Justia California Court of Appeals Opinion Summaries

McCready's husband sold his business, Billy Bags, to Whorf before he died. Whorf failed to make payments. McCready sued and obtained a judgment of $134,927.36 that provided, "McCready is awarded an equitable lien on the assets and profits of [Billy Bags]." Whorf filed a Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition, showing an average net monthly income of $10,487.72 from Billy Bags. Whorf named McCready as a creditor. Personal liability on Whorf's debts was discharged in bankruptcy. The lien, however, remained on the assets and profits of Billy Bags. McCready sued for money had and received, claiming that Whorf had been receiving $10,487.72 per month profit from Billy Bags; that McCready has a lien against those profits; and that profits received from the filing of the bankruptcy petition to the time of trial were monies belonging to McCready. The complaint sought $134,927.36. The court ruled in favor of for Whorf, stating: "[McCready's] remedy, if any, was to seek to enforce the judgment that created the lien through the use of laws applicable to the enforcement of judgments.” The court of appeal reversed. A separate action on a judgment is expressly authorized by Code of Civil Procedure section 683.050. View "McCready v. Whorf" on Justia Law

The law firm represented Raissi in a Chapter 11 bankruptcy case for a year, generating fees and expenses of $329,705.12. The bankruptcy case closed. Raissi failed to pay. The firm sued for breach of contract, account stated, open book account and failure to pay for goods and services rendered.It obtained an order extending the deadline for service and allowing it to serve Raissi via publication. Publication in the San Jose PostRecord generated no response. The firm obtained a default judgment. Its “Declaration of mailing (Code Civ. Proc., 587),” stated that Raissi’s address was “unknown.” Raissi moved to set aside the default, alleging that its counsel made a mistake in changing the address for its registered agent; that the bankruptcy court retained exclusive jurisdiction; and that the request for default was defective because it was not mailed to Raissi’s “last known address.” The firm stated that it had made eight separate attempts to personally serve Raissi at the property, which appeared vacant and had a sign indicating it was available to lease. The court of appeal reversed the ruling in favor of the firm. A mailing address is not “unknown” merely because personal service could not be effected at that address. View "Murray & Murray v. Raissi Real Estate Dev,, LLC" on Justia Law

Plaintiff filed suit against defendant, a plastic surgeon, for medical malpractice. Defendant failed to answer the complaint but notified plaintiff that he filed a bankruptcy proceeding. Plaintiff then obtained an order from the bankruptcy court granting her relief from the automatic stay of proceedings against debtor. In this appeal, defendant challenged the subsequent default judgment entered against him. Defendant argued that plaintiff's failure to serve him with a statement of damages prior to entry of his default denied him a last opportunity to plead the complaint and avoid a default. The court found no error in the trial court's proceedings where, under these circumstances, service of the statement of damages on defendant was not necessary or permitted by the bankruptcy stay, would have served no useful purpose, and did not open up the default and allow defendant to answer the complaint. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment of the district court.View "Weakly-Hoyt v. Foster" on Justia Law