In County of Los Angeles v. Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP, published October 23, 2025, the Second District Court of Appeal, Division 8 affirmed summary judgment in one consolidated appeal, and dismissal on demurrer in another. The plaintiff county filed a writ petition against its sheriff. Its county counsel sent the sheriff a letter…
In Stronghold Engineering Incorporated v. City of Monterey, published November 3, 2023, the Sixth District Court of Appeal reversed a summary judgment granted to the defendant city. The city and the plaintiff entered into a contract to renovate city property. The parties signed a change order extending the contract term. As part of the change order,…
In Cam-Carson, LLC v. Carson Reclamation Authority, published August 23, 2022, the Second District Court of Appeal, Division 8 reversed dismissal of a lawsuit after demurrer. The plaintiff, a commercial real estate developer, contracted with the defendant city and the defendant reclamation authority (a joint powers authority created to oversee environmental remediation on the subject site)…
In San Luis Obispo Local Agency Formation Commission v. Central Coast Development Co., published May 5, 2022, The Second District Court of Appeal, Division 6 reversed an award of attorney fees against the plaintiff agency. A developer and a city applied to the plaintiff agency for a permit to annex a parcel of property. The application included…
In DePaul Industries v. Miller, published September 28, 2021, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed denial of qualified immunity to a defendant city attorney in a suit under 42 U.S.C. section 1982. The plaintiff contracted with the city to provide unarmed security at city buildings. The plaintiff was a qualified nonprofit agency for persons with disabilities,…
In Daneshmand v. City of San Juan Capistrano, ordered published February 16, 2021, the Fourth District Court of Appeal, Division 3 affirmed judgment in favor of the defendant city. In a prior lawsuit, the trial and appellate court ruled that tiered water rates in effect February 1, 2010 through June 30, 2014 were not proportional to…
In California Taxpayers Network v. Taber Construction, Inc., published November 27, 2019, the First District Court of Appeal, Division 2 affirmed summary judgment in favor of the defendant contractor in a lawsuit brought under Government Code section 1090. A school district intended to hire a firm to complete a project to modernize the HVAC for multiple…
In Strategic Concepts, LLC v. Beverly Hills Unified School District, published May 10, 2018, the Second District Court of Appeal, Division 6 reversed a judgment, entered after jury trial, that awarded the plaintiff LLC millions in damages for breach of contract. A district employee who administered the planning, construction, and maintenance of the District's school facilities…
In Flores v. City of Westminster, published October 11, 2017, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a judgment after jury trial holding current and former police chiefs liable for alleged racial discrimination and retaliation under 42 U.S.C. section 1981. Section 1981 prohibits discrimination in the making and enforcement of contracts by reason of race,…
In Ponte v. County of Calaveras, ordered published August 15, 2017, the Third District Court of Appeal affirmed both a summary judgment granted to the defendant county and an award of attorney fees to the County under Code of Civil Procedure section 1038. The plaintiff contractor alleged that he performed work on a land failure on county…