Notable Briefs

On April 10, 2015, overcoming the enormous odds against writ petitions, the firm obtained a peremptory writ of mandate for our client in the First District Court of Appeal based solely on a Palma notice, opposition and reply. (Campbell v. Superior Court; case no. A144153) The case tested the extent to which a good faith settlement bars cross-actions between alleged joint tortfeasors where, as here, the cross-complaint includes tort claims for direct damages as well as indemnity for the common plaintiff's damages. Click here for a copy of the petition and here for the resulting decision.
In March 2015, we filed an amicus curiae brief for GTECH Corporation, the prime contractor for the California State Lottery, in the California Supreme Court. (People v. Grewal, case no. S217896) The brief addresses the intended relationship between the State Lottery Act and more traditional gambling statutes. Click here for a copy of the brief.
In September 2013, we filed our opening brief for the appellants in City of Modesto v. Dow Chemical et al., a multi-million dollar groundwater pollution case and one of the largest ever brought in the First District Court of Appeal. Click here for a copy of the brief and the successful opinion of January 8, 2018.
In May 2010, we filed an amicus curiae brief on behalf of the Western Manufactured Housing Communities Association in an important takings case reheard en banc by the Ninth Circuit. The case concerned the constitutionality of a mobile home rent control ordinance adopted by the City of Goleta. Click here for a copy of the brief.
In 2008, we represented an attorney who filed an anti-SLAPP motion to strike a malicious prosecution action, and the trial court not only denied the motion but deemed it frivolous and assessed attorneys’ fees against him. After careful review, we prosecuted an appeal and the California Court of Appeal, First Appellate District (San Francisco), not only reversed but remanded with directions to grant the anti-SLAPP motion in its entirety. Click here for our principal brief and the resulting opinion.
In 2008, representing a group of investors in a limited partnership venture in the California Court of Appeal, First Appellate District, we obtained affirmance of $1.4 million judgment over the defendants’ challenge to the proper measure of fraud damages and prejudgment interest. Click here for our principal brief and the resulting opinion.
In 2005, after owners of a mobilehome park had suffered an adverse decision in the California Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District, Division One (San Diego), on a complex state preemption issue, our firm was retained to seek relief in the California Supreme Court. We obtained a grant of review and a unanimous reversal. Click here for our principal brief and the resulting opinion.
In 2001, representing Manufactured Home Communities, Inc., (currently known as Equity Lifestyle Properties, Inc.), the nation’s largest owner of upscale mobilehome parks, in the California Court of Appeal, Sixth Appellate District (San Jose), we obtained a published opinion reversing a $6 million punitive damages verdict. The main ground was a statutory construction argument advanced for the first time on appeal. Click here for our principal brief and the resulting opinion.