Waive Appeal? No Appeal.

PG&E “San Bruno Fire” Cases, No. A152330 (D1d3 Dec. 18, 2019)

Various groups of stockholder plaintiffs sued members of PG&E management derivatively on behalf of the company for alleged misconduct in connection with  the San Bruno pipeline explosion. Plaintiffs collectively agreed to settle for $90 million and $25 million in attorneys’ fees. The trial court trial later adopted the recommendation of a three-member panel of special masters as to the allocation of the fee award between the various counsel involved. One plaintiff, however, filed a notice of appeal, challenging the award to his counsel.

But the settlement agreement, to which this plaintiff was a signatory, provided that the trial court’s determination on fee allocation would be “final and nonappealable.” California law generally recognizes that parties can waive the right to appeal, provided the waiver is express, sufficiently clear, and not coerced. Which the settlement agreement in this case was. 

Appeal dismissed.

Right to Appeal Lost for Fast and Loose Debtor

Blumberg v. Minthorne, No. G050428 (D4d3 Feb. 4, 2015)

Defendant in a probate court action disobeyed the trial court’s order to provide an accounting and to convey some property to plaintiff by quitclaim. She generally obstructed the trial court’s efforts to enforce its own orders. Under the circumstances, her appeal is subject to the disentitlement doctrine—an inherent authority of appellate courts to dismiss an appeal when a litigant has disobeyed the orders of lower courts.

Appeal dismissed.