Miriam Vogel is Senior Of Counsel in the firm's Los Angeles office, and is a member of the Appellate Practice Group. Ms. Vogel has concentrated her practice on civil litigation for more than 30 years. Her principal work has focused on appellate litigation, as an appellate judge for 18 years and in private practice as an appellate advocate. Ms. Vogel currently represents major corporations and individuals in their appellate matters. She is a member of the California Academy of Appellate Lawyers and serves on the Ninth Circuit Advisory Board.
In a precedent setting decision for sales tax class actions, Ms. Vogel obtained a significant victory for our client, Target Corporation, before the California Court of Appeal. Division Three of the Second Appellate District held that the California Constitution and state laws preclude consumers from asserting civil class action claims against retailers based on the allegedly improper collection of state sales tax reimbursement. The Court of Appeal's decision in Loeffler was a victory not just for Target, but also for retailers throughout California, as the decision (if affirmed by the California Supreme Court, where it is presently pending) will be relied on by trial courts as a basis for dismissing sales tax class action litigation currently pending against many other retailers in California.
For Ralphs Grocery Company, in two cases stemming from an attempt by Ralphs to implement rules restricting the time, place, and manner of picketing by a union at two of its Foods Co. stores, Ms. Vogel obtained two appellate opinions (in the Third and Fifth Districts of the California Court of Appeal) declaring the Moscone Act (which deprives state courts jurisdiction to enjoin peaceful picketing involving a labor dispute) and another statute constitutionally infirm. Both cases are presently pending before the California Supreme Court.
Before joining Morrison & Foerster in August 2008, Ms. Vogel was a Justice on the California Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District, Division One. She authored more than 2,800 opinions and heard more than 8,400 cases. Among her 274 published opinions are a number that have helped reshape California's legal landscape, from major business matters such as insurance coverage, creditor claims stemming from bank failures, employment discrimination, and advertising practices to social issues involving privacy, child welfare, indigent representation, and wrongful death. Ms. Vogel also authored a series of rulings delineating the scope of property owner liability for harm caused by third-party criminal acts. Ms. Vogel was appointed to the appellate court in 1990 by Gov. George Deukmejian after serving five years as a judge on the Los Angeles Superior Court.
Ms. Vogel is recommended as a leading lawyer by Chambers USA 2013, Legal 500 US 2013, and Best Lawyers in America 2013. The Daily Journal named her one of California's top 75 female litigators in 2011 and 2012.
Representative Opinions Authored as a Court of Appeal Justice:
Casden Park La Brea Retail LLC v. Ross Dress for Less, Inc. (2008) 162 Cal.App.4th 468 – Sufficiency of a neutral arbitrator’s disclosures in a rent dispute arbitration between a commercial landlord and tenant.
Estrada v. FedEx Ground Package System, Inc. (2007) 154 Cal.App.4th 1 – Drivers’ class action against FedEx claiming that, for purpose of their entitlement to reimbursement for work-related expenses, they were employees, not independent contractors.
TBG Insurance Services Corporation v. Superior Court (2002) 96 Cal.App.4th 443 – An employee who agreed in writing that his employer-provided computers could be monitored by his employer had no reasonable expectation of privacy when he used the computer for personal matters.
Thrifty Oil Co. v. Superior Court (2001) 91 Cal.App.4th 1070, review denied, Dec. 12, 2001 – A class action against a retailer who sold gasoline, holding that a two-tier pricing system, one price for cash, another for credit cards, was a permissible discount, not an unlawful surcharge.
Chevron U.S.A. Inc. v. State Board of Equalization (1997) 53 Cal.App.4th 289 – A tax case in which the question was whether a partially built oil drilling platform was "delivered" to its purchaser when the original builder’s cost overruns and other construction problems required a mid-construction switch to a new builder.
Sunburst Bank v. Executive Life Insurance Company (1994) 24 Cal.App.4th 1156, review denied, Aug. 18, 1994, Certiorari Denied byNationsBank of Texas, N.A. v. Executive Life Ins. Co. (1995) 513 U.S. 1147 – Dispute between failed insurance company’s conservator and failed banks’ successors regarding municipal-bond-guaranteed-investment contracts sold by the insurance company to the two banks.