Barger & Wolen

In Nevis Homes LLC v. CW Roofing Inc., 2013 DJDAR 6187(2013) the California Court of Appeal for the Second Appellate District decided a procedural issue pertaining filing a memorandum of costs. The court clarified the rules and…more

A recent California decision should make it easier for insurers to attack allegations at the pleading stage in state court actions…more

Introduction - Many of our litigation management audits involve complex environmental cleanup cases. In these cases, it is important to first evaluate the underlying matter, including the fact patterns of the various…more

In Duchrow v. Forrest, 2013 DJAR 5534 (2013) the California Court of Appeal for the Second Appellate District decided a unique fee claim arising in a procedural context. …more

In Kleveland v. Siegel & Wolensky LLP, 2013 DAR 4961(2013) the California Courts of Appeal for the Fourth Appellate District affirmed the denial of a special motion to strike and the award of costs and attorney fees as sanctions…more

On May 8, 2013, the California Supreme Court convened to hear oral argument in Zhang v. Superior Court. The case presents the issue of whether conduct of an insurer, which is related to conduct that would violate California’s…more

As recently reported in this blog post, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Gregory Alarcon invalidated the California Department of Insurance's regulation on estimating replacement costs for homeowners insurance (10 CCR 2695.183)…more

Under Title VII, in “mixed motive” discrimination cases (i.e., discrimination motivated in part, but not entirely, by an impermissible factor), an employer may limit Plaintiff’s recovery where it can show that it would have made…more

The Second Appellate District of California held on May 1 in Mt. Hawley Ins. Co. v. Lopez that California Insurance Code section 533.5(b) does not eliminate a liability insurer’s duty to defend against a federal prosecution…more

In Howell v. Hamilton Meats & Provisions, Inc., the California Supreme Court ruled that where a plaintiff’s medical care provider, pursuant to a prior agreement with the plaintiff’s health care provider, accepted less than the…more

As an employer, you may be perplexed by the flap over President Obama’s recess appointments to the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) and concerned about what it all means for business…more

Numerous insurance-related bills have been introduced in the California Legislature this year. Legislative committees are now conducting hearings on the various measures. This year’s regular legislative session will end on…more

The United States Supreme Court ruled today that absent an express provision to the contrary, the amount an ERISA plan can recover from a plan participant’s lawsuit against a third-party tortfeasor must be reduced…more

Nearly two years ago, the California Court of Appeal for the Second Appellate District issued a decision that upheld the concept of horizontal exhaustion of primary liability policy limits before triggering the obligation of an…more

In Howell v. Hamilton Meats & Provisions, Inc. the California Supreme Court ruled that a plaintiff’s recovery of medical damages is limited to the amount paid by the plaintiff’s health insurer and accepted by the health care…more