Including Confidentiality Provision In Settlement Of Malpractice Lawsuit Did Not Violate Public Policy, Because Provision Did Not Prevent Reporting To State Medical Board. In Pappas v. Chang and Chang v. Pappas, Nos. A159792 and A160293 (1/2 3/3/22) (Richman, Miller; Kline, conc.), the Court of Appeal affirms the trial court in separate consolidated appeals. In […]
Justice Tangeman, Who Concurred Before, Now Dissents After Rehearing. We posted on February 2, 2021 about Breslin v. Breslin, B301382 (2/6 1/26/21) (Gilbert, Yegan, Tangeman), an opinion authored by Justice Gilbert in which Justices Yegan and Tangeman concurred. The case held the party receiving notice of a mediation ordered by the probate court and […]
Potential Beneficiaries Of Trust Received Notice, But Failed To Participate. After Don Kirchner died in 2018, the successor trustee of Kirchner's living trust found a document listing 24 charities with handwritten notes appearing to be percentages for distributing the estate. The probate court confirmed the successor trustee and ordered mediation among interested parties. Apparently […]
The Neighbor Feud Had Gone On Since 2002. Wandering Elk, Dakota Indian, smokes peacepipe. c1903. Frank Bennett Fiske, photographer. Library of Congress. The Court of Appeals' reliance on the wisdom of a Croatian proverb offered a strong clue in the first sentence that the Court would enforce peace among feuding […]
Famous Family, Simple Legal Principles. Though the opinion opens with a fanfare announcing, “George R. Hearst, Jr. . . scion of the wealthy Hearst family,” the facts and legal points are actually pretty simple. George and Susan Hearst married in 1998, and entered into a marital property agreement (MPA) in 2002, whereby Susan […]
Court Enforces The Settlement Agreement. Plaintiff Jing Jing Dan sued Rambla Vista Enterprises, LLC and Joichi Gushiken alleging sexual harassment and unwelcome sexual advances by Gushiken, followed by termination of employment after she objected to her treatment. Four days after a mediation, the parties entered into a stipulation for settlement, whereby defendants agreed to […]
Also, Settlement Documents May Be Admitted For Purposes Other Than Proving Liability. While documents subject to the mediation privilege may be inadmissible as evidence, an error in admitting the documents into evidence will not matter to the Court of Appeal, if admission of the evidence resulted in harmless error. That was the case in […]
Stipulated Judgment May Not Have Contained Magic Words, But It Was Sufficient To Express Parties’ Intent To Waive Confidentiality And Allow Enforcement Daly v. Oyster, B249255 (2/1 July 29, 2014) (Chaney, Johnson, Wiley) (published) deals with that nettlesome situation that sometimes arises after mediation when papers are not filed with the court, the case […]
Trial Judge Refuses To Appoint Retired Judge Who Mediated The Class Action Dispute As Temporary Judge Petitioner Luckey’s mediation of a class action lawsuit with defendants resulted in a settlement agreement pursuant to which the parties stipulated to appoint a temporary judge to hear the matter “until final determination thereof.” The parties intended that […]
Maricopa County Waived Argument That Evidence Admitted To Show Settlement Should Be Privileged Under Federal Law 87 Yard Punt . . . In Wilcox v. Arpaio, No. 12-16418 (9th Cir. Feb. 2, 2014) (Tashima, Farris, Reinhardt), the Ninth Circuit avoids having to “determine whether a mediation privilege should be recognized under federal common […]