Case Summaries
Bankruptcy Law
[08/19] In Re: Holland
A dispute in a bankruptcy case over which state's law should determine whether real property owned by debtor should be exempted from the bankruptcy estate is dismissed for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction where the district court's order ruling that Florida law applied and remanding to bankruptcy court, without deciding whether Florida law granted an exemption, was not a final order subject to appeal.
[08/18] In the Matter of: N A Flash Found. Inc.
In a bankruptcy case, refusal to avoid transfers made by debtor to one of its creditors just prior to its bankruptcy filing is affirmed where under state law, creditor was a beneficiary of a construction trust fund of which debtor was trustee, and would be entitled to full recovery of the funds transferred, even in a Chapter 7 proceeding.
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Commercial Law
[08/20] Boschetto v. Hansing
The sale of one automobile via the eBay website, without more, does not provide sufficient "minimum contacts" to establish jurisdiction over a nonresident defendant in the forum state.
[08/20] Theme Promotions, Inc. v. News Am. Mktg. FSI
In a case involving, inter alia, whether right of first refusal agreements between a publisher of advertising tools and packaged goods companies violate California antitrust and tort law, judgment in the matter is affirmed primarily as the jury verdict in favor of plaintiff was supported by substantial evidence in the record.
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Contracts
[08/20] US v. Villa-Vazquez
Absent extraordinary circumstances, once a defendant's guilty plea has been accepted by the court, the government is bound by its plea-agreement promises regarding sentencing recommendations even if the plea agreement has not yet been accepted by the court, and even if it is ultimately rejected by the court. A sentence pursuant to a plea to illegal reentry after deportation for an aggravated felony is reversed and remanded for resentencing before a different judge where: 1) the government was bound by a plea agreement after defendant's guilty plea was accepted by the court; and 2) it blatantly violated its promises under the agreement.
[08/20] Carr Business Enters., Inc. v .City of Chowchilla
In a contract dispute, order denying defendant city's motion to tax costs by plaintiff business is reversed where a stipulated judicial reference agreement made pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure section 638, which included a provision to split the referee's fees equally between parties, was enforceable and precluded recovery of the prevailing party's 50-percent share of the referee's fees as an item of costs.
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Corporation & Enterprise Law
[08/19] Joyce v. Morgan Stanley & Co., Inc.
In a suit by shareholders of a telecommunications company alleging that defendant, while advising the company during its acquisition by another company, failed to advise plaintiffs on minimizing their exposure to financial losses, grant of a motion to dismiss is affirmed in part and vacated and remanded in part where: 1) plaintiffs were bringing a direct action on their own behalf, not a derivative one on behalf of the corporation, and to that extent had standing; but 2) plaintiffs' constructive fraud claim required them to allege that defendant owed them a fiduciary duty, but no such duty never arose.
[08/15] CA Inc. v. AFSCME Employees Pension Plan
Two certified questions, arising from an action before the SEC to determine whether respondent-shareholders' proposed bylaw requiring reimbursement of proxy expenses should be included in petitioner-corporation's annual proxy materials, are answered affirmatively where: 1) respondents' proposal was a proper subject for action by shareholders; and 2) the proposal, if adopted, would cause petitioner to violate state law because it would in some cases curtail the directors' ability to fully exercise their fiduciary duties. (Republished Opinion)
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Criminal Law & Procedure
[08/20] US v. Villa-Vazquez
Absent extraordinary circumstances, once a defendant's guilty plea has been accepted by the court, the government is bound by its plea-agreement promises regarding sentencing recommendations even if the plea agreement has not yet been accepted by the court, and even if it is ultimately rejected by the court. A sentence pursuant to a plea to illegal reentry after deportation for an aggravated felony is reversed and remanded for resentencing before a different judge where: 1) the government was bound by a plea agreement after defendant's guilty plea was accepted by the court; and 2) it blatantly violated its promises under the agreement.
[08/20] US v. Trujillo
An appeal challenging a sentence being a felon in possession of firearms and ammunition, entered following a plea agreement wherein defendant agreed not to appeal his sentence, is dismissed where the government complied with the plea agreement, and consequently the appeal waiver was enforceable.
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Dispute Resolution & Arbitration
[08/15] RN Solution, Inc. v. Catholic Healthcare W.
In a contract matter, order denying defendants' motions to compel arbitration is reversed where: 1) the trial court lacked discretion under Code of Civil Procedure section 1280 to deny arbitration of causes of action covered by the arbitration clause; and 2) battery-related tort claims did not come within the arbitration clause.
[08/13] Estate of Thottam
In a mediation matter relating to distribution of assets to the three children of the deceased, judgment is reversed where: 1) there is nothing in Evidence Code section 1123(c) requiring that an express agreement in writing permitting disclosure be contained in a settlement agreement; 2) the court erred in reading a timing requirement into section 1123(c); 3) the mediation and facilitation confidentiality agreement satisfied the exception to mediation confidentiality under section 1123(c); and 4) there was sufficient evidence before the court to establish the preliminary fact that a chart created at the mediation was a settlement agreement for purposes of section 1123(c).
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Securities Law
[08/19] Joyce v. Morgan Stanley & Co., Inc.
In a suit by shareholders of a telecommunications company alleging that defendant, while advising the company during its acquisition by another company, failed to advise plaintiffs on minimizing their exposure to financial losses, grant of a motion to dismiss is affirmed in part and vacated and remanded in part where: 1) plaintiffs were bringing a direct action on their own behalf, not a derivative one on behalf of the corporation, and to that extent had standing; but 2) plaintiffs' constructive fraud claim required them to allege that defendant owed them a fiduciary duty, but no such duty never arose.
[08/19] In Re: Nortel Networks Corp. Securities Litig.
In a matter involving attorneys' fees following settlement of a private securities class action, judgment awarding 3% of the class's recovery to class counsel rather than the requested 8.5% is affirmed where: 1) appellant has waived its argument that the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act altered the fee-award scheme for cases covered by the Act by failing to present this argument to the district court; and 2) the district court did not abuse its discretion in awarding a reasonable fee under established precedent.
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