News & Publications

Legal Ether and Our Children's Children This week the U. S. Supreme Court turned down a case seeking to overturn the truly questionable 1970 decision in Williams v. Florida where it was held that the constitutional right to a jury trial does not require a jury of 12. Justices Kavanagh and Gorsuch would have taken the case for review with Justice Gorsuch issuing a compelling dissent succinctly dismantling the Williams holding: "Williams was wrong the day it was decided, it [...]

On August 18, 2022, the California Court of Appeal (Fifth District) decided Porras v. Chipotle Servs., LLC, No. F081113, 2022 WL 3499646, rejecting a former employee's attempt to vacate a $4.9 million Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA )settlement between Chipotle and other aggrieved employees. Porras is the latest case to address whether an employee who has brought suit under PAGA has standing to intervene in a separate PAGA action to challenge a court-approved settlement. While prior cases have [...]

TAKEAWAYS For Proposition 65 attorneys' fee claims, "enforcement of the law does not necessarily confer a significant benefit on the public." Section 998 offers in Proposition 65 cases cannot contain broad releases of claims beyond the scope of the litigation. Proposition 65 plaintiffs cannot "cast a wide net, identifying vast categories of products in hopes of catching something that would support a violation, and adjusting their claims according to developments in the litigation." Coffee generally [...]