Legal News

Case Summaries

Probate Trusts

[06/25] Greenspan v. LADT, LLC
In a trust's suit for breach of contract and other claims against two affiliated companies and individuals, trial court's confirmation of an arbitrator's award against defendants in the amount of $6.34 million is affirmed where: 1) per the JAMS rules, the arbitrator, not a court, determines what issues are arbitrable, and here, the arbitrator determined that the issue of joint and several liability was arbitrable; 2) arbitrator's finding of joint and several liability was rationally related to the parties' contract; 3) as to the timeliness of the final award under JAMS rules, the arbitrator's interpretation and application of the rules cannot be judicially reviewed on the merits; and 4) the suit against the arbitrator was barred by arbitral immunity and would not have caused a reasonable person to doubt the arbitrator's impartiality.

[06/22] Jay E. Hayden Found. v. First Neighbor Bank, NA
In a RICO suit against a bank, two law firms, and affiliated individuals, grant of defendants' motion to dismiss on the ground that the complaint itself showed that plaintiffs had missed the four-year deadline governing RICO suits is affirmed as, by the summer of 2003 at the latest, the plaintiffs knew that a lawyer had looted the estate and that bank's employees were trying to prevent further investigation of the lawyer.

[06/17] Estate of Schneider v. Finmann
In a legal malpractice action alleging that defendants negligently advised decedent to transfer, or failed to advise decedent not to transfer, an insurance policy which resulted in an increased estate tax liability, the appellate division's affirmance of dismissal of the action is reversed where an attorney may be held liable for damages resulting from negligent representation in estate tax planning that causes enhanced estate tax liability.

[06/17] Estate of Charania v. Shulman
In a tax deficiency case, the judgment of the tax court is affirmed in part and reversed in part where: 1) the tax court's judgment that all of the Citigroup shares were the separate property of the decedent for federal estate tax purposes and, thus, were includable in his gross taxable estate is affirmed, as the rule of De Nicols is that a change in marital domicile does not, in itself, effect a change in the marital property regime governing the spouses' rights in personal property acquired throughout the course of the marriage; but 2) the tax court's approbation of the late-filing penalty was in error and is therefore reversed.

[06/17] Lingo v. Lingo
In plaintiff's appeal from the court of chancery's order of restitution from and requiring his sister, to return funds she misappropriated as their mother's attorney-in-fact, the order is affirmed where restitution adequately restored the amount of the loss and the remedy of equitable forfeiture would have conflicted with the mother's testamentary intent.

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Insurance Law

[06/25] Lincoln Nat'l Life Ins., Co. v. Bezich
A petition for permission to appeal, arising from the district court's remand of plaintiff's class action lawsuit against an insurer for breach of contract claims on the basis that CAFA's exception to federal jurisdiction for the action applied, is dismissed for lack of jurisdiction as plaintiff's claim "related to the rights, duties,...and obligations relating to or created by or pursuant to...a security," as defined in the Securities Act of 1933.

[06/24] Durakovic v. Bldg. Serv. 32 BJ Pension Fund
In an ERISA challenge to a union disability-benefits denial, dismissal of the complaint is reversed where: 1) a fund organized pursuant to 29 U.S.C. section 186(c)(5) is conflicted within the meaning of Metropolitan Life Insurance Company v. Glenn, 128 S. Ct. 2343 (2008); 2) the district court should have accorded the conflict in this case more weight; and 3) no rational trier of fact could have failed to conclude that the benefits denial was arbitrary and capricious.

[06/23] Lincoln Nat'l Life Ins., Co. v. Transamerica Life Ins., Co.
In a suit for patent infringement, related to computerized methods for administering variable annuity plans, district court's denial of defendants' motion for summary judgment as a matter of law that it does not infringe the claims at issue of the '201 patent is reversed and remanded where: 1) the district court erred in denying defendants' motion for JMOL of noninfringement as the evidence on the record does not support jury's verdict of infringement; and 2) because defendant did not infringe, its argument that the district court abused its discretion by refusing to grant it leave to amend its complaint to assert a claim for invalidity under 35 U.S.C. section 101 need not be addressed.

[06/23] Insurance Co. of N. Am. v. Pub. Serv. Mut. Ins. Co.
In an appeal from the district court's order granting respondent's Fed. R. Civ. P. 60(b)(2) motion based on newly discovered evidence that an arbitrator who had resigned was, in fact, able to rejoin the arbitration panel prior to the district court's decision on whether to convene a new panel or order a replacement arbitrator, the order is affirmed where: 1) the rule articulated in Marine Products Export Corp. v. M.T. Globe Galaxy, 977 F.2d 66 (2d Cir. 1992) ? that, absent "special circumstances," if a vacancy arises on an arbitral panel due to the death of an arbitrator prior to the rendering of an award, a new panel should be convened ? does not apply to a vacancy occasioned by a resignation; and 2) in the instant case, the district court's decision either to reappoint the arbitrator who had resigned, or, in the alternative, to direct petitioner to appoint a replacement was proper pursuant to 9 U.S.C. section 5.

[06/22] RLI Ins. Co. v. All Star Transp., Inc.
In an interpleader action by an insurance company to determine its obligations to pay truckers hired by its bankrupt insured under a surety bond, summary judgment for plaintiff-insurer is affirmed where Form BMC 84, which governed such bonds, plainly stated that the face value of the bond was the sum of $10,000 for all claims combined.

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Health Law

[06/25] Kemp v. Holder
In an action for violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Rehabilitation Act arising from the termination of plaintiff's employment as a federal court security officer, summary judgment for defendant is affirmed where plaintiff failed to show a genuine issue of material fact regarding whether he had a "disability," as that term is defined under the ADA.

[06/25] Samantha C. v. State Dep't of Developmental Serv.
In plaintiff's petition for a writ of mandate and a request for declaratory relief challenging the determinations made by Harbor Regional Center and the state Department of Developmental Services that she did not have a developmental disability and was therefore not entitled to services under the Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Services Act, trial court's denial is affirmed in part and reversed in part where: 1) trial court's judgment upholding the validity of the regulations is affirmed as they are consistent with section 4512(a); but 2) trial court's determination that plaintiff does not have a developmental disability under the Lanterman Act is reversed as she has a disabling condition related to her birth injuries which requires treatment within the meaning of the part of section 4512(a) known as the fifth category.

[06/25] Sherley v. Sebelius
In an action by medical researchers challenging newly promulgated guidelines authorizing the National Institutes of Health to fund more research projects involving human embryonic stem cells than it had previously done, dismissal of the complaint is reversed where plaintiffs had standing because the Guidelines intensified the competition for a share in a fixed amount of money, and thus the plaintiffs would have to invest more time and resources to craft a successful grant application.

[06/25] Claiborne-Hughes Health Ctr. v. Sebelius
The Appellate Division of the Departmental Appeals Board's (DAB) affirmance of the United States Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' imposition of a civil money penalty upon, as well as a denial of payment for new admissions for, a skilled nursing facility, due to noncompliance with a number of standards of care required by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is affirmed where: 1) it was clear that the facility failed to achieve substantial compliance with 42 C.F.R. section 483.10(b)(11) as the DAB correctly noted that a sharp decline in food intake persisting for over three weeks should have brought a resident's significant change in status to the facility's attention; 2) DAB's immediate jeopardy determination was not in clear error; 3) substantial evidence existed in the record as a whole to demonstrate that the facility had failed to substantially comply with the requirement that it provide each resident with sufficient fluid intake to maintain proper hydration and health under section 483.25(j); and 4) the ALJ was free not to continue making additional rulings once he determined that the deficiencies concerning the two residents sufficed to support imposition of sanctions.

[06/24] Durakovic v. Bldg. Serv. 32 BJ Pension Fund
In an ERISA challenge to a union disability-benefits denial, dismissal of the complaint is reversed where: 1) a fund organized pursuant to 29 U.S.C. section 186(c)(5) is conflicted within the meaning of Metropolitan Life Insurance Company v. Glenn, 128 S. Ct. 2343 (2008); 2) the district court should have accorded the conflict in this case more weight; and 3) no rational trier of fact could have failed to conclude that the benefits denial was arbitrary and capricious.

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Elder Law

[05/06] FAL-Meridian, Inc. v. US Dep't of Health & Human Serv.
A nursing home's petition to set aside a final decision by the Department of Health and Human Services, that imposed a civil penalty of $7,100 for having violated a regulation under the Medicare and Medicaid provisions of the Social Security Act, is denied as the nursing home failed to tender evidence that would show that it had done everything possible to minimize the risk of an accident to the deceased resident.

[02/05] Villano v. Waterman Convalescent Hosp., Inc.
In plaintiff's action against a convalescent hospital claiming she was admitted without her consent, judgment of the trial court is affirmed where, although a stipulated judgment is appealable, plaintiff cannot show that allegedly erroneous rulings were prejudicial.

[12/22] Massey v. Mercy Med. Center Redding
In plaintiff's negligence action against a nurse and the hospital that employed the nurse alleging that he sustained injury after falling from a walker because the nurse placed the plaintiff on the walker and left him unattended, judgment of the trial court is reversed in part where: 1) the question of nurse's alleged negligence for the fall poses a question of common knowledge, and therefore does not require expert opinion testimony; and 2) trial court's judgment that denied plaintiff's attempt to amend his complaint to add causes of action for battery, fraud and elder abuse is affirmed.

[12/21] Grace Healthcare of Benton v. US Dept. of Health & Hum. Servs.
In a petition for review of a civil monetary penalty imposed by the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services on petitioner nursing home for an "immediate jeopardy" violation of 42 C.F.R. section 483.13(c), which required nursing homes to thoroughly investigate all allegations of resident neglect or abuse, including injuries of unknown sources, the petition is granted where the Secretary's finding of the likely harm necessary to warrant an immediate-jeopardy-level finding was based on pure speculation and not supported by substantial evidence in the administrative record as a whole.

[12/01] Yarick v. Pacificare of California
In plaintiff-estate's suit against defendant health care providers and health care benefits providers alleging that the events resulting in decedent's death happened because of the financial pressures and incentive that arose from the care providers' contracts with the defendants, trial court's order sustaining defendants' demurrer is affirmed as: 1) federal law expressly preempts applications of state laws where standards for Medicare Advantage plans are established pursuant to the Medicare law; and 2) to the extent the plaintiff seeks to allege causes of action based on state common law concepts of duty independent of the Health and Safety Code provisions cited, those common law causes of action are preempted.

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