When considered rationally, I imagine that any litigation between any two entities should normally be viewed as something "sad to see," since it necessarily involves substantial deadweight losses to all of the parties and they pay their lawyers instead of doing something more productive with the money.
That said, I still think that this opinion is sad to see. Not because the Court of Appeal necessarily decides the case the wrong way, but rather because it's a fight between two nonprofit organizations that do public interest work (Breathe Southern California, on the one hand, and the American Lung Association on the other) as to which entity is entitled to various bequests made -- but not yet funded -- during the period in which these two nonprofits were affiliated.
You just gotta feel bad that instead of working the dispute out informally, the two organizations had to sue each other. Particularly since the litigation spanned quite a period of time, including multiple trips to the Court of Appeal. Too bad that money was spent on lawyers rather than on something more productive, right?
But, again, you could say the same thing about pretty much every other lawsuit in the universe as well.
Still.
