(Subscription required) The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit is weighing if and under what circumstances a high-level business executive can avoid sitting for a deposition by invoking the so-called “apex doctrine,” a legal principal that has divided lower courts.

Opinion says combining unlawful detainer suit with unlimited civil action challenging foreclosure sale was properly found to have eliminated damages cap relating to alleged illegal holdover. 

Opinion says code of Civil Procedure §473(b), requiring court to set aside judgement based on attorney's affidavit of fault, applies only where penalty was unopposed. 

Despite passage of new laws expanding who can be forced to get help, the most needy still fall through the cracks.