Jeffrey Ehrlich wins important public-immunities case in California Supreme Court

On February 7, 2023, Jeffrey Ehrlich argued Tansavatdi v. City of Rancho Palos Verdes in the California Supreme Court. The issue in the case was whether the statutory defense of “design immunity,” which barred a claim against a public entity based on a danger created by the roadway design it approved, would necessarily also bar a failure-to-warn claim against the public entity, based on the failure to warn about that danger. On April 27, 2023, the Supreme Court filed its opinion in Tansavatdi v. City of Rancho Palos Verdes (2023) 14 Cal.5th 639, which adopted the position advanced by Ehrlich’s client, that design immunity does not necessarily bar a failure-to-warn claim. The Supreme Court affirmed the Court of Appeal’s reversal of a summary judgment for the City of Rancho Palos Verdes, and remanded the case for trial.

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