California Court of Appeal - Opinion Summaries

JESSEN v. HARTFORD CAS. INS. CO.

Civil Procedure, Ethics & Professional Responsibility
Whether an attorney should be disqualified in a successive representation case depends on 1) the relationship between the legal problem involved in...

PEREZ v. COUNTY OF SANTA CLARA

Attorney's Fees, Civil Rights, Evidence, Labor & Employment Law, Remedies
In an action for racial discrimination and retaliation under the Fair Employment and Housing Act, a postjudgment order granting plaintiff's motion to...

FREEMAN v. WAL-MART STORES, INC.

Commercial Law, Consumer Protection Law
The trial court appropriately concluded that a shopping card service fee was not an unconscionable term and thus did not abuse its discretion in...

HISER v. BELL HELICOPTER TEXTRON INC.

Civil Procedure, Evidence, Injury & Tort Law, Product Liability
In a wrongful death action arising from a helicopter crash, despite defendant's claims that the matter was time-barred under the General Aviation...

PEOPLE v. YUM

Criminal Law & Procedure, Evidence
In an appeal from a second degree murder conviction, a SPECT brain scan is not admissible to show defendant suffered from post-traumatic stress...

GREEN v. PAR POOLS INC.

Evidence, Injury & Tort Law, Labor & Employment Law
Although the special verdict form which the parties drafted and presented to the trial court was defective in its terminology, substantial evidence...

FAGAN v. SUPERIOR COURT OF SAN FRANCISCO COUNTY (PEOPLE)

Civil Rights, Constitutional Law, Criminal Law & Procedure, Evidence, Labor & Employment Law
Although the D.A. properly obtained the results of plaintiff's urinalysis tests under the provisions of Pen. Code section 832.7(a), those results may...

PEOPLE v. HERNANDEZ

Criminal Law & Procedure
Although jury instructions regarding what an original aggressor or mutual combatant must do in order to claim self-defense were ambiguous, the error...

BAKER-HOEY v. LOCKHEED MARTIN CORP.

Attorney's Fees, Civil Procedure, Injury & Tort Law
Ordinary witness fees do not include a treating physician's reasonable and customary hourly or daily fees which must be paid under Code of Civil...

FINNEY v. GOMEZ

Civil Procedure, Judgement Enforcement, Property Law & Real Estate, Remedies
A default judgment award to plaintiff is void for lack of jurisdiction because plaintiff's complaint failed to give defendant notice of the type or...