Month: March 2013

Arbitration/Scope/Costs: Arbitrator’s Failure To Declare Prevailing Party And Denial Of Statutory Costs To Winner No Ground For Reversal

Arbitration, Law, and Equity      Our next case reminds me of a hoary legal story.  Clarence Darrow handles a legal matter for William Randolph Hearst, and telegrams him:  “Justice has prevailed.”  Hearst’s reply:  “Appeal immediately!”       Appealing an arbitration result is often a long shot, because arbitration is more geared to equity and finality than […]

Arbitration/Employment/Unconscionability: Second District, Division 8 Tanks Employment Arbitration Provision On Basis of Unconscionability

Main Problem is One-Sidedness of Arbitration Provision      Compton v. Superior Court, Case No. BC448343 (2nd Dist. Div. 8 March 19, 2013) (published) starkly presents the conflicting views of judges confronted with deciding whether an employment arbitration provision is unconscionable.       Leasa Compton appealed the order granting her former employer, American Management Services’s (AMS’s) petition […]

Mediation/Condition Precedent/Arbitration/Construction of Agreement: Fifth District Refuses To Compel Mediation And Agrees Arbitration Clause Is Unenforceable

Arbitration Clause Did Create Unilateral Right To Compel Arbitration, And There Was No Precedent To Compel Mediation      Members of an LLC ended up in a business dispute leading to a lawsuit followed by defendants’ motion to compel mediation and arbitration.  The trial court construed an arbitration agreement as insufficient to allow one party to […]

Arbitration/1281.2: Fourth District, Division 3 Affirms Denial Of Petition To Arbitrate Based On Risk of Inconsistent Rulings

March 13, 2013 · Arbitration: Section 1281.2

  The Inconsistent Rulings Could Have Resulted In Inconsistent Remedies – A Practical Consideration      “The court, in a thorny litigation matter over technology licensing and investment fraud, denied a motion to compel arbitration of the issues arising under a cross-complaint. It held that there was an apparent risk of conflicting rulings between an arbitration […]

News: NY Times Reports Supreme Court Unsympathetic To Argument That Arbitration Agreement Can Be Invalidated Because It Does Not Permit Class Arbitration Of Federal-Law Claim

March 3, 2013 · News

The Case Argued On February 27 Is American Express Company v. Italian Colors Restaurant      On November 20, 2012, I posted about American Express Company v. Italian Colors Restaurant, the case now before the Supreme Court in which merchants have challenged American Express’s practice requiring them to accept its credit cards as a condition to […]