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Case Summaries

Health Law

[06/25] Kemp v. Holder
In an action for violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Rehabilitation Act arising from the termination of plaintiff's employment as a federal court security officer, summary judgment for defendant is affirmed where plaintiff failed to show a genuine issue of material fact regarding whether he had a "disability," as that term is defined under the ADA.

[06/25] Samantha C. v. State Dep't of Developmental Serv.
In plaintiff's petition for a writ of mandate and a request for declaratory relief challenging the determinations made by Harbor Regional Center and the state Department of Developmental Services that she did not have a developmental disability and was therefore not entitled to services under the Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Services Act, trial court's denial is affirmed in part and reversed in part where: 1) trial court's judgment upholding the validity of the regulations is affirmed as they are consistent with section 4512(a); but 2) trial court's determination that plaintiff does not have a developmental disability under the Lanterman Act is reversed as she has a disabling condition related to her birth injuries which requires treatment within the meaning of the part of section 4512(a) known as the fifth category.

[06/25] Sherley v. Sebelius
In an action by medical researchers challenging newly promulgated guidelines authorizing the National Institutes of Health to fund more research projects involving human embryonic stem cells than it had previously done, dismissal of the complaint is reversed where plaintiffs had standing because the Guidelines intensified the competition for a share in a fixed amount of money, and thus the plaintiffs would have to invest more time and resources to craft a successful grant application.

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Elder Law

[05/06] FAL-Meridian, Inc. v. US Dep't of Health & Human Serv.
A nursing home's petition to set aside a final decision by the Department of Health and Human Services, that imposed a civil penalty of $7,100 for having violated a regulation under the Medicare and Medicaid provisions of the Social Security Act, is denied as the nursing home failed to tender evidence that would show that it had done everything possible to minimize the risk of an accident to the deceased resident.

[02/05] Villano v. Waterman Convalescent Hosp., Inc.
In plaintiff's action against a convalescent hospital claiming she was admitted without her consent, judgment of the trial court is affirmed where, although a stipulated judgment is appealable, plaintiff cannot show that allegedly erroneous rulings were prejudicial.

[12/22] Massey v. Mercy Med. Center Redding
In plaintiff's negligence action against a nurse and the hospital that employed the nurse alleging that he sustained injury after falling from a walker because the nurse placed the plaintiff on the walker and left him unattended, judgment of the trial court is reversed in part where: 1) the question of nurse's alleged negligence for the fall poses a question of common knowledge, and therefore does not require expert opinion testimony; and 2) trial court's judgment that denied plaintiff's attempt to amend his complaint to add causes of action for battery, fraud and elder abuse is affirmed.

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Probate Trusts

[06/25] Greenspan v. LADT, LLC
In a trust's suit for breach of contract and other claims against two affiliated companies and individuals, trial court's confirmation of an arbitrator's award against defendants in the amount of $6.34 million is affirmed where: 1) per the JAMS rules, the arbitrator, not a court, determines what issues are arbitrable, and here, the arbitrator determined that the issue of joint and several liability was arbitrable; 2) arbitrator's finding of joint and several liability was rationally related to the parties' contract; 3) as to the timeliness of the final award under JAMS rules, the arbitrator's interpretation and application of the rules cannot be judicially reviewed on the merits; and 4) the suit against the arbitrator was barred by arbitral immunity and would not have caused a reasonable person to doubt the arbitrator's impartiality.

[06/22] Jay E. Hayden Found. v. First Neighbor Bank, NA
In a RICO suit against a bank, two law firms, and affiliated individuals, grant of defendants' motion to dismiss on the ground that the complaint itself showed that plaintiffs had missed the four-year deadline governing RICO suits is affirmed as, by the summer of 2003 at the latest, the plaintiffs knew that a lawyer had looted the estate and that bank's employees were trying to prevent further investigation of the lawyer.

[06/17] Estate of Charania v. Shulman
In a tax deficiency case, the judgment of the tax court is affirmed in part and reversed in part where: 1) the tax court's judgment that all of the Citigroup shares were the separate property of the decedent for federal estate tax purposes and, thus, were includable in his gross taxable estate is affirmed, as the rule of De Nicols is that a change in marital domicile does not, in itself, effect a change in the marital property regime governing the spouses' rights in personal property acquired throughout the course of the marriage; but 2) the tax court's approbation of the late-filing penalty was in error and is therefore reversed.

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