California Appellate Report

I agree with the overwhelming majority of what Justice Hoffstadt says here . Indeed, at least facially, I'm stunned that the plaintiff g...

This is a bit scary . Not because of the actual holding of the case, which involves whether the government can introduce a particular prior ...

One of the things I somewhat like about published California Court of Appeal opinions is that they don't list the author until the very ...

I'll begin the new year with a prediction: This opinion will be taken en banc . The majority opinion strikes down California's open-...

I understand why the defendants here did what they did, as well as why they felt they had to appeal the district court's grant of a prel...

Apparently this is indeed the law -- at least in California . Even though the defendant never answered the plaintiff's amended complaint...

Four Ninth Circuit opinions today ( here , here , here and here ) finally put to rest the appeals of Elizabeth Holmes and Ramesh Sunny Balw...

When you're charged with soliciting a minor, you're not guilty if you thought the person was actually old enough to consent. Moreove...

I certainly understand why Justice Gooding published this opinion today . It's definitely an important topic: When frozen fertilized emb...

It's serendipitous that these two opinions -- one federal, and one state -- came out within days of each other, and were also published....

Judge Owens' opinion this morning crushes Judge VanDyke's dissent. Or at least that's my opinion. Read both of them, if you wish...

Today's opinion makes clear -- or at least provides yet another example of -- something that was decently clear already: Protracted lit...

The California Supreme Court does it again. This time, in an opinion by Justice Kruger . Another opinion that begins by cogently summarizing...

Justice O'Rourke decides to publish this opinion , which involves a condo complex, alongside its associated homeowner's association,...

I understand contemporary politics. If you're a conservative federal appellate judge -- especially one who's relatively young -- and...

I really appreciate it when an opinion -- especially a California Supreme Court opinion -- explains at the outset (1) what the case is about...

Justice Wiley's brevity doesn't always work for me. But sometimes it lands exceptionally well. This opinion is an example of the lat...

Today in the Court of Appeal has been mostly a day for error correction. Three different opinions correct typos and other minor errors in pr...

There you have it. As of today , the phrase "Orgasm Cult" has been officially introduced into the published opinions of the Califo...

I'm surprised -- very surprised, actually -- that the Court of Appeal only imposes $1,750 in sanctions against the attorney here . I wou...

I'm conflicted. When I read the facts , I want this guy to be severely punished. He drives while intoxicated, and heavily so: a .18. He ...

Rarely is one's relationship with one's child perfect. But before one exaggerates one's own problems, it might be valuable to co...

To work -- or at least to work efficiently -- capital markets require integrity. After reading hundreds of securities fraud cases over the l...

It's rare to see the State of California as a plaintiff. But here, it sues a corporation that's owned by an Indian tribe, alongside ...

This is a fairly long opinion -- a couple of dozen single-spaced pages -- arising out of a fireworks display in which one of the fireworks ...

Why, exactly, are we publishing this opinion , which affirms in four brief paragraphs the dismissal of a frivolous pro se complaint? I'm...

I'm honestly not sure who to root for here. Do I root for the owner of a fractional timeshare in a condo complex near Ghirardelli Square...

The Court of Appeal holds that defendant's attorney was constitutionally deficient for, among other things, not filing a brief for over...

Defendant has no criminal history, is a productive member of society and supports a family. He was nonetheless found guilty of voluntary man...

It's a Second Amendment gun case in the Ninth Circuit, involving someone named VanDyke who was under a harassment no-contact order for r...

I do not disagree with anything Judge Sung says in this opinion . Yes, the plaintiff here -- a disabled person -- deliberately visited the 7...