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9th Circuit Denies Qualified Immunity for LAPD Officer
Smith v. Agdeppa and Los Angeles Police Department San Francisco – The Ninth Circuit denied qualified immunity to Defendant LAPD Officer Edward Agdeppa in a federal suit filed by decedent Albert Dorsey’s mother, Paulette Smith. The civil action alleges Officer Agdeppa used excessive force in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1983 to shoot and kill…
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SCOTUS Petition: Does Rooker-Feldman’s extrinsic fraud exception apply to judicial corruption carried about state judicial officers
A Supreme Court petition for certiorari was filed this week in Chodosh v. Saunders, Petition No. 21-1374, arguing the Ninth Circuit departed from its own precedent and split from other circuits to hold the Rooker-Feldman doctrine’s “fraud on the court” exception does not apply to judges engaged in judicial corruption in state court proceedings. The…
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California State Auditor: Weak State Bar Policies Limit Protection for Public
California’s Acting State Auditor, Michael Tilden reported to Governor Newsom that the California State Bar prematurely closes cases against attorneys who are accused of misconduct. Key takeaways from the report include: Failure to adequately investigate attorneys despite lengthy patterns of complaints Dismissal of 165 complaints against one attorney Failure to consistently identify conflicts of interest…
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Federal jury convicts against ex-husband for hiding assets in divorce proceeding
LOS ANGELES – Vardan Keshishyan, a former officer of the Department of Homeland Security, was sentenced to 15 months in prison for structuring $200,000 in cash to conceal assets during his divorce proceedings. A federal jury found Keshishyan guilty of two counts of structuring to evade federal reporting requirements. In 2014, when Keshishyan’s wife filed for…
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Defendant Harris-Ginsberg LLP reversed on appeal in legal malpractice suit alleging the firm botched a premarital agreement
Plaintiff Brooke Knapp filed a lawsuit against her former family law attorneys at Harris-Ginsberg LLP alleging the firm botched a premarital agreement (“PMA”) they drafted for her in 2004. The PMA governed the ownership of their martial home. During the marriage, Brooke’s husband, Grant Tinker, made two amendments to his trust and estate plan concerning…
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Angela Jolie Wins Against Private Judge Scheme
LOS ANGELES – Angela Jolie and her then-ex husband Brad Pitt stipulated to the use of privately compensate judge John W. Ouderkirk (Ret.) to handle their divorce case. Ouderkirk was hired through Alternative Dispute Resolution Centers (ARC). But Ouderkirk and ARC failed to disclose all of the cases that he had previously worked on with…
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Court of Appeal misstates the Legislative intent behind the 2021 amendments to the DVPA and conflates “disturbing mental peace” with “coercive control”
The Fourth District Court of Appeal, Division 1, reversed a domestic violence restraining order (“DVRO”) issued by a San Diego County family law court. (In re the Marriage of L.R. and K.A. (2021) —Cal.Rptr.3d– 2021 WL 3161560.) The Court of Appeal determined a mother’s behavior did not rise to the level of destroying the father’s mental and…
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Cal Supremes determine the date a minor reaches the age of majority is excluded from the statute of limitations period
The Plaintiff in Shalabi v. City of Fontana alleged the city’s police officers shot and killed his father in violation of 42 U.S.C. 1983. Civil actions brought under Section 1983 are subject to the forum states statute of limitations. In California, the statute of limitations period is 2 years for wrongful death relating to a wrongful act…
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California refuses to return children to home county because father is in denial
The California Court of Appeal affirmed a family law court’s decision not to return children to their home country because of father’s refusal to admit excessive drinking and emotional abuse of the mother. (In re Marriage of Emilie D.L.M. and Carlos C. (2021) 64 Cal.App.5th 876). Carlos was a foreign student from Chile who was…
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