California Municipal Law Blog
by Karen A. Feld on October 23, 2014
posted in
Damages,
Overview
In a run-of-the-mill personal injury lawsuit, a plaintiff will seek medical treatment from a provider. The provider will bill $x and that number forms the basis for damages in a lawsuit. For example, if the plaintiff has surgery and the surgery costs $20,000, then $20,000 is the number shown to the jury. The jury uses that number to come to a total damages award. (By law, payments made by an insurance company cannot be presented to the jury.)
Factoring companies have entered the personal law arena by making it profitable to increase the medical bills thereby increasing the jury verdicts.
... Continue Reading
tags:
Damages, Evidence, Hanif, Howell, Jury, Medical Factoring, Personal Injury,
by David G. Ritchie on October 21, 2014
posted in
Legislative Updates,
Earlier this year, the U.S. Supreme Court, in National Labor Relations Board v. Noel Canning et. al., ruled that the appointment of three members of the National Labor Relations Board were not valid. The appointments had taken place following the President invoking the “Recess Appointments Clause,” permitting the President to make appointments when the Senate is in recess, when the Senate was in a three-day adjournment between January 3 and January 6, 2012. The Supreme Court held that recesses of more than three days but less than ten days are presumptively too short to trigger the recess ... Continue Reading
tags:
NLRB, recess, recess appointments clause,
by acsquantumd on October 14, 2014
posted in
Municipal Bankruptcy,
Municipalities facing apparently insurmountable financial obstacles have been keeping a close eye on the City of Stockton as it weaves its way through Chapter 9 bankruptcy. On October 1, 2014, Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Klein made a ruling from the bench that changes the landscape of Chapter 9 bankruptcy as it relates to pension liabilities. Specifically, Judge Klein addressed the constitutional question of whether federal bankruptcy law trumps California law which states that money owed to the state pension fund (CalPERS) must be paid. Judge Klein ruled that it does. However, the ... Continue Reading
tags:
bankruptcy, CalPERS, retirement benefits,
by Karen A. Feld on October 9, 2014
posted in
Law Enforcement, Sex Offenders,
Local entities (cities and counties) have been faced with legal challenges to their sex offender ordinances that were passed after Jessica’s Law in 2006. They are also faced with frustrated citizens who demand the most restrictive ordinances possible, without realizing the legal limitations. It is important for entities to understand the background for these laws, recent court developments and future legislation.
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tags:
Parole, Penal Code, Sex Offenders,
by William R. Galstan on October 7, 2014
posted in
Code Enforcement, Public Nuisance,
You can see it throughout California—new residential subdivisions being built right up against farms that have been in existence for generations. The new residents, who thought it would be nice to look out over the open space provided by the farm, are now experiencing the realities of being a farm neighbor: noisy and smelly animals, early morning tractor and truck noise, flies, spraying, the arrival and departure of farm workers, etc.
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tags:
Code Enforcement, Complaints, Public Nuisance, Right to Farm,
