The California Supreme Court held yesterday that a failure to plead that coverage limits on underlying insurance policies have been fully paid out is not fatal to a party’s claims for declaratory relief and breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing against higher-tiered excess insurers.

A provision in a retainer agreement saying that a law firm is entitled to attorney fees if it successfully represents itself in a dispute with the client, in an effort to sidestep the California Supreme Court’s 1995 decision in Trope v. Trope, is ineffective, Div. Five of this district’s Court of Appeal has held.

A San Diego-based appellate court has found that the collection of license plate data by a company that supplies plate readers does not, in and of itself, constitute harm, thus rejecting a bid to revive a class action lawsuit alleging invasion of privacy.

The question: How much accrued vacation time can retiring public employees cash out at the end of their careers in ways that boost their pensions? The California Supreme Court’s answer: Under Brown’s law, employees can count toward their pension formula whatever amount of vacation their contract allows them to cash out in a single calendar year.