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 [...]

Here’s another summary of a recent case I’m adding to California Landlord-Tenant Practice (CEB: In Gould v. Corinthian Colleges, Inc. (2011) 192 CA4th 1176, 120 CR3d 943, a commercial lease contained an “anti-waiver” provision, which said that the landlord’s acceptance of less than the full amount of rent shall not be a waiver of his [...]

Here’s a case summary I recently wrote for California Landlord-Tenant Practice (CEB): In Ramirez v. Wong (2010) 188 CA4th 1480, 116 CR3d 412, a male resident manager entered an apartment occupied by two female tenants while they were out, opened their dresser drawer, and sniffed their underwear.  The court held that this did not violate [...]

Here’s another case summary I’ll be adding to the California Eviction Defense Manual (CEB): In Munoz v. MacMillan (2011) 195 CA4th 648, 124 CR3d 664, the landlord sued the tenant in unlawful detainer, won, obtained a writ of possession, and evicted the tenant.  The tenant then appealed and won.  Then the tenant sued the landlord [...]

I’m now writing an Update for a book I wrote many a year ago: the California Eviction Defense Manual, now published by California Continuing Education of the Bar. In the next few days, I’ll be posting summaries of some of the more significant new cases. Here’s the first one.  The case came down just a [...]

Today’s NY Times (11/15/11, page A19) has a piece about law profs who sign on to amicus briefs filed in the U.S. Supreme Court.  It mentions a Harvard professor who usually refuses to sign where he hasn’t had the time to thoroughly check whether the brief is analytically and historically accurate.  An academic, he says, [...]