(Please note: the names and locations of all parties have been changed to protect the confidentiality of this wrongful death case and its proceedings.) E. Universal Fails to Negate Decedent’s Asbestos Exposure from 1981 to 1982 Universal in its motion makes no mention of Tina Gomez’s alleged exposure to asbestos…
(Please note: the names and locations of all parties have been changed to protect the confidentiality of this wrongful death case and its proceedings.) 2. Holdgrafer v. Unocal In Holdgrafer, decided by the Court of Appeal for the Second District, the defendant was Unocal, an oil company that owned a…
(Please note: the names and locations of all parties have been changed to protect the confidentiality of the participants in this car accident case and its proceedings.) The following blog entry is written from a defendant’s position as trial approaches. Reviewing this kind of briefing should help potential plaintiffs and…
(Please note: the names and locations of all parties have been changed to protect the confidentiality of this wrongful death case and its proceedings.) C. Universal Fails to Meet Its Initial Burden in Moving for Summary Judgment Universal in its moving papers was required to affirmatively establish not only that…
(Please note: the names and locations of all parties have been changed to protect the confidentiality of this wrongful death case and its proceedings.) 1. State Farm v. Campbell The first case to explicitly discuss the use of other acts evidence for purposes of assessing reprehensibility in punitive damages trials…
(Please note: the names and locations of all parties have been changed to protect the confidentiality of this medical malpractice case and its proceedings.) The following four blog entries follow-up the previous two entries from July. These entries address the same issues, but do so from the defense side. By…
(Please note: the names and locations of all parties have been changed to protect the confidentiality of this wrongful death case and its proceedings.) B. Universal’s Motion for Summary Adjudication is Fatally Flawed Code of Civil Procedure section 437c(f)(1) only permits courts to summarily adjudicate that one or more causes…
(Please note: the names and locations of all parties have been changed to protect the confidentiality of this wrongful death case and its proceedings.) Defendant’s Bench Brief on the Relevance of “Dissimilar Conduct” Evidence to “Reprehensibility” Plaintiff acknowledges, as she must, that there has been a sea change in the…
(Please note: the names and locations of all parties have been changed to protect the confidentiality of this car accident case and its proceedings.) DAMAGES Plaintiff claims to have sustained a head laceration requiring several stitches and an injury to his right AC shoulder joint for which he claims he…
(Please note: the names and locations of all parties have been changed to protect the confidentiality of this wrongful death case and its proceedings.) DISCUSSION A. Moving Defendant’s Burden of Proof A party moving for summary judgment bears the burden of persuasion that there is no triable issue of material…