News

[07/22] HP-EDS deal price at issue in court hearing
[07/22] Court tosses FCC 'wardrobe malfunction' fine
[07/21] NTSB's 8 proposals to bar medically unfit drivers

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Articles

The Six Stages of Mediation

In mediation, two or more people come together to try to work out a solution to their problem. A neutral third person, called the mediator, is there to help them along. Most mediators have some training in conflict resolution, although the extent of their training varies greatly. Unlike a judge or an arbitrator, the mediator does not take sides or make decisions. The mediator's job is to help the disputants evaluate their goals and options and find their own mutually satisfactory solution.

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The Litigation Process - At Trial

Trials are typically heard by a jury of twelve individuals. Before the trial a group of jury candidates are questioned by the counsel for each party during a process called voir dire examination. Individuals can be excluded from the jury in several ways. Each party is given a certain number of peremptory challenges through which it may exclude certain jurors; and each party can object to an individual's participation on the jury with a challenge for cause, which simply means the competency of a certain juror is questioned. The court can reject or dismiss a juror who is unqualified, even if both sides do not challenge the juror.

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Case Summaries

[07/16] Perrin v. Lee
In a probate proceeding, denial of plaintiffs' section 21320 safe harbor petition for a determination that their proposed petition to invalidate two trust amendments would not be a contest within the meaning of a no contest clause in a trust is reversed where: 1) the trust did not explicitly state that a contest to an amendment would violate the no contest clause; and 2) the no contest clause was not incorporated by reference into the amendments.

[05/15] Miller v. Campbell
In a fees dispute brought by a law firm against the executor of an estate after the probate court refused to award a category of fees associated with services rendered for the executor's personal matters, grant of executor's motions in limine to exclude all evidence, resulting in dismissal of the case, is reversed where: 1) the doctrines of res judicata and collateral estoppel did not apply to bar the law firm's claim of fees against the executor personally; and 2) in light of the evidence, the trial court erroneously ruled that the evidence was insufficient, as a matter of law, to support the law firm's quantum meruit claim.

[05/13] Montegani v. Johnson
In a dispute over a decedent's estate involving revocable and irrevocable trusts, an order denying plaintiff's Probate Code section 21320 application based on her lack of standing for section 21320 relief is affirmed where, as part of its duty to oversee the administration of the estate and insure orderly administration of justice, the trial court properly concluded that plaintiff was no longer a beneficiary of the trusts at issue, and thus lacked standing to seek declaratory relief under section 21320.

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