Archive for June, 2015

Wong v. Stoler – Delay Does Not Benefit Defendants (2015-6-30)

Here’s a thorny problem.  The trial court found that the seller of a house lied to the buyer.  The buyer sought the remedy of rescission.  The trial court denied relief, in part because of events that occurred with the passage of time. The court of appeal disagreed in Wong v. Stoler (June 23, 2015) __ […]

A Deal is Deal, Except When You Pump Your Arms (2015-6-19)

When you read the cases, it’s hard not to reach the conclusion that the courts view a liability release agreement with distrust. A new high water mark in this analysis was reached in the recent decision in Etelvina Jimenez v. 24 Hour Fitness USA, Inc. (June 9, 2015) __ Cal.App.4th ___. In Jimenez, the court […]

Estate of Britel – When is a Child Not a Child? (2015-6-12)

The law is filled with rules.  Rules give guidance to judges. Sometimes the legal result does not square with the facts.  In Estate of Britel (2015) 236 Cal.App.4th 127, “the court admitted into evidence a DNA test showing a 99.9996 percent probability that the decedent (Amine Britel) was A.S.’s (the child’s) father.”  Yet the court […]

Roscoe Pound on the Development of English Law (2015-6-4)

Roscoe Pound, Dean of Harvard Law from 1916 to 1936, was a prolific writer in 1920s and 1930s regarding jurisprudence.  Here is Dean Pound’s description – both succinct and accurate – regarding the path of the law. “The historical school thought of each in terms of the growth of an organism, in terms of a […]