New CA Supreme Court Torts Case

To do the best job possible as a mediator, arbitrator and referee, I keep up with and summarize the new published California civil cases. In this blog I discuss a new civil case that was published last month. 

 Torts

The issue of tort duty is constantly evolving in California. Last month, the California Supreme Court published a new decision addressing whether a lender owes a borrower a duty under tort law when responding to a request for a loan modification. In the video above I briefly discuss this new case. Below is my summary of the case.

New Torts Decision 

Sheen v. Wells Fargo Bank (2022) _ Cal.5th _ , 2022 WL 664722: The California Supreme Court affirmed the trial court's order sustaining defendant's demurrer to plaintiff's cause of action alleging negligence in defendant's responses to plaintiff's loan modification requests. The California Supreme Court ruled that a lender does not owe the borrower a tort duty sounding in general negligence principles to process, review and respond carefully and completely to a borrower's loan modification application, such that upon a breach of this duty the lender may be liable for the borrower’s economic losses — i.e., pecuniary losses unaccompanied by property damage or personal injury. This type of claim is barred by the economic loss doctrine, a judicially created doctrine that bars recovery in negligence for pure economic losses when such claims would disrupt the parties' private ordering, render contracts less reliable as a means of organizing commercial relationships, and stifle the development of contract law. (March 7, 2022.)

Mediation, Arbitration and Referee Services

I help attorneys and their clients by serving as a mediator, arbitrator and referee with ADR Services, Inc. I handle cases in the areas of business, commercial, employment, insurance bad faith, insurance coverage, land use, landlord-tenant (commercial and residential), legal malpractice, medical malpractice, personal injury, real property and wrongful death. I also keep up with the new civil case law published in California. I offer Zoom services throughout California and also in-person services. I've been a California civil trial lawyer since 1980 and a member of ABOTA since 1995. I've represented both plaintiffs and defendants in a wide variety of civil cases including the areas listed above. If you'd like to work with me, please contact my case manager at ADR services, Haward Cho, [email protected], (619) 233-1323.  

California Case Summaries™

California courts are constantly publishing new civil case decisions. Last year in 2021, the California Supreme Court published 22 new civil or family law decisions and the Court of Appeal published 483 new civil or family law decisions, for a total of 505 new civil or family law cases!

While you don't need to read new case decisions outside of your civil practice area, it's clear that there are lots of new case decisions each year that you need to know about to keep current in your practice areas.  

I keep up with the new case law, and I help California lawyers easily keep up with the new case law by publishing California Case Summaries™ with short summaries (one paragraph), organized by legal topic, of the new published civil or family law decisions. I publish monthly, quarterly, and annual publications, giving you several options for mastering the new case law. 

Here are the subscription options:

California Case Summaries Monthly™:  short summaries (one paragraph), organized by legal topic, of every new civil and family law case published each month by California courts for only $50 per attorney per month. To subscribe, click here.

California Case Summaries Quarterly™: short, organized summaries of every new civil and family law case published each quarter, with the official case citations, for only $200 per attorney per quarter. To subscribe, click here.

California Case Summaries Annual 2021™:  short, organized summaries of every new civil and family law case published in 2021 for only $900 per attorney per year. To subscribe, click here.

Annual Practice Area Case Summaries 2021. In January 2022 we published our Annual Practice Area case summaries for the practice area of Employment, Family Law, Real Property and  
Torts. They cost only $350 per year per attorney. To subscribe select the area below:
-Employment: to subscribe, click here.
-Family Law: to subscribe, click here.
-Real Property: to subscribe, click here.
-Torts: to subscribe, click here.

Lawyer Master Mentoring™ Services

Lawyers (whether new or experienced) can rapidly create their dream law practices with the help of a master mentor who can help them think deeply, focus on what is essential, avoid distractions, develop their skills, avoid mistakes, answer their questions, and continuously improve their organization and systems. I offer an online video course and individual sessions to provide this much needed master mentoring to attorneys. For my lawyer master mentoring services visit my website at https://montymcintyre-law.com, email me at [email protected], or call me at (619) 990-4312.

Until my next blog post, stay safe and healthy.

Best regards,
Monty A. McIntyre, Esq.
Mediator, Arbitrator & Referee
Lawyer Master Mentoring™
California Case Summaries™
CA Civil Trial Attorney Since 1980
ABOTA Member Since 1995
Past President San Diego County Bar Assn., SD ABOTA Chapter
Phone: (619) 990-4312. Email: [email protected]