Case Summaries
Bankruptcy Law
Construction
Property Law & Real Estate
Bankruptcy Law
[06/30]
Tate v. Bolen
The dismissal of Debtors' bankruptcy petition for abuse is reversed, where Debtors should have been allowed to deduct a transportation ownership deduction under the plain language of 11 U.S.C. section 707(b), even though they had no loan or lease payment on their vehicle.
[06/26]
Cunning v. Rucker
In an appeal from the Bankruptcy Court's order denying an exemption for Debtor's assets in pension and 401(k) plans, the order is affirmed, where the retirement plans were not designed and used primarily for retirement purposes.
[06/26]
Braunstein v. McCabe
In an action related to bankruptcy proceedings, district court judgment is affirmed where: 1) the court properly denied plaintiff's jury trial demand in the turnover action as no Seventh Amendment right to trial by jury attaches to the statutory turnover action authorized by 11 U.S.C. sec. 542; 2) the court properly granted attorney Ziady's motion to dismiss the defendant's fourth-party complaint for negligent misrepresentation as attorney Ziady owed no legal duty to defendant; and 3) the court did not abuse its discretion in denying defendant's motion to amend the fourth-party complaint, as the record shows that the defendant's proposed amendment would have been futile. District court judgment is reversed where the court erred in its turnover order for the insurance proceeds as defendant's expenditures were not made in the ordinary course of business.
[06/25]
Batlan v. Bledsoe
In a bankruptcy trustee's motion to avoid a transfer made pursuant to a state court judgment dissolving the Debtor's marriage, the order denying the trustee's motion is affirmed where, under Oregon law, a party who challenges a dissolution judgment must allege and prove "extrinsic fraud," and the trustee failed to do so.
[06/24]
MHR Capital Ptnrs. LP v. Presstek, Inc.
In a breach of contract action, judgment for Defendant is affirmed where Defendant's obligation to perform under the stock purchase agreement at issue did not arise because an express condition precedent was not fulfilled.
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Construction
[06/29]
Sanders Construction Co., Inc., v. Cerda
In an action for wages, interest, and waiting-time penalties, trial court judgment is affirmed where under Labor Code sec. 2750.5 the general contractor may be held liable for the unpaid wages of workers hired by an unlicensed subcontractor, and thus the six claimants are not prohibited from suing for their wages.
[06/29]
Am. Contractors Indem. Co. v. US
In a breach of contract action brought pursuant to the Tucker Act, Court of Federal Claims judgment is reversed and remanded where the court erred in dismissing plaintiff's complaint for failure to state a claim, as the effective date of a surety bond is not necessarily the date of agreement or acquiescence within the meaning of 13 C.F.R. sec. 115.19(e).
[06/19]
Keating v. FERC
In a petition for review of FERC's decision to lift a stay of the four-year deadline for beginning construction at a site for which FERC had granted a permit, the petition is denied where Petitioner was not entitled to an indefinite extension of the stay and FERC's findings concerning the remaining hurdles to commencing construction were sufficient to support the denial of a further stay.
[06/18]
United Rentals Northwest, Inc. v. Snider Lumber Prods., Inc.
In an action to foreclose on a mechanic's lien, the grant of Defendant's motion to remove the lien is reversed where the work performed by Plaintiff was a removal of buildings, which is included in the definition of a "work of improvement" under Cal. Civ. Code section 3106.
[06/18]
United Rentals Northwest, Inc. v. Snider Lumber Prods., Inc.
In an action to foreclose on a mechanic's lien, the grant of Defendant's motion to remove the lien is reversed where the work performed by Plaintiff was a removal of buildings, which is included in the definition of a "work of improvement" under Cal. Civ. Code section 3106.
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Property Law & Real Estate
[07/01]
Huber v. Jackson
In a dispute over church property, trial court's grant of summary judgment for the general church and its diocese is affirmed where: 1) under the California Supreme Court's holding in the Episcopal Church Cases, the local parish church holds the property in question in trust for the Episcopal Church and the Los Angeles Diocese, and by disaffiliating from the church defendants and their new parish under another church have no right in the property; 2) the court did not err in rejecting defendant's collateral estoppel argument as the case defendant relies on is distinguishable largely due to the passage of time and there is also now Supreme Court precedent on the matter; and 3) the court did not err in determining that after defendants voted for disaffiliation, their purported amendment of the articles of incorporation and bylaws to make the corporation part of the Anglican Church were a legal nullity, or ultra vires.
[07/01]
County of Butte v. Superior Court of Butte County
Petition for writ of mandate to overrule a trial court ruling regarding rights related to possession of medical marijuana is denied where the Constitution and laws of the state provide real party in interest Williams relief at law to bring a civil action based on a violation of his constitutional rights, and seek an adjudication as to whether the deputy had probable cause to order Williams to destroy his property or whether a lack of probable cause led to a violation of his constitutional rights.
[06/30]
Buffalo Crushed Stone Inc. v. Cheektowaga
In an action seeking a declaration that town zoning ordinances did not apply to Plaintiff's quarry due to prior nonconforming use, the trial court's order exempting portions of Plaintiff's property from the ordinances is modified where Plaintiff had manifested its intent to mine certain parcels long before the ordinances at issue.
[06/30]
City of Irvine v. Southern California Ass'n of Gov'ts
Trial court judgment sustaining demurrer filed by defendant without leave to amend and dismissing the action is affirmed where the court properly found it lacked jurisdiction to review the propriety of plaintiff's regional housing needs assessment allocation as the administrative procedure established under Government Code sect. 65584 to calculate a local government's allocation of the regional housing needs assessment is intended to be the exclusive remedy for the municipality to challenge that determination, and reflect a clear intent to preclude judicial intervention in the process.
[06/29]
Reliastar Life Ins. Co. of New York v. Home Depot U.S.A, Inc.
In an action involving payments related to a lease and recognition agreement, district court judgment in favor of plaintiff is vacated and remanded where: 1) New York's Uniform Commercial Code does not prohibit defendant from asserting constructive eviction as a defense to plaintiff's claims arising from the lease; 2) the estoppel certificate in the recognition agreement does not bar defendant's constructive eviction defense if defendant was unaware of the faulty condition of the building pad when it executed the parties' recognition agreement and its lack of awareness was reasonable at the time; and 3) if defendant was constructively evicted, the lease was terminated and defendant was relieved of its obligation to pay rent under the "hell or high water" clause of the parties' recognition agreement.
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