As CBL discussed last week, Governor Schwarznegger has named Court of Appeal Justice Justice Tani Cantil Sakauy to succeed Chief Justice Ronald George. Justice Cantil Sakauy is considered to be a moderate Republican (no surprise -- so is Governor Schwarznegger). A good deal of the Chief Justice's responsibility is administrative --
overseeing a lot of the state-wide judicial infrastructure and bureaucracy -- and CBL has no idea of Justice Cantil Sakauy's qualifications in that regard.
But we thought we'd take a look at her appellate track record in the areas where we often toil: Product Liability and other tort matters, Proposition 65 and consumer and class litigation. Here's an unscientific sampling of opinions she's authored:
Proposition 65: Justice Cantil Sakauy does not appear to have authored any opinions in this field.
Consumer and Class Litigation: Although we found a couple of class action matters where she wrote the opinion, none involved issues of class certification.
In WFS Financial, Inc. v. Superior Court (2006) --caution, not citeable -- 44 Cal.Rptr.3d 561 , a purported class action dispute between a lender and a consumer involving repossession of a vehicle, she wrote for the court in holding that California's Reese-Levering Automobile Sales Finance Act (Civ. Code § 2981 et seq.) was preempted as to federal savings associations by the Home Owners Loan Act (12 U.S.C. §1461 et seq.). The Supreme Court granted review, and the case was dismissed after settlement.
In Duale v. Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC (2007) 148 Cal.App.4th 718, a consumer automobile case under the Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Act (or "lemon law", Cal Civ. Code § 1790 et seq.), she wrote a decision holding that a Song-Beverly plaintiff who prevailed, but failed to beat the defendant's offer of judgment under California's Code of Civil Procedure §998 could not recover attorneys' fees incurred after the date of the offer.
Business Litigation:This is not a comprehensive list, but a couple we found interesting:
Vanacore v. Huckaby (2008) 2008 WL 287824 (Cal.App. 3 Dist.): In this unpublished, none-citeable business property dispute decision, she and her panel reversed a jury's finding of fraud for lack of substantial evidence.
Garlock Sealing Technologies, LLC v. NAK Sealing Technologies Corp. (2007) 148 Cal.App.4th 937: She wrote an opinion in a case of first impression, holding that a right to implied contractual indemnity can be established without showing negligence by the indemnitor.
Tort Cases:
We found no product liability decisions she had authored. We did find quite a number of garden-variety tort cases. Some of the more interesting ones:
Nelson v. Exxon Mobil Corporation (2009) -- caution, not citeable -- 102 Cal.Rptr. 3d 311: she wrote the decision in which her panel held that punitive damages are assignable if the cause of action they are attached to is assignable.
Patterson v. Sacramento City Unified School District (2007) 155 Cal.App.4th 821, reversing summary judgment with an interesting discussion of the primary assumption of risk doctrine.
Hinesley v. Oakshade Town Center (2005) 135 Cal.App.4th 289, upholding summary judgment in a fraud case when the element of justifiable reliance was conclusively negated by contractual language.
Hartline v. Kaiser Foundation Hospitals (2005) 132 Cal.App.4th 458, upholding summary judgment against a tortfeasor's employer based on the "going and coming rule," and, more interestingly, holding that a Code of Civil Procedure section 998 offer of judgment for dismissal with a waiver of costs (not accepted by the plaintiff) was reasonable under the circumstances, and hence the defendant was entitled to enhanced costs after winning the case.
Initial impression: fairly conservative on consumer cases, pretty much down the middle on tort cases, opinions are meticulous, well reasoned and well-written.
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