A Court of Appeal in Los Angeles recently held that an attorney’s “demand letter” contained language that constituted extortion. In Mendoza v. Hamzeh (2013) 215 Cal.App.4th 799, lawyer Hamzeh wrote a letter on behalf of his client to the client’s employee, Mendoza. Part of the letter said: As you are aware, I have been retained [...]

One of my former students, Alex Volkov, just did a study of recent California appellate cases and San Francisco Superior Court filings. You might find it interesting. Good morning, Professor, This is Alex Volkov, your student from a recent past (’10). I thought your blog may be interested in a scoop I recently made of [...]

A California Court of Appeal recently awarded sanctions against a law firm for filing a frivolous appeal, in Kleveland v. Siegel & Wolensky, LLP (4/17/13) ___ Cal.App.4th ___, 2013 WL 1632656. The lawyers had represented a man seeking to remove the trustee of a trust. The trial court found that the lawyers had filed the [...]

You just won a bench trial. Your opponent requested the court to issue a Statement of Decision. The judge directs you to prepare a draft. How do you do it? Follow the law, of course. CCP §632 requires, on request, “a statement of decision explaining the factual and legal basis for its decision as to [...]

“AGGRESSIVE REASONABLENESS” Sounds like a contradiction, but it’s not. I recently handled an appeal where this approach made all the difference. Plaintiff Paul Ghysels owned a single-family home near several fraternities on the south side of the University of California’s Berkeley campus. In the past few years, the fraternities regularly hosted weekend parties that got [...]

In 2008, an LA trial judge declared attorney Charles Kinney to be a “vexatious litigant” – under a statute requiring such a designee to get court permission before filing any new lawsuit.  Without getting permission, Kinney filed a new lawsuit on behalf of a co-owner of his property, against his neighbors.  He lost and appealed. [...]

In my years as an appellate lawyer, I’ve seen many instances where attorneys have been sloppy, cut ethical corners, and otherwise behaved unprofessionally.  This one, however, stands out for laziness, disregard for client and process, and no idea that he might in fact get caught.  A cautionary tale, well told by Justice Bedsworth.  I quote [...]

Here’s my write-up on another recent case, for CEB’s Landlord-Tenant Practice books. In People v. Bell (2011), 197 CA4th 822, 128 CR3d 588, Bell leased an apartment under the name of another person whose identity Bell was using without permission, then made only partial rent payments.  The court upheld Bell’s conviction for grand theft: “We [...]