Navellier v. Putnam (Cal. Ct. App., Feb. 2, 2026, No. A172077) 2026 WL 266376
Plaintiffs sued defendants for breach of contract and fraud. Plaintiffs filed a bankruptcy petition and appealed from a judgment in favor of the defendants.
A local rule required parties to provide the court with notice of any bankruptcy that “could cause or impose a stay” of the appeal. Neither party complied with the rule. Although the Court of Appeal held that the automatic bankruptcy stay did not preclude the court from disposing of plaintiffs’ appeal, the court admonished the parties for failing to promptly notify it of the bankruptcy, as required by local rules. “ ‘As an officer of the court,’ [attorney’s] ‘b[ear] professional responsibility to be aware of and knowledgeable about local court rules.’ ”
