Case Summaries
Probate Trusts
Labor & Employment Law
Bankruptcy Law
Corporation & Enterprise Law
Probate Trusts
[11/17]
1680 Prop. Trust v. Newman Trust
In plaintiffs' suit against the defendant-Newman Trust for breach of fiduciary duty based on fraud, summary judgment for defendant is affirmed as the Code of Civ. Proc. section 366.2 period of limitations is applicable to fraud claims based on statements of the decedent on behalf of a trust of which he was trustor and trustee, even though the action is against the successor trustee.
[11/09]
King v. Johnston
In plaintiff's suit against defendant alleging undue influence on the trustee to breach a trust of which plaintiff was a beneficiary, judgment in favor of defendant is reversed and remanded where: 1) the court erred in determining that plaintiff did not have standing to sue defendant for her role as a third-party participant in a trustee's breach; 2) the trial court erred in failing to consider and make the necessary findings as to whether plaintiff could recover from defendant under a theory that, after the trustee's death, defendant became a trustee de son tort, and thus had duties to the trust beneficiaries, which she breached; and 3) plaintiff may recover from defendant for defendant's breach of trust after the trustee's death.
[10/29]
Johnson v. Greenelsh
In proceedings involving an arbitration petition by one co-trustee of a family trust and plaintiff-co-trustee's petition to enforce a no contest clause, appellate court's judgment against defendant-co-trustee is reversed as a challenge to a surviving spouse's mental capacity to transfer trust assets and appoint a successor trustee did not violate the no contest clause in a family trust. A proceeding contesting a settlor's mental competence to exercise rights under a trust does not amount to an attack on the trust itself, unless it seeks to thwart the estate plan established by the trust.
[10/27]
Rands v. Rands
Probate court's order determining that settlor's revocation of a trust is ineffective due to his lack of capacity is affirmed as the certifications of mental competence are insufficient because neither physician who found mental competence was aware of the earlier certifications of mental incompetence.
[10/16]
Nordwind v. Rowland
In an action for legal malpractice, summary judgment for defendants is affirmed where plaintiffs failed to show actual injury because, under German law, they would have only been entitled to 50% of the subject inheritance regardless of any malpractice on the part of their counsel.
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Labor & Employment Law
[11/20]
Scruggs v. Garst Seed Co.
In an action raising claims of retaliation and a hostile work environment, summary judgment in favor of plaintiff's former employer is affirmed where: 1) the company did not retaliate against plaintiff for filing the discrimination charge when it eliminated her position as it was eliminated by a company-wide restructuring; 2) although plaintiff claims that the company also retaliated against her when it did not hire her for one of the open positions after the restructuring, it hired the person who had previously held the position; and 3) the relatively isolated gender-based comments and remarks plaintiff's supervisor directed toward her were not sufficiently severe or pervasive to rise to the level of a hostile work environment.
[11/20]
Narricot Indus., LP v. NLRB
Petitioner's request for review of a decision of the NLRB (Board), arising from allegations of various unfair labor practice charges, is denied where: 1) the Board decision was properly issued by a two-member quorum pursuant to 29 U.S.C. section 153(b); and 2) the Board's decision is enforceable on the merits.
[11/20]
PPG Indus., Incorp. v. Int'l Chem. Workers Union Council of the United Food and Commercial Workers
District court's order vacating an arbitrator's award in favor of a union on the ground that the arbitrator exceeded his authority by adding a term to the underlying contract is reversed and remanded as, even if the arbitrator erred, he acted within the scope of his authority under the contract.
[11/20]
Davis v. J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.
In an action challenging a bank's categorization of underwriters as administrative employees exempt from the Fair Labor Standard Act's overtime pay requirements, summary judgment for defendant is reversed where plaintiff's work was not related either to setting "management policies" nor to "general business operations" such as human relations or advertising, 29 C.F.R. section 541.2, but rather concerned the "production" of loans - the fundamental service provided by the bank.
[11/19]
Barboza v. West Coast Digital GSM, Inc.
In a class action lawsuit brought by former employees alleging unlawful wage deductions, failure to pay overtime and other employment violations, class counsel's obligations to the class do not end with the entry of judgment and his obligations continue until all class issues are resolved, which may include enforcement of the judgment.
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Bankruptcy Law
[11/20]
Severo v. Comm'r of Int'l Rev.
In taxpayers' appeal of a tax court decision granting summary judgment for the IRS and permitting it to proceed with its collection action relating to petitioners' 1990 tax liability, the order is affirmed where the statute of limitations regarding collection was tolled during the pendency of petitioners' bankruptcy proceedings.
[11/18]
Boyer v. Crown Stock Distrib., Inc.
In Chapter 7 bankruptcy proceedings in which the trustee filed an adversary action against the defendants claiming fraudulent conveyance under the section 4(a)(2) of the Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act, judgment in favor of the trustee is affirmed in part and reversed in part where: 1) bankruptcy court did not commit clear error in finding that the statutory condition for a fraudulent conveyance was satisfied; and 2) district court's ruling with respect to the dividend is reversed as the trustee is entitled to the dividend because it was an integral part of the leveraged buy-out.
[11/13]
In re: Nowak
In Chapter 7 bankruptcy proceedings, the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel's (BAP) denial of plaintiff-creditor's motion to allow an informal proof of claim based on its prior filings as a putative secured creditor is affirmed as the BAP did not abuse its discretion in finding that: 1) plaintiff had ample notice of the likelihood that it would lose its status as a secured creditor, necessitating the filing of a proof of claim; 2) plaintiff's unexplained delay weighed against allowing plaintiff's informal proof of claim; and 3) the large dilution in the distribution to other creditors in this case was an appropriate consideration weighing against allowing plaintiff's claim.
[11/12]
In re: Bradley
In bankruptcy trustee's appeal from a ruling of the bankruptcy court, affirmed by the district court, holding the trustee's predecessor in contempt of court and imposing monetary sanctions, the order is affirmed where: 1) the remedial civil contempt power extends to defiance of a bankruptcy court injunction whose terms are known, but which has not yet been formalized as required by procedural rules; and 2) the lack of agreement between the opposing parties briefing the motion for injunction did not render the resulting ruling unclear.
[11/12]
In re: Madera
In debtors' bankruptcy proceedings for defaulting on their loan, ruling upholding the bankruptcy court's grant of summary judgment to the creditors and its denial of debtors' motion to amend is affirmed where: 1) the Rooker-Feldman doctrine precluded the bankruptcy court's jurisdiction over debtors' rescission claim because that claim was inextricably intertwined with a Court of Common Pleas' foreclosure judgment; 2) there was an adequate basis for summary judgment on the Truth in Lending Act damages claim, specifically, that debtors failed to create a genuine issue of material fact as to whether they had prior title insurance in connection with the loan; and 3) the bankruptcy court did not abuse its discretion in denying debtor's motion to amend as it was untimely.
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Corporation & Enterprise Law
[11/20]
New York Guangdong Fin. Inc. v. Comm'r. of Int'l. Rev.
In an appeal from a tax court's judgment sustaining in part the Commissioner of Internal Revenue's notice of deficiency for withholding tax deficiencies and additions to tax, the order is affirmed where: 1) the Commissioner did not act arbitrarily when it relied on information provided to it by petitioner under penalties of perjury; 2) the Agreement for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Tax Evasion With Respect to Taxes on Income did not exempt interest paid to a Chinese corporation from withholding tax; and 3) the record contained no evidence that petitioner relied on the advice of a competent professional in deciding not to file the Forms 1042 for the years in question.
[11/20]
Curia v. Nelson
In parties' dispute over the terms of a stock purchase agreement entered into in 1989 and several modification of the agreement over the next decade involving a small number of shares in two automobile dealerships and whether the contract also gave plaintiff option to purchase remaining shares, summary judgment in plaintiff's favor is reversed as extrinsic evidence is required to clarify what the parties meant because the contract as modified is reasonably susceptible to both parties' interpretation and is therefore ambiguous regarding the survival of the options.
[11/20]
Scruggs v. Garst Seed Co.
In an action raising claims of retaliation and a hostile work environment, summary judgment in favor of plaintiff's former employer is affirmed where: 1) the company did not retaliate against plaintiff for filing the discrimination charge when it eliminated her position as it was eliminated by a company-wide restructuring; 2) although plaintiff claims that the company also retaliated against her when it did not hire her for one of the open positions after the restructuring, it hired the person who had previously held the position; and 3) the relatively isolated gender-based comments and remarks plaintiff's supervisor directed toward her were not sufficiently severe or pervasive to rise to the level of a hostile work environment.
[11/19]
Go v. Pac. Health Serv., Inc.
In plaintiff's suit seeking involuntary dissolution of defendant-company, of which she had been a director and shareholder, trial court's decree providing for the winding up and dissolution of the corporation unless defendants made payment to the plaintiff for her shares, in the specified amount, within the specified time, is affirmed with respect to the alternative decree issued by the trial court as it followed the statutory requirements set forth in the plain language of section 2000.
[11/18]
Boyer v. Crown Stock Distrib., Inc.
In Chapter 7 bankruptcy proceedings in which the trustee filed an adversary action against the defendants claiming fraudulent conveyance under the section 4(a)(2) of the Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act, judgment in favor of the trustee is affirmed in part and reversed in part where: 1) bankruptcy court did not commit clear error in finding that the statutory condition for a fraudulent conveyance was satisfied; and 2) district court's ruling with respect to the dividend is reversed as the trustee is entitled to the dividend because it was an integral part of the leveraged buy-out.
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