff only when the suit is based on publicly disclosed allegations or transactions of fraud — not when it merely uses publicly available information.

1st District Court of Appeal, Civil Procedure, Environmental Law, Litigation

In re Fuel Industry Climate Cases — California Has Specific Personal Jurisdiction Over Out-of-State Oil Company in Climate-Damages Suit

automatic / January 5, 2026

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.