Afewerki v. Anaya Law Group

A state court complaint’s misstatements of the amount owed and interest rate in a complaint a law firm filed to collect a consumer credit card debt were material and a violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.  The FDCPA prohibits debt collectors from making false statements when attempting to collect debts from consumers.  Here,…

In re Atossa Genetics, Inc. Securities Litig. (Levi v. Atossa Genetics, Inc.)

Plaintiffs pled a viable 10b-5 claim against defendant pharmaceutical company for representing that its cancer test was FDA-cleared when, in fact, the FDA had not yet approved the test.  Plaintiffs pled a viable 10b-5 claim against defendants for representing that Atossa’s ForeCYTE breast cancer test was FDA-cleared when, in fact, the FDA had not yet…

In re Anderson (Anderson v. Rainsdon)

Bankruptcy debtors’ real estate commissions for property deals they had negotiated pre-petition, but which closed post-petition, should be considered part of the bankruptcy estate.  Debtors were real estate agents.  They obtained prospective buyers for several properties before filing a Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition.  Their commissions for that work were paid post-petition and were contingent on…

Okorie v. Los Angeles Unified School Dist.

The gravamen or principal thrust analysis still governs whether a cause of action is subject to an Anti-SLAPP motion to strike; so if the gist or gravamen of plaintiff’s complaint was protected conduct, the Anti-SLAPP motion should be granted even if the complaint also alleged some non-protected conduct.  Disagreeing with Sheley v. Harrop (2017) 9…

Ponte v. County of Calaveras

Plaintiff performed repair work on a collapse of soil under an street intersection allegedly caused by some fault of the county, but he could not recover the value of the work performed because he could not fit his case within the narrow limits governing estoppel against a government entity.  Plaintiff sued the county on a…

Montanore Minerals Corp. v. Blake

Under Colorado River, district court should have abstained from ruling in a suit to condemn easements and other rights as against the defendants’ mining claims, since a state court had already declined to enter a decree that the mining claims were invalid. The Court of Appeals holds that the district court erred in not abstaining in…

Bank of New York Mellon v. Watt

A district court order vacating a bankruptcy court order confirming a bankruptcy plan and remanding for further proceedings is not a final order from which an appeal as of right may be taken to the Court of Appeals.  Following Bullard v. Blue Hill Bank (2015) 135 S.Ct. 1686, this decision holds that when a district…

Robins v. Spokeo, Inc.

Plaintiff who sued under the Fair Credit Reporting Act alleged a sufficiently concrete injury to ensure his Article III standing in case against information aggregation service who posted incorrect information about his age, marital status, wealth, education level, and profession.  On remand from the Supreme Court, the Ninth Circuit holds that Robins has alleged a…

In re Reynolds (Frealy v. Reynolds)

A debtor’s bankruptcy estate is entitled to the full amount of debtor’s spendthrift trust distributions due to be paid as of the petition date, except for the portion the beneficiary needs for his support or education if the trust instrument specifies the funds are to be used for that purpose.  After the California Supreme Court…

Sukumar v. City of San Diego

A plaintiff in a Public Records Act case may be the prevailing party and thus entitled to an award of attorney fees, even if a final judgment eventually dismisses the action—so long as the action was the catalyst for the defendant’s provision of the requested records.  Following Belth v. Garamendi (1991) 232 Cal.App.3d 896, this…

Harshad & Nasir Corp. v. Global Sign Systems, Inc.

Arbitration agreement that provided for full judicial review of the arbitration award—the same as if it had been a decision by a court—sufficiently specified that parties wanted enhanced judicial review, so they were entitled to receive review by normal appellate standards, not the restricted review normally given arbitration awards.  Just before trial, the parties agreed…

Jacobs v. Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage Co.

Plaintiff could not save his complaint from summary judgment by raising a new theory of liability for the first time in his summary judgment opposition.  Summary judgment for defendant is affirmed in this case where plaintiff fell when the diving board on which he was standing collapsed causing him to fall into an empty swimming…