On August 15, 2017, the Court of Appeal for the First District reversed a judgment against one of WVBR’s clients, remanding the action for entry of judgment for the firm’s client. The case involved whether an easement over a commercial lot in Burlingame, California was extinuguished by adverse possession after being blocked for over twenty years with a locked, six-foot tall chain-link fence. The appellate panel found that the trial court erred by focusing on the previous owner’s subjective intent when erecting the fence, rather than the objective fact that the fence blocked all use of the easement uninterruptedly for the statutory period. The ruling on the merits also automatically vacated a substantial attorney fee award. Ehsanipour v. Stephan, Nos. A148357, A149041, 2017 Cal. App. Unpub. LEXIS 5686 (Cal. Ct. App. Aug. 15, 2017). The appeal was handled by Michael von Loewenfeldt.
The Court of Appeal’s opinion can be found here.
