Fundamental Fairness Issue Involving Lack of Notice Resulted in De Novo Standard of Review Plaintiff and Respondent Roland Hansalik signed a promissory note with Wells Fargo Advisors, LLC, with a provision calling for arbitration before the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). Then Mr. Hansalik moved to Switzerland. Wells Fargo initiated arbitration through FINRA, […]
Employer Fired Employee Hours After He Signed Arbitration Agreement – How Much More Do You Need to Know? Plaintiff Ruzanno instituted arbitration proceedings against defendants Spectrum, Larson, Blake, and National University. The salient fact in this case is that Ruzanno signed the arbitration agreement hours before the employer fired him, purportedly without his […]
But Rule in Gentry Allowing For Invalidation of Class Arbitration Waiver Where Nonwaivable Statutory Rights Are At Issue Manages to Maintain Toehold Once again, the Court of Appeal ventures into the thicket of class action arbitration waivers, threading its way around ATT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion, __ U.S. __ , 131 S.Ct. 1740 […]
Some Orders Denying Petitions to Compel Arbitration Are More Equal than Others Defendant and Appellant Zani Mansouri spent over $200,000 in a patio improvements dispute with her HOA, Plaintiff and Respondent Fleur Du Lac Estates Association. Naturally, she hoped to recover her fees and costs after the trial court earlier granted the HOA’s […]
Issue of First Impression in California Tenzera, Inc. v. Osterman, B228189 (2nd Dist. Div. 3 April 19, 2012) presents “what appears to be an issue of first impression in California.” That issue is whether prevailing parties in an arbitration “are entitled to prejudgment interest between the time the trial court vacated the arbitration […]
Problem Here: Modification Provision Was Not Sufficiently Restricted So As To Exempt All Employee Claims, Accrued Or Known, From A Contract Change Magician, Illusionist, Entertainer. 1913. Library of Congress. The next case takes us back to law school days: is a contract illusory? The case required the Court of Appeal to determine […]
Corporate Creditors Would Have Benefited Alright If Advisor Had Successfully Obtained Financing for Corporation — But Benefit Alone Does Not a Third-Party Beneficiary Make One exception to the rule that a nonsignatory cannot be compelled to arbitrate a dispute is when the nonsignatory is a third-party beneficiary of the contract containing the arbitration […]
Elihu Root Negotiated Some 40 International Arbitration Treaties Elihu Root (1845-1937) was awarded the 1912 Nobel Peace Prize for his work in negotiating some 40 reciprocal international arbitration treaties and in promoting international cooperation. Root was a prototype for the twentieth-century “wise man” – enormously successful as a private attorney, he also accepted appointments […]
Opinion Not For Publication Rejects Dictum In Published Opinion Nonsignatories to arbitration agreements may find themselves bound to arbitrate if they are agents of a signatory party to the transaction. But that didn’t happen to the real estate brokers here. 3118, LLC v. CBD Investment, Inc., B234706 (2nd Dist. Div. 5 April 10, […]
Axle of Evil: Opinion Withdrawn in Kolev v. Euromotors West/The Auto Gallery Was Critical of Pre-Dispute Binding Arbitration Where Automobile Problems and Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act Are Concerned On April 11, 2012, the Ninth Circuit withdrew the Opinion in Kolev v. Euromotors West/The Auto Gallery, 586 F.3d 1024 (9th Cir. 2011), explaining that it […]