Russell
Russell v. Lorillard, Inc.
Opinion
Lead Opinion
MEMORANDUM **
Alexa Russell, individually and as executress and successor in interest to the Estate of Artemis Henderson, appeals pro se the district court’s summary judgment in Russell’s diversity action alleging survival and wrongful death claims. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 . After de novo review, Lust v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 89 F.3d 594 , 596 (9th Cir.1996), we affirm.
The district court properly granted summary judgment on Russell’s survival claims because the statute of limitations had run on those claims before she inherited them. See Cal.Code Civ. Proc. § 377.20(a) (“Except as otherwise provided by statute, a cause of action for or against a person is not lost by reason of the person’s death, but survives subject to the applicable limitations period.”).
The district court properly granted summary judgment on Russell’s wrongful death claims because she failed to provide the expert testimony required to prove the causation element of her claims. See Kennedy v. Southern California Edison Co., 268 F.3d 763 , 767-68 (9th Cir.2001) (citing Jones v. Ortho Pharm. Corp., 163 Cal.App.3d 396 , 209 Cal.Rptr. 456, 460 (1985)); see generally Nissan…