Majority Opinion Identified Many State Law Contractual Problems With Arbitration Provision Plaintiff Sparks sued for wrongful termination, and employer Vista Del Mar Child and Family Services petitioned to arbitrate the dispute. The trial court denied the petition, and the employer appealed. Sparks v. Vista Del Mar Child and Family Services, Case No. B234988 […]
Arbitrators Axed By FINRA After Deciding Against Merrill Lynch Are Reinstated Suzanne Barlyn reports July 25, 2012 (Reuters) that the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) reinstated three securities arbitrators axed after an arbitration panel awarded $520,000 against Merrill Lynch. Because FINRA routinely cycles arbitrators through its roster, crossing an arbitrator off its roster is […]
In Which the Dream of A Bed and Breakfast Becomes A Dog’s Breakfast “A partnership to run a bed and breakfast in Nicaragua soured.” Not an auspicious beginning. Plaintiff Lawler sued his partners, the Caseys, and their former corporation (collectively Casey) in California for fraud and related causes of action. Casey moved to compel […]
Profession Relationships Were Too Attenuated To Justify Disqualification Our next case is a lawsuit between a law firm and a lawyer/client over a significant amount of attorney’s fees – confirmation of the mission statement in our other blog, California Attorney’s Fees (brought to you by Mike Hensley and Marc Alexander), that attorney’s fees are […]
San Bernardino: Do Not Pass Mediation, Go Straight to Bankruptcy The Associated Press reported on July 18, 2012, that the San Bernardino City Council voted 5-2 to declare a fiscal emergency, thereby allowing it to skip the mediation step now required by California law, and head straight to bankruptcy. How quaint and optimistic […]
Viability of Gentry v. Superior Court is Sidestepped By Court of Appeal Plaintiff/employee Lorena Nelsen filed a putative class action lawsuit against her former employer LPI for multiple Labor Code violations. Because Nelsen signed an arbitration agreement when she was hired, the employer, LPI moved, successfully, to compel arbitration with Nelsen all alone. Nelsen […]
More Mediation for Stockton, and Possibly Mediation for San Bernardino No sooner did Stockton end mediation and file for bankruptcy, than Judge Christopher Klein, the bankruptcy judge overseeing Stockton’s bankruptcy ordered the city and its creditors to mediate with bankruptcy Judge Elizabeth L. Perris next month. So reported Steven Church at bloomberg.net on July […]
Affirm? Reverse? No, Dismiss, Because the Order is Unappealable Plaintiff Brian Zulli “purports to appeal from an order staying an action and compelling arbitration . . . “ Purports? Yes, “purports”, because the order is not appealable. Zulli v. Toll Brothers, Inc., Case No. B231622 (2nd Dist. Div. 6 July 10, 2012) (Perren, J., […]
How to Reconcile the Federal Arbitration Act With the Bankruptcy Code? The threshold issue that the Ninth Circuit had to resolve In the Matter of: Jose Eber, Case Nos. 10-56772 and 11-55341 (9th Cir. July 9, 2012) (for publication) was “how to reconcile the FAA with the Bankruptcy Code, and, more specifically, a bankruptcy […]
When Mediation Involves The Public’s Interest, How Confidential Is The Mediation Under Federal Law? On July 6, 2012, Steven Church reported in Bloomerg, “[t]he judge overseeing Stockton, California’s bankruptcy limited the amount of information the city and its creditors can make public about a months-long mediation process that failed.” Mediation is required under California […]