Civil Law

Potential Defendants in a Malicious Prosecution Case

Jeff Lewis Anti-SLAPP, Civil Law, Law Malicious Prosecution, SLAPP, SLAPPback, Strategic lawsuit against public participation

Malicious prosecution actions in California are complex. Filing and defending such actions require the handling attorney to have a deep understanding of the interplay of anti-SLAPP law, SLAPP-back actions and […]

The Perils of In-House Counsel Simultaneously Representing Company and Employee

Jeff Lewis Civil Law, Law, Law Practice, Malpractice Conflict of Interest, Ethics, In House Counsel, malpractice, Professional Responsibility, Union Pacific

In Yanez v. Plummer (Nov. 5, 2013, C07026), the Third Appellate District issued an opinion highlighting the perils for an in-house lawyer who simultaneously represents the company and an employee. […]

Judge’s order to take down law firm webpages is unlawful prior restraint

Jeff Lewis Appellate Law, Civil Law, Law, Law Practice california court of appeal, first amendment, Gag order, jury, Legal Ethics, Prior Restraint

A lawyer’s website contained pages describing past successful litigation against Ford. When that lawyer was in trial on a similar claim against Ford, the trial judge ordered the lawyer to […]

Malpractice Claim Against DLA Piper Reversed

Jeff Lewis Appellate Law, Civil Law, Law, Law Practice Appeal, Court of Appeal, DLA Piper, malpractice

In Wise v. DLA Piper LLP (D062150, D062661 Oct. 8, 2013), the Fourth Appellate District, Division One reversed a malpractice judgment following a jury verdict against the law firm DLA […]

Photographers’ Rights in California

Jeff Lewis Civil Law, Law, Privacy ACLU, American Civil Liberties Union, first amendment, Fourth Amendment, Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution, photography

What rights does a photographer have to take a photo and what limits may law enforcement or the courts impose on those rights? The courts in California have not clearly […]

3 Reasons a Trial Lawyer Should Retain an Appellate Specialist as Co-Counsel

Jeff Lewis Appellate Law, Civil Law, Law, Law Practice, Win It Appeal, Lawyer

This post is the second in an ongoing series about maximizing a party’s chances of prevailing on appeal. The trial is over, the verdict is in and the loser wants to […]

Defending the Malicious Prosecution claim

Jeff Lewis Civil Law, Law Malicious Prosecution, Probable cause, Statute of Limitations, Unclean Hands

The complex tort of malicious prosecution is frequently threatened yet rarely fully understood. The elements of the claim are that a prior action (1) was commenced by or at the direction of the defendant […]

No Harm, No Foul: Court of Appeal lets UCLA off the hook for $16 million in lost medical data case

Jeff Lewis Civil Law, Law California, class actions, PHI, Privacy, Regents of University of California, Statutory damages, ucla

A computer hard drive containing private medical information for 16,000 patients at UCLA was stolen. One of the patients filed a class action lawsuit seeking $1,000 per patient ($16 million […]

Establishing the “Probable Cause” Element of a Malicious Prosecution claim

Jeff Lewis Civil Law, Law Courts of California, Malicious Prosecution, Probable cause

The complex tort of malicious prosecution is frequently threatened yet rarely fully understood. One of the trickier elements to establish is that the prior action was filed and/or continued without probable cause. […]

Covenants not to compete still unenforceable in California

Jeff Lewis Civil Law American Arbitration Association, Arbitration, California, Neonatal intensive care unit, Non-compete clause, Pediatrix

One of the most frequent questions I get asked comes from clients who want to start a business but are fearful of provoking a lawsuit from their employers to enforce […]

Establishing the “Favorable Termination” Element of a Malicious Prosecution claim

Jeff Lewis Civil Law, Law abuse of process, Litigation, Malicious Prosecution

The complex tort of malicious prosecution is frequently threatened yet rarely fully understood. One of the trickier elements to establish is a “favorable termination” of the prior action. Just because you won […]

Three Ways a Trial Lawyer Can Strengthen the Odds of Winning on Appeal

Jeff Lewis Appellate Law, Civil Law, Law, Win It Appeal, California, Court of Appeal, Lawyer

This post is the first in an ongoing series about maximizing a party’s chances of prevailing on appeal. Recent court statistics show that in California civil appeals result in affirmance 79 […]

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Civil Law