The California Supreme Court has declared that “labels matter,” and that under California’s Unfair Competition Law, a consumer’s subjective sense of feeling duped translates to a cognizable economic injury. The Court’s majority opinion in Kwikset Corporation v. Superior Court (.pdf), issued today, January 27th, held that plaintiffs “who can truthfully allege they were deceived by … Continue Reading
Before profiling potential candidates to replace Justice Moreno on the California Supreme Court, we first provide a brief profile of the remaining court – not including Justice Moreno, whose announced retirement has initiated this discussion. When choosing a new member for the high court, there is often a discussion about what is “missing” from the … Continue Reading
In Cassel v. Superior Court (Wasserman Comden Casselman & Pearson), the California Supreme Court evaluated the mediation confidentiality created by Evidence Code, § 1119, which prevents the admission of “evidence of anything said,” or any “writing” which was prepared “for the purpose of, in the course of, or pursuant to, a mediation. . . .”, … Continue Reading
After serving the California courts for twenty-four years, Associate Justice Carlos R. Moreno has announced his retirement from the court. In a recent interview, Justice Moreno said that recent changes, including the retirement of Chief Justice Ronald George and the election of Governor Jerry Brown, had prodded him to explore other possibilities. His retirement creates an … Continue Reading
The CA Supreme Court has scheduled three civil cases for hearing on February 8, 2011. These cases address issues of duty & causation, the statute of limitations for multiple distinct injuries and the final judgment rule. Pooshs v. Philip Morris USA, Inc., et al., S172023, results from a request for guidance from the Ninth Circuit … Continue Reading
Justice Carlos Moreno of the California Supreme Court announced today that he will be retiring from the Court, effective February 28, 2011. The surprise announcement, coming on the heels of Chief Justice Ronald M. George’s retirement, gives new Governor Jerry Brown his first Supreme Court appointment only days into his term.… Continue Reading
From the late 1990’s, a wave of litigation and controversy has washed over the public health debate concerning the alleged connection between the then widely-used childhood MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine and autism. Beyond the scores of lawsuits, including class actions, the whirlwind drove down the vaccination rate (because concerned parents’ reservations about vaccine … Continue Reading
