April 3, 2018
Kisela v. Hughes
United States Supreme Court
Qualified immunity applied to officer who shot woman that was holding a large kitchen knife, had taken steps toward another woman standing nearby, and had refused to drop the knife after at least two commands to do so.
April 3, 2018
Walter Ansley v. Banner Health Network
Arizona Court of Appeals, Division One
Hospitals’ contracts with AHCCCS incorporated federal law, which bars the Hospitals from enforcing liens to recover the balance between what AHCCCS paid and the Hospitals’ customary charges from patients who received settlements or damage awards from third-party tortfeasors.
April 12, 2018
Gonzalez v. Nguyen
Arizona Supreme Court
Defendant is not required to submit additional evidence outside the existing record to establish a “meritorious defense” in a motion to set aside a default judgment under Arizona Rule of Civil Procedure 60(c) (now 60(b)).
April 24, 2018
Rasor v. Northwest Hospital, LLC dba Northwest Medical Center
Arizona Court of Appeals, Division Two
Medical malpractice plaintiff’s expert witness was not qualified on the standard of care, but she was competent to testify about causation.
May 11, 2018
Quiroz v. Alcoa
Arizona Supreme Court
Employer who used asbestos materials in its workplace before 1970 had no duty to protect the public from off-site contact with employees who may have been carrying asbestos fibers on their work clothes.
May 31, 2018
Donovan v. Yavapai County Community College District
Arizona Court of Appeals, Division One
Plaintiff’s notice of claim, which described multiple causes of action against multiple public entities but set forth only a single settlement amount—rather than making a separate settlement demand on each entity—satisfied A.R.S. § 12-821.01(A).
June 12, 2018
Farmers Ins. Exch. v. EcoDry Rest. Of Arizona, L.L.C., et. al.
Arizona Court of Appeals, Division One
Insureds who hired EcoDry to repair water damage validly assigned to EcoDry their “rights, benefits, proceeds and causes of action” under their insurance policies so that EcoDry could sue the insurer, alleging breach of the insurance policies based on failure to pay repair bills in full.
June 14, 2018
Teufel v. American Family/Hanson
Arizona Supreme Court
Policy exclusion for personal liability “under any contract or agreement” does not relieve an insurer from the duty to defend its insured, an alleged builder–vendor, against a claim for negligent excavation brought by the home buyer.
June 18, 2018
Lozman v. City of Riviera Beach, Florida
United States Supreme Court
Plaintiff did not have to establish a lack of probable cause for his arrest in order to claim that a public entity had him arrested in retaliation for exercising his First Amendment rights.
July 5, 2018
Kopacz v. Banner Health
Arizona Court of Appeals, Division One
Plaintiff’s temporary inability to consider bringing a medical malpractice claim did not toll the statute of limitations.
August 23, 2018
Ryan v. Napier
Arizona Supreme Court
Plaintiff who was bit by police dog cannot assert a negligence claim based solely on the officer’s intentional use of physical force.
August 2, 2018
Twin City v. Lieja
Arizona Supreme Court
Workers’ compensation claimant who settles all of his or her third-party claims is not entitled to a post-settlement trial to determine the percentage of employer fault solely to reduce or extinguish the insurance carrier’s statutory lien on the claimant’s tort recovery.
Written by: Jon Barnes
