Tomorrow morning, the Supreme Court will file its opinion in Wishnev v. Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company, which was argued on the September calendar. (Briefs here; oral argument video here.)
It’s been two months since the court last issued an opinion. That gap is normal for this time of year.
Wishnev comes from the Ninth Circuit, which asked the Supreme Court to decide: 1. Are the lenders identified in Article XV of the California Constitution, see Cal. Const. art. XV, § 1, as being exempt from the restrictions otherwise imposed by that article, nevertheless subject to the requirement in section 1916-2 of the California Civil Code that a lender may not compound interest “unless an agreement to that effect is clearly expressed in writing and signed by the party to be charged therewith”?, and 2. Does an agreement meet the requirement of section 1916-2 if it is comprised of: (1) an application for insurance signed by the borrower, and (2) a policy of insurance containing an agreement for compound interest that is subsequently attached to the application, thus constituting the entire contract between the parties pursuant to section 10113 of the California Insurance Code? It was in March 2018 that the Supreme Court agreed to answer the questions.
The opinion can be viewed tomorrow starting at 10:00 a.m.
