Current News

Case Summaries

Legal Malpractice

[07/23] Gil v. Reed
In an inmate's negligence, malpractice, and civil rights suit against prison medical staff, summary judgment for defendants is reversed where the record contained sufficient evidence to show genuine issues of material fact on: 1) inmate's Eighth Amendment claim that prison staff were deliberately indifferent to his medical needs; and 2) whether defendants had met the standard of care, using the state-law standard as required by the Federal Tort Claims Act.

[07/21] Simmons v. Ghaderi
In a breach of contract action arising from a medical malpractice suit, wherein plaintiffs sought to enforce an oral settlement agreement allegedly formed during mediation, a ruling upholding a decision to admit evidence relating to the mediation proceedings is reversed where: 1) the court of appeal improperly relied on the doctrine of estoppel to create a judicial exception to the comprehensive statutory scheme of mediation confidentiality; and 2) the evidence relating to the mediation proceedings should not have been admitted at trial.

[07/18] Ginter v. Belcher, Prendergast & Laporte
In an interlocutory appeal arising from a dispute between a married couple and their attorney, a district court's ruling finding that a forum-selection clause in the parties' attorney-client agreement was unenforceable is reversed where: 1) the forum-selection clause in the agreement was enforceable as it was not the product of overreaching nor was it against public policy; and 2) the clause governed the tort claims at issue.

More...