Hon. Robert P. Dahlquist, Ret.

Construction Breach Of Contract

• Claim by contractor for additional money allegedly due on sewer lift station project
• Dispute between general contractor and property owner concerning construction of a high end luxury home
• Dispute among homeowner, general contractor and subcontractors regarding alleged defects in work performed
• Claim by homeowner concerning allegedly defective work performed for a remodel of a luxury home in Rancho Santa Fe
• Competing claims between a homeowner and a contractor arising from the construction of a custom home in Rancho Santa Fe

Breach of Contract

• Claim by a marketing professional for unpaid wages and cross-claims for breach of contract
• Claim by a commissioned salesperson for unpaid commissions due on the sale of high-tech products; dispute as to the personal liability of the owner

Disability

• Claim by a computer store worker for disability discrimination and failure to accommodate

Pregnancy Discrimination

• Claim by a restaurant worker for pregnancy discrimination
• Claim by a veterinarian assistant for pregnancy discrimination

Sexual Harassment And Retaliation

• Claim by an analyst for sexual orientation harassment/discrimination/retaliation; the plaintiff’s supervisor was discharged after an internal investigation
• Claim by a manager of a public agency for sexual harassment/retaliation
• Claim by an office worker for sexual harassment and constructive discharge due to unwanted sexual advances and sexual communications in the workplace

Wage and Hour

• Multiple cases, including class actions and PAGA actions, involving wage and hour claims, meal/rest breaks, and misclassification claims

Wrongful Term & Discrimination

• Claim by a computer programmer for harassment, retaliation, and wrongful discharge, with the employer asserting the plaintiff was laid off as part of a long-planned reduction-in-force

Wrongful Termination

• Claim by a hair stylist for unpaid wages and wrongful termination; the hair stylist and business owner had a romantic relationship that soured

Environmental Issues

• Multiple toxic tort claims by neighbors of contaminated sites
• Multi-party dispute concerning rights to groundwater
• Claim by a homeowner that a remediation company failed to remediate mold and asbestos
• Multiple claims by tenants regarding harmful exposure to mold in their homes
• Claim by neighboring business for alleged damage caused by a chemical spill
• Claim by purchaser of former plating facility against sellers, brokers, lawyers and others
• Multiple cases challenging proposed projects under CEQA and other laws
• Toxic tort claim by a person allegedly exposed to a hydraulic fluid spill
• Multiple claims by governmental entities and private parties seeking recovery of environmental clean-up costs

Family Law Issues

• Many contested cases involving custody, child support, spousal support and property division
• Multiple contested “move away” child custody disputes
• Multiple “palimony” cases, including claims against a professional athlete and a medical doctor
• Contested child custody disputes involving claims of molestation
• Contested adoptions by step-parents and others

Bad Faith

• Multiple coverage disputes and bad faith claims arising from third-party lawsuits alleging releases of hazardous substances
• Multiple coverage disputes arising from construction defects and earth movement
• Coverage dispute and bad faith claim arising from water damage at policyholder’s home
• Coverage dispute arising from a snowmobile collision
• Coverage dispute presenting the issue of whether a grandchild was a covered household member
• Dispute between a general contractor and its insurance carrier as to the amount of premium due for a contractor’s general liability policy

Probate

• Dispute among family members and decedent’s “significant other” as to the validity of a holographic will leaving the decedent’s property to the “significant other”
• Dispute among surviving family members as to ownership of decedent’s collection of show cars
• Multiple contested proceedings seeking to remove or surcharge a trustee due to alleged misuse of trust assets
• Multiple disputes among children and step-children (and step-parents) concerning the validity of estate planning documents and the distribution of assets
• Multiple cases involving accountings, challenges to proposed plans of distribution, compensation to fiduciaries, and similar matters
• Multiple cases involving persons living in a decedent’s residence after decedent’s passing
• Multiple disputes as to whether, under prior law, certain probate petitions qualified for a so-called “safe harbor” determination

Medical Malpractice

• Multiple claims by residents or family members of residents of residential care facilities for alleged elder abuse occurring at the facilities
• Claim by elder homeowners for financial abuse arising from loans secured by the elders’ home
• Multiple claims for financial elder abuse arising from the sale of goods or services to elders
• Claim for financial elder abuse by a widow who loaned the defendant hundreds of thousands of dollars
• Claim for medical malpractice by patient after neck surgery
• Claim for medical malpractice by patient diagnosed with dementia
• Claim for medical malpractice against anesthesiologist for using alleged excessive amounts of anesthesia
• Claim for dental malpractice by patient who was hospitalized for a chest infection after dental visits
• Claim for dental malpractice by a patient who was hospitalized after dental procedures performed under anesthesia

Professional Malpractice Legal

• Claim for attorney malpractice arising from a loan made by a client to an attorney
• Multiple claims for attorney malpractice presented as cross-claims in cases seeking collection of attorney fees
• Claims for attorney malpractice arising from services provided in underlying matters involving partnership disputes, family law matters, probate matters and contract disputes
• Claim for professional negligence against an accounting firm and an insurance broker for tax shelter advice
• Claim against a civil engineer and contractor for alleged negligence in addressing earth instability problems at the claimant’s home

Real Property

• Multiple claims by property purchasers against sellers and brokers for alleged failure to disclose material information
• Multiple requests for partition of co-owned properties
• Multiple claims by tenants of alleged defective conditions in rented properties
• Multiple disputes between homeowners and HOA’s concerning alleged violations of CC&R’s, including claims for attorney fees
• Dispute among bidders at a foreclosure sale concerning the rights acquired at the foreclosure sale
• Claim by purchaser of real property and lien holder for fraud and other causes of action arising from the recordation of allegedly false documents in the chain of title
• Multiple disputes concerning private road/driveway easements and other easements
• Dispute between commercial property tenant and landlord concerning CAM charges, property maintenance and claimed right of landlord to end the tenancy
• Multiple disputes between landlords and tenants concerning alleged property damage and repair costs
• Multiple disputes among family members as to whether family members living in a home were tenants or co-owners
• Claim by the owner of a fractional interest in a resort that the proposed sale of the resort was invalid
• Challenge by property owner to a city’s short-term residential rental property ordinance
• Multiple claims by property owners that foreclosure sales were invalid
• Dispute among multiple property owners concerning sharing of costs for a sewer extension benefitting multiple properties
• Dispute among time share owners and governing body concerning validity of rules for making time share reservations

Catastrophic Injury

• Claim by a pedestrian high school student hit by a truck while walking to school
• Claim by a plaintiff against a trucking company and the truck driver for traumatic brain injury, resulting in adverse personality changes, after an auto collision
• Claim by a worker who fell through a skylight on the roof of a commercial building, landing on the concrete floor below
• Claim by a worker who was injured when an air conditioning unit exploded
• Claim by people struck by a truck on a sidewalk outside a bar
• Multiple other cases involving claims of significant injury, and life care plans, for injured plaintiffs

Personal Injury

• Claim by a tenant who tripped and fell in a common area of the tenant’s community
• Claim by a pedestrian who tripped and fell while walking near a railroad crossing
• Claim by a customer who tripped and fell on a step at a restaurant/bar
• Claim by a homeowner who tripped and fell while walking through the parking lot of the condo complex
• Claim by a worker who fell from a tree on the defendant’s property

PI Auto

• Claim by a pedestrian hit by a car making a right turn at an intersection
• Claim by auto driver against truck driver and his employer for injuries after an alleged unsafe lane change
• Claim by driver rear-ended on a freeway off-ramp.
• Claim by driver involved in a multi-car collision, where one driver fled the scene and was never identified and the parties disputed which driver was the primary cause of the collision
• Claim by motorcyclist against motorist who pulled out in front of the motorcycle
• Claim by motorcyclist against motorist who made a u-turn in front of the motorcycle
• Claim by a worker in a crane’s “work bucket” after the crane was struck by a bus

PI Bicycle

• Multiple claims by bicyclists for alleged defects with their bicycles, resulting in bicycle crashes

Wrongful Death

• Claim for wrongful death of golfer whose golf cart went over a cliff while golfing
• Claim for wrongful death by surviving family member of a man shot and killed by a security guard
• Claim for wrongful death of a man who fell off a roof at a construction project
• Multiple claims for wrongful death from auto collisions and bicyclists struck by autos
• Claims for wrongful death of people killed when a bluff at the beach collapsed
• Claim by surviving parent of a young man killed in a snowboarding accident