The Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act, commonly known as MICRA, has been on the books in California since 1975. One of its provisions limits non-economic damage awards to a maximum of $250,000. You'd think that California courts would have determined all of the possible MICRA issues, but that's not the case. Just last month, the California Supreme Court issued a new decision regarding MICRA that I discuss in the video above.

California courts are constantly publishing new civil case decisions. Last year in 2021, the California Supreme Court published 22 new civil or family law decisions and the Court of Appeal published 483 new civil or family law decisions, for a total of 505 new civil or family law cases!

While you don't need to read new case decisions outside of your civil practice area, it's clear that there are lots of new case decisions each year that you need to know about to keep current in your practice areas.  

 I help California lawyers easily keep up...

I help California lawyers easily keep up with the new case law in their practice areas by publishing California Case Summaries™. 

Below is a free sample of a new case summary from the newly published issue of my publication California Case Summaries Monthly™, with summaries of the 43 new California civil and family law cases published in January of 2022. 

California Supreme Court
Employment

Lawson v. PPG Architectural Finishes, Inc. (2022) _ Cal.5th _ , 2022 WL 244731: The California Supreme Court, answering a question posed by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, determined the proper method for presenting and evaluating a claim of whistleblower retaliation under Labor Code section 1102.5. Once an employee-whistleblower establishes by a preponderance of the evidence that retaliation was a contributing factor in the employee’s termination, demotion, or other adverse action, the employer then bears the burden of...

Below is a free sample of a new case summary from the newly published issue of my publication California Case Summaries Monthly™, with summaries of the 48 new California civil and family law cases published in December of 2021. 

California Courts of Appeal
Settlement

CSAA Insurance Exchange v. Hodroj (2021) _ Cal.App.5th _ , 2021 WL 5631492: The Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court's order granting plaintiff's motion for summary judgment in an action by plaintiff carrier against defendant for breaching his agreement to settle a personal injury claim for the policy limit of $100,000. When parties agree on the material terms of a contract with the intention to later reduce it to a formal writing, failure to complete the formal writing does not negate the existence of the initial contract. The Court of Appeal concluded that the communications between defendant's lawyer and plaintiff reflected a settlement which would be later memorialized in...

California Case Summaries Monthly™
Look Smart. Save Time & Money. Grow Your Practice™

Below is a free sample of a new case summary from the newly published issue of California Case Summaries Monthly™, with summaries of the 32 new California civil and family law cases published in November of 2021.

California Courts of Appeal

Torts

Doe v. Lawndale Elementary School Dist. (2021) _ Cal.App.5th _ , 2021 WL 5578329: The Court of Appeal reversed in part, and affirmed in part, the trial court’s order granting defendants’ motion for summary judgment in an action for sexual assault of a minor student by a music teacher. The Court of Appeal concluded that school administrators have a duty to protect students from sexual abuse by school employees, even if the school does not have actual knowledge of a particular employee’s history of committing, or propensity to commit, such abuse. Therefore, it reversed the trial court’s order...

California Case Summaries Monthly™
Look Smart. Save Time & Money. Grow Your Practice™

Below is a free sample of a new case summary from the newly published issue of California Case Summaries Monthly™, with summaries of the 42 new California civil and family law cases published in October of 2021.

California Courts of Appeal

Torts

Doe v. Roman Catholic Archbishop of Los Angeles (2021) _ Cal.App.5th _ , 2021 WL 4891312: The Court of Appeal reversed the trial court's order granting defendant's motion for summary judgment in plaintiff's action for sexual abuse by a priest while plaintiff was a boy attending catechism classes at church. The priest was not plaintiff's catechism teacher. The trial court held the church did not owe a duty to protect plaintiff. The Court of Appeal disagreed, ruling that a church has a duty to protect children from sexual abuse by clergy while the children are attending religious school or participating in other church-sponsored...

Here is a free sample of a new case summary that is in the current issue of California Case Summaries Monthly™, with summaries of every new civil and family law case published in September 2021.

California Courts of Appeal

Employment

Becerra v. The McClatchy Co. (2021) _ Cal.App.5th _ , 2021 WL 4472625: The Court of Appeal reversed the judgment for  defendants, following a bench trial, in a class action by newspaper home delivery carriers for The Fresno Bee newspaper who alleged that defendants violated the unfair competition law (UCL; Business & Professions Code, 17200 et seq.) by failing to pay the carriers' mileage expenses as required by Labor Code section 2802. The primary issue at trial was whether the carriers were employees or independent contractors and the trial court concluded they were independent contractors. The Court of Appeal reversed, ruling that the issue of whether the carriers are employees or independent contractors had to be determined under...

Here is a free sample of a new case summary that is in the current issue of California Case Summaries Monthly™.

California Courts of Appeal

Attorneys

Amjadi v. Brown (2021) _ Cal.App.5th _ , 2021 WL 3855831: The Court of Appeal reversed the trial court's judgment of dismissal entered after plaintiff's attorney agreed to a settlement for $150,000 with defendant over plaintiff's objection, and the trial court's later order denying plaintiff's motion to vacate the judgment in her action for personal injuries arising from from a car accident. The settlement was entered by plaintiff's attorney pursuant to a provision in the attorney's contingent fee agreement, which allegedly granted the attorney the right to accept settlement offers on the client's behalf in the attorney's "sole discretion," so long as the attorney believed in good faith that the settlement offer was reasonable and in the client's best interest. The Court of Appeal concluded that such a provision violates the...

Here is a free sample of a new case summary that will be published in next month's issue of California Case Summaries Monthly™.

California Supreme Court

Labor

Busker v. Wabtec (2021) _ Cal.5th _ , 2021 WL 3612126: The California Supreme Court,  responding to a request from the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to decide a question of state law, ruled that publicly funded work on rolling stock, such as train cars, does not fall under the statutory definition of "public works" in Labor Code section 1720 et seq. and therefore prevailing wages are not required to be paid to workers performing this work. It also ruled that the onboard installation labor was not transformed into "public work" merely because the railcar and locomotive components would be operated together with the "public work" towers built on land next to the tracks. (August 16, 2021.)

California Case Summaries™

I offer monthly, quarterly and annual civil case summary...

I've recently published the newest issue of California Case Summaries Monthly™, with my short summaries (one paragraph), organized by legal topic, of the 45 new civil and family law cases published by California courts in July 2021. The subscription costs only $50 per attorney per month. Discounted multi-user subscriptions are also available for law firms. Our subscribers look smart, save time and money, and get better results to grow their law practices. To subscribe, click here.

We also offer the following additional subscription options:
-California Case Summaries Quarterly™: our short, organized summaries of every new civil and family law case published each quarter. $200 per attorney per quarter. To subscribe, click here.
-California Case Summaries Annual - Employment™: our short, organized summaries of every new civil case published each year relevant to Employment Law practitioners. $350 per attorney per year. To subscribe, click here.
-...

Here are our recent publications:|

California Case Summaries Annual 2020™ was published in early January 2021 with our short summaries (one paragraph), organized by legal topic, of the 540 new civil and family law cases published by California courts in 2020. To subscribe, click here.

We published California Case Summaries Quarterly 2020 Q4™ in early January 2021 with our summaries of every new civil and family law case published by California courts in 2020 Q4. To subscribe, 
click here.

In early February, 2021, we published California Case Summaries Monthly™ with our summaries of every new civil and family law case published by California courts in January 2021. To subscribe, 
click here.

My subscribers get great ideas for working up their cases and arguments to make in their motions and in trial, giving them better results and better referrals to help them grow their law practice.

Do well and be well.

Stay safe and healthy.

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