AZAPP Blog - 2021

Town of Florence v. Florence Copper, Inc. (3/23/2021)

Arizona Court of Appeals Division One holds that town may not eliminate vested rights in a contractual development agreement by rezoning the property, when the contract provides that the developer’s assent must be obtained to modify the contractual development agreement.

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Leach v. Hobbs (4/5/2021)

Arizona Supreme Court holds that a petition circulator who de-registers is still subject to subpoena requirements applicable to petition circulators under A.R.S. § 19-118(E).

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Angulo-Murrieta v. City of Yuma (3/30/2021)

Arizona Court of Appeals, Division One, holds that property used to facilitate misdemeanor theft is subject to civil forfeiture.

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Sunland Dairy LLC v. Milky Way Dairy, LLC (3/18/2021)

Arizona Court of Appeals holds that A.R.S. §§ 3-1304 and 3-1307, which provide for treble damages for the conversion of animals, provide private rights of action in addition to criminal liability.

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Sycamore Hills Estates Homeowners Ass’n., Inc. v. Zablotny (1/20/2021)

Arizona Court of Appeals Division Two holds that the superior court has jurisdiction to enter a stipulated judgment that includes relief not requested in the underlying complaint.

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Webster Bank NV v. Mutka (2/9/2021)

Arizona Court of Appeals Division One holds that statute of limitations begins to run when a payment matures under a home equity consumer revolving loan agreement.

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Shepherd v. Costco Wholesale Corp. (3/8/2021)

Arizona Supreme Court holds that a plaintiff is not required to allege bad faith or rebut the good faith presumption in their complaint when asserting a claim of negligent disclosure of medical information and that HIPAA may inform the standard of care in a negligence claim.

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Fid. Nat’l Title Ins. Co. v. Osborn III Partners LLC (3/9/2021)

Arizona Court of Appeals Division One holds Morris agreements apply to title insurance policies.

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Recent Changes at the Arizona Supreme Court Clerk’s Office (3/16/2021)

The Arizona Supreme Court appointed Tracie K. Lindeman Clerk of the Arizona Supreme Court and issued an updated administrative order on the Clerk’s duties and responsibilities.

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Simms v. Ariz. Racing Comm’n (2/23/2021)

Arizona Court of Appeals Division One holds that an interested third party in administrative proceedings has standing to appeal a racing licensing decision as a “person aggrieved.”

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Justice Gould to retire from the Arizona Supreme Court (3/12/2021)

Justice Gould announced that he will retire from the Arizona Supreme Court effective April 1, 2021.

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Roberts v. State (3/2/2021)

Arizona Court of Appeals holds that the Fair Labor Standards Act does not preempt claims for overtime compensation under A.R.S. § 23-392.

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Bridges v. Nationstar Mortg., LLC (1/14/2021)

Arizona Court of Appeals Division One holds that absent an express statement of acceleration in the notice of a trustee’s sale or other evidence of an intent to accelerate, recording a notice of trustee’s sale, by itself, does not accelerate a debt.

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Burns v. Ariz. Pub. Serv. Co. (3/4/2021)

Arizona Court of Appeals holds that a member of the Corporation Commission lacks authority to individually enforce an investigatory subpoena in a ratemaking case over the opposition of the majority of the Commission.

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Rogers v. Mroz (12/8/2020)

Arizona Court of Appeals Division One holds that a political attack ad that states a person “specializes in underage girls and advertises on website linked to sex trafficking” cannot be taken by a reasonable listener as an accusation of a precise and verifiable undisclosed fact that the person was complicit in sexual misconduct with underage girls and was complicit in sex trafficking, and cannot be the subject of a defamation action consistent with the First Amendment.

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France v. Indus. Comm’n of Ariz. (3/2/2021)

Arizona Supreme Court determines that deputy sheriff’s PTSD resulting from a violent encounter while conducting a welfare check is a compensable workers’ compensation claim.

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Apollo Educ. Grp., Inc. v. Nat'l Union Fire Ins. Co., of Pittsburgh, PA (2/17/2021)

Arizona Supreme Court holds that under an insurance policy without a contractual duty to defend, the objective reasonableness of the insurer’s decision to withhold consent is assessed from the perspective of the insurer, not the insured.

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Cavallo v. Phoenix Health Plans (2/23/2021)

Arizona Court of Appeals Division One holds that (1) an insurer can raise a limited contract-based defense to show the elements of insurance bad faith are not met under the circumstances and (2) an erroneous instruction about mitigation damages will not automatically merit reversal when the jury does not reach damages because the defendant is not liable.

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McKenna v. Soto (2/17/2021)

Arizona Supreme Court holds that election petition signatures with incomplete date or address information are valid if they substantially comply with the statutory requirements.

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Remote Appellate Oral Arguments (3/1/2021)

Arizona Attorney article by Eric M. Fraser and Krissa Lanham.

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Schires v. Carlat (2/8/2021)

Arizona Supreme Court holds that the sufficient consideration prong under the Arizona Constitution’s Gift Clause is an objective inquiry, requiring a governmental entity to receive a fair market value return that is proportional to the consideration it paid, without deference to the entity’s assessment of value.

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Dabush v. Seacret Direct LLC (1/8/2021)

Arizona Supreme Court holds that a sublessee does not owe a duty to maintain a common area of a property in a reasonably safe condition when the sublessee makes repairs to the property unrelated to the injury that subsequently occurred.

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Maricopa Cnty v. Rovey (12/29/2020)

Arizona Court of Appeals Division One adopts “easement corollary” to rule of strips and gores for interpretation of real estate conveyances.

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Montano v. Luff (12/21/2020)

Arizona Court of Appeals Division Two holds that no inherent conflict exists between A.R.S. § 12-1176’s right to a jury trial in forcible entry and detainer actions and Ariz. R. Proc. Eviction Act. 11(d)’s allowance for bench trials in cases lacking factual disputes.

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Event Announcement: The Annual State of Courts Program (2/7/2021)

The Appellate Practice Section Educational Program will inform you about the present condition of the Arizona courts and their forthcoming plans.

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Thomas Hudson publishes article on structuring appellate briefs. (1/20/2021)

Article from Journal of Appellate Practice and Process

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State of the Netherlands v. MD Helicopters Inc. (12/30/2020)

Arizona Supreme Court holds that a foreign country’s case law can satisfy Arizona’s reciprocity requirement for the recognition of foreign judgments.

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Governor Ducey appoints Brian Y. Furuya to the Court of Appeals (12/23/2020)

Governor Ducey appointed Brian Y. Furuya to the Arizona Court of Appeals, Division One.

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Event Announcement: A Conversation with Paul Clement (1/8/2021)

The State Bar's Appellate Practice Section is hosting a panel discussion on arguments before the Supreme Court of the United States during the COVID Pandemic by remote video.

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Welch v. Cochise Cnty. Bd. of Supervisors (10/9/2020)

Arizona Court of Appeals Division Two holds that a taxpayer has standing to challenge the violation of open-meeting laws and conflict of interest laws resulting in an illegal appointment and, through the illegal appointment, an illegal expenditure of municipal funds.

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McDaniel v. Payson Healthcare Mgmt., Inc. (10/20/2020)

Arizona Court of Appeals Division Two requires new trial in medical malpractice case, due to trial court errors involving experts.

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