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Firm News
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Ehrlich Law Firm wins affirmance of $15 million verdict
On July 14, 2008, the U.S. Court of Appeal for the Ninth
Circuit affirmed a $15 million jury verdict on behalf of three Los Angeles
Police Department officers who had been wrongfully accused by the department of
corruption. In Harper v. City of Los Angeles __ F.3d __ (9th Cir. 2008),
the court held that the evidence supported the jury's verdict that the
officers' constitutional rights were violated, and that the award of $5,000,001
to each was not excessive. Jeffrey Isaac Ehrlich briefed and argued the
appeal for the officers.
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Ehrlich
Law Firm wins appeal invalidating Kaiser arbitration agreement
A victim
of Kaiser’s kidney-transplant program fiasco will have his lawsuit heard by a
jury, and not by a panel of arbitrators as a result of the Ehrlich law firm’s
victory in Burks v. Kaiser Foundation Health Plans (2008) 160
Cal.App.4th 1021. The California Court of Appeal for the Third Appellate
District, in Sacramento, held on March 5, 2008, that Kaiser’s enrollment form
failed to comply with the statutory disclosure requirements concerning
arbitration clauses, and as a result the arbitration provision could not be
enforced. The decision not only benefits Mr. Burks, but will allow other
Kaiser members who signed similar defective enrollment forms to pursue their
claims before a jury, in accordance with the constitutional right to a jury
trial.
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Ehrlich
Law Firm wins insurance bad-faith victory in California Supreme Court
Insurance
companies in California can no longer prevail in bad-faith lawsuits brought by
their policyholders simply by showing that there was a “dispute” about whether
the insurer should pay the claim. In Wilson v. 21st Century
Ins. Co. (2007) 42 Cal.4th 713, the Supreme Court reined in the
so-called “genuine dispute rule” that had become the insurance industries’ most
potent defense in bad-faith cases, holding that the rule only applied at the
summary-judgment stage, and then only in cases where a jury would be unable to
make a finding that the insurer had acted unreasonably. The Wilson ruling
makes it much harder for insurers to obtain summary judgment in bad-faith
lawsuit.
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Ehrlich
Law Firm wins writ proceeding invalidating Health Net arbitration agreement
The
Court of Appeal in Los Angeles has reversed a trial court’s order requiring
that Mary Medeiros arbitrate her claims against Health Net, arising from the
company’s failure to provide her with timely medical care. Even though
Health Net’s enrollment form failed to comply with the mandatory disclosure
requirements concerning arbitration clauses, the trial court ordered the case
to arbitration. The Ehrlich Law Firm filed a writ of mandate, which was
granted in a published opinion. (Medeiros v. Superior Court (Health Net)
(2007) 146 Cal.App.4th 1008. Medeiros is a victory for
public employees, because it held that health plans that provide coverage
through public agencies must comply with the arbitration-disclosure
requirements in the Health & Safety Code and the Insurance Code.
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Ehrlich
Law Firm obtains emergency stay from Court of Appeal for trial lawyer seeking
to recuse trial judge
When
a trial lawyer’s case was transferred from one Superior Court Judge to another
at the Mosk Courthouse, the trial lawyer filed a peremptory challenge under
Code Civ. Proc. section 170.6. The trial judge ruled that the challenge
was not timely filed, because it had not been made at the moment the transfer
was announced — before counsel even had a chance to confer with his
client. The Ehrlich Law Firm was able to file an emergency writ petition
within 24 hours of being retained, and the Court of Appeal granted a stay
within 2 hours after the papers were filed. The matter later settled,
rendering the proceeding moot. Badalyans v.
Aghadjanians, 2/6/08.
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More Firm News
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If you are an insurance policyholder who is having
trouble making your insurance company pay you what they promised, we can
represent you in court, in an action for insurance bad faith. If you are
an attorney, you can benefit from our ability to handle any type of
legal-writing in the trial or appellate courts, including oppositions to
summary-judgment motions, motions to preclude expert testimony, writ
applications, and appeals.
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