• C.A. Says Apple Pay App Is ‘Financial Account’ Excluded by Probationer’s Search Conditions

    Metropolitan News-Enterprise
    March 19, 2026

    Div. Three of the Fourth District Court of Appeal held yesterday that Apple Pay, a mobile payment service which allows users to transfer funds without physical cards or cash, is a “financial account” within the meaning of an exclusion from probationary search terms and, as such, a motion to traverse a warrant, that sought records from bank accounts only discovered by clicking on an app on the probationer’s phone, should have been granted.

  • Lawsuit Asserting Public Fraud by Big Pharma Is Revived

    Metropolitan News-Enterprise
    March 18, 2026

    The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday resurrected a qui tam lawsuit filed by a California-based health care provider against multiple pharmaceutical companies seeking damages allegedly due to the state and federal governments for what the plaintiff claims was a scheme to fraudulently overcharge for drugs to recoup inflated prices from entitlement systems while utilizing a program designed to keep charges down for low-income patients.

  • C.A. Declares Statute of Frauds Applies to Implied, Oral Joint Venture Agreements

    Metropolitan News-Enterprise
    March 18, 2026

    Div. One of the Fourth District Court of Appeal has held that a purported oral or implied joint venture agreement must be in writing in order to be enforced if the contractual terms cannot be performed within one year from its asserted inception.

  • Lawyer Not ‘Ineffective’ While ‘Suspended’ for Trust Reports

    Metropolitan News-Enterprise
    March 17, 2026

    Div. One of the Fourth District Court of Appeal held yesterday that a trial attorney is not rendered “ineffective” due to the imposition of a “temporary suspension” of his license to practice law for purported noncompliance with the State Bar’s relatively new client trust account reporting requirements.