On August 6, 2021, a California Court of Appeal held that an employer and a vehicle owner were liable under theories of negligent hiring and negligent entrustment, respectively, when each failed to conduct a reasonable...more
In August of 2020, a California Court of Appeal held that Amazon was subject to strict products liability for each and every product sold on its website. (See Bolger v. Amazon.com LLC (2020), 53 Cal.App.5th 431. You can read...more
On January 20, 2021, the California Court of Appeal, Second District, Division Six (Ventura), in Plascencia v. Deese (B299142), vacated a $30 million non-economic damages award in a highway fatality case because: (1) the...more
In Verrazono v. Gehl Company, et al., 50 Cal.App 5th 636, Plaintiff Gary Verrazono (“Plaintiff”) sued Defendant Gehl Company (“Defendant”) for negligence and strict product liability based on design defects of Defendant’s...more
In Bolger v. Amazon.com LLC (No. D075738, filed 8/13/2020), Plaintiff Angela Bolger (“Plaintiff”) sued Amazon.com LLC (“Amazon”) for strict liability arising out of injuries she sustained from a replacement laptop battery...more
In Johnson v. Monsanto Company (No. A155940, A156706, filed 7/20/2020), Plaintiff Dewayne Johnson (“Plaintiff”) sued Monsanto Company (“Monsanto”) when he was diagnosed with cancer which he alleged was the result of his use...more
In Horne v. Ahern Rentals, Inc. (No. B299605, filed 6/10/2020 ord. publ. 6/10/2020), Plaintiffs filed a wrongful death action against Defendant Ahern Rentals, Inc. (“Ahern”) arising out of the fatal incident involving Ruben...more
In Stephen Taulbee v. EJ Distribution Corp., the Court of Appeals found that the trial court did not err when it declined to instruct the jury that defendant could also be found negligent per se for driving into the gore...more
The sudden emergency doctrine, also known as the imminent peril doctrine, provides a complete defense when a non-negligent actor is presented with a sudden and unexpected emergency. For the doctrine to apply, the defendant...more
In Kim v. Toyota Motor Corp., 2016 No. B247672, the California Court of Appeal, Second District, held that a jury could consider evidence of industry custom to determine whether a product was defective under the risk-benefit...more
A broker, motor carrier, contractor, public agency, dispatcher, or developer (collectively “Operator”) that operates, or directs the operation, of any vehicle subject to the California Air Resources Board’s (“ARB”) California...more