New CA Torts Case
California Case Summaries™
Know the New Cases to Win Your Cases
Every year California courts publish over 500 new civil cases, and many of them significantly change California law. California civil attorneys need to know about these new cases!
The bad news - it's hard to keep up because of the number of new cases, the fact that many cases are 50-100 pages long, and because California courts also publish many new cases in the areas of criminal law, juvenile law and family now.
The good news - there's now a quick, easy way to always know the new civil cases in your practice areas: California Case Summaries™. I prepare one-paragraph summaries, that can be read in 2 minutes and are organized by legal topic, so California lawyers always know the new case law to work up their active cases better, get bigger settlements, and win more summary judgments and trials to make more money. For less than 1 billable hour per month, you will always know the new civil cases and get a competitive advantage over your opponents. To subscribe, click here.
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Below is a free sample of one of my new civil case summaries.
Is Unclean Hands a Defense to Malicious Prosecution?
Is unclean hands a defense to a cause of action for malicious prosecution? Last month, the Sixth District Court of Appeal published a new decision addressing this issue. To find out what they decided, watch the video and read my case summary below.
New CA Tort Decision
Padideh v. Moradi (2023) _ Cal.App.5th _ , 2023 WL 2555457: The Court of Appeal affirmed the jury verdict for defendants (based upon their unclean hands defense) in plaintiff’s action for malicious prosecution. Unclean hands can be a defense to a malicious prosecution action. Whether the particular misconduct is a bar to the alleged claim for relief depends on (1) analogous case law, (2) the nature of the misconduct, and (3) the relationship of the misconduct to the claimed injuries. In this case, the misconduct was plaintiff’s untruthful deposition testimony in the underlying action, a lawsuit between plaintiff’s husband and the other dentist owner Dr. Ramin Moradi regarding their dental corporation, where plaintiff testified she had little involvement in the dental practice, no access to business bank accounts, no business credit cards, etc. Based upon this testimony, in the underlying action defendants Dr. Ramin Moradi and his attorney Ali Kamarei decided to stop pursuing plaintiff as a cross-defendant, did not oppose the trial court’s tentative ruling sustaining a demurrer in plaintiff’s favor in the underlying case, did not seek to amend their cross-complaint against plaintiff, and made no settlement demand in exchange for releasing plaintiff from the underlying case. The Court of Appeal concluded that all three requirements for applying the unclean hands defense were met. The first was met as a matter of law, and the last two were supported by substantial evidence. The Court of Appeal also held that a defendant asserting unclean hands in defense to a malicious-prosecution action need not demonstrate additional harm or prejudice as part of or in addition to the third requirement addressing the relationship between the misconduct and the claimed harm. (C.A. 6th, March 17, 2023.)
Mediation, Arbitration & Referee Services
I help attorneys and their clients settle cases as a mediator, fairly decide cases as an arbitrator, and fairly decide issues as a referee at ADR Services, Inc. I handle cases in the areas of business, employment, insurance (bad faith, coverage, UIM) probate (trusts and estates), real property, and torts (elder abuse, medical malpractice, personal injury, product liability and wrongful death). A Zoom expert, I conduct Zoom and in-person hearings throughout California. To schedule a matter, please contact my case managers at ADR Services, Inc., Haward Cho, (213) 683-1600,
[email protected] or Rachael Boughan, (619) 233-1323, [email protected].
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Monty A. McIntyre, Esq.
California Case Summaries™
Mediator, Arbitrator & Referee
Master Lawyer Mentoring™
CA Civil Trial Attorney Since 1980
ABOTA Member Since 1995
Past President San Diego County Bar Assn., SD ABOTA Chapter
Phone: (619) 990-4312.
Email: [email protected]