In McCurdy v. County of Riverside, published November 21, 2024, the Fourth District Court of Appeal, Division 1 affirmed a trial court decision denying a petition for relief from the claim requirements under Government Code section 946.6. The plaintiff was on probation. At an October 2020 hearing, his public defender allegedly committed malpractice that resulted in…
In A.C. v. Cortez, published May 13, 2022, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed dismissal of a 42 U.S.C. section 1983 suit against a county and its attorneys. In an earlier lawsuit, the minor plaintiffs sued the county and county social workers for allegedly violating their 4th Amendment rights by interviewing them in the course…
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 Nunes v. Arata, Swingle, Van Edmond, & Goodwin, published December 29, 2020, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a district court order denying a motion to dismiss brought by defendant county counsel and an outside law firm for the county that was based on qualified immunity. The county separated the plaintiffs' children from…
In City of San Diego v. Superior Court (Hoover), published December 19, 2018, the Fourth District Court of Appeal, Division 1 issued a writ vacating a trial court order disqualifying a city attorney's office from defending the city in an employment lawsuit. The real party in interest, a police detective, sued the city, her employer, alleging…
In Newland v. County of Los Angeles, published June 18, 2018, the Second District Court of Appeal, Division 5 reversed denial of a defense motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict in an auto accident case. The driver was a county public defender who worked in the Norwalk courthouse, and commuted from Long Beach. He needed his…
In Guarino v. County of Siskiyou, ordered published March 29, 2018, the Third District Court of Appeal affirmed a trial court order granting an anti-SLAPP special motion to strike the plaintiff's complaint. The plaintiff was county counsel. According to the plaintiff's allegations,i n 2011, the county investigated a complaint by the plaintiff's subordinate that the plaintiff…
In Labor and Workforce Development Agency v. Superior Court (Fowler Packing Co.), published January 8, 2018, the Third District Court of Appeal issued a writ of mandate directing a trial court to vacate an order directing the Agency to produce an index identifying the author, recipient, matter, and nature of exception for each document the Agency…