Not To Be Published (11/29/22)

tl;dr:

--?if your trial judge orally grants SJ, any still-pending 998 offers automatically expire.

--?so you have a judgment and want to collect out of state – does the sister state need personal jurisdiction over the debtor? Nope.

--?convo with?nursing home injury lawyer Kyle Schneberg?on latest Cal.App.Law.Pod.

Dear Colleagues:

Each week, I look for cases presenting a likelihood to shock, surprise, puzzle, inform, anger, or elate. The summaries are mine, the reactions are yours. If you would like to share your reactions, or provide a tip, email me at?[email protected].

And I am always happy to talk about these kinds of issues in your cases.

–Tim Kowal

Settlement Offer Under Section 998 Automatically Expires If Judge Grants Summary Judgment

CEB has published my article, “Settlement Offer Under Section 998 Automatically Expires If Judge Grants Summary Judgment,” originally published here.

The article covers Trujillo v. City of Los Angeles (D2d1 Oct. 27, 2022 No. B314042) -- Cal.Rptr.3d -- (2022 WL 15119812), a case about accepting a Code of Civil Procedure section 998 offer of compromise. The court held the acceptance was not valid because, even though it was within the statutory 30 days, the acceptance came after the trial court had already granted summary judgment.

I note several odd things about the decision and the reasoning, including why the court drew the line at oral rulings on summary judgment, but would allow a plaintiff to accept a 998 offer after a tentative ruling.

And as covered on episode 61 of the California Appellate Law Podcast, cases interpreting FRCP 68, the federal analog to section 998, have come out the opposite way.

This is a summary. Read the full article at the?tvalaw.com blog here.

Get a weekly digest of these articles delivered to your inbox by subscribing here: https://tvalaw.com/california-appellate-newsletter.

Personal Jurisdiction Unnecessary to Issue Judgment on an Out-of-State Judgment, New Published Case Holds

The new postjudgment opportunities suggested in the published case of WV 23 Jumpstart, LLC v. Mynarcik (D3 Nov. 21, 2022) No. C095046. The court holds that an out-of-state money judgment may be domesticated in California, even though California lacks personal jurisdiction over the defendant. There are two reasons you should take strong notice of this if other states follow this approach:

(1) Judgments accrue interest at different rates depending on state law, so you should domesticate all your judgments in a high-yield jurisdiction—the highest yields are in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington, at 12%.

(2) Judgments lapse after a certain time depending on state law, so you should domesticate all your judgments in a “stay-fresh” jurisdiction (e.g., judgments never expire in Delaware).

Here is what happened in Jumpstart:

Nevada issued a $1.5 million judgment against loan guarantors. Lenders then got the judgment domesticated in California. The Nevada judgment expired in 2016. But the California judgment remained.

Nevada-based defendant Mynarcik had no contacts or assets in California. Jumpstart, the new assignee of the judgment, wanted to enforce the judgment against Mynarcik in Nevada, but the Nevada judgment had been expired for several years already. So Jumpstart decided to take the domesticated California judgment and domesticate it right back to Nevada. A little like standing in a bucket and pulling yourself up by the handle, but worth a shot.

Mynarcik raised a personal jurisdiction challenge to the California judgment. The Sacramento Superior Court agreed, but the Court of Appeal reversed, finding a court does not need personal jurisdiction to domesticate a sister-state judgment.

I am curious to know what the #AppellateLinkedIn community thinks about this one. Will other state courts follow this reasoning?

This is a summary. Read the full article at the?tvalaw.com blog here?.

Get “Not To Be Published,” a weekly digest of these articles, delivered to your inbox by subscribing here: https://tvalaw.com/california-appellate-newsletter.

“Being Inauthentic Is a Betrayal of People’s Expectations”: Kyle Schneberg on Nursing Home Injury Law

After amassing $100 million for his personal-injury clients, Gerry Spence Trial Lawyer’s College alumnus Kyle Schneberg started Bedsore Law, a national law firm protecting the rights of elders in nursing homes. Kyle sits down with California Appellate Law Podcast co-hosts Jeff Lewis and Tim Kowal to discuss:

• The different approaches taken by personal injury attorneys, from “billboard attorneys” to settlement mills to big-dollar jury trials, and in between.
• How has California’s MICRA cap on medical-injury cases affected victims’ ability to get justice?
• What is the Gerry Spence College like?
• Nursing-home injuries and the changing needs in that space.

Listen to the podcast here.

Video clips from the podcast are available here.

You can also subscribe to the California Appellate Law Podcast on your favorite podcast player.

_______________________

I am always happy to talk with you about these kinds of issues in your cases.

-Tim

Tim Kowal?helps trial attorneys and clients win their cases and?avoid error on appeal. He co-hosts the Cal. Appellate Law Podcast at?www.CALPodcast.com, and posts regular updates of appellate news and tips for trial attorneys at?www.tvalaw.com/articles. Contact Tim at?[email protected]?or (714) 641-1232.

Click here?to have future appellate tips emailed to you.