Arbitrator Or Judge? SCOTUSBlog reports today that the Supreme Court has added an arbitration case to its next term: "New Prime Inc. v. Oliveira Docket No. Op. Below Argument Opinion Vote Author Term 17-340 1st Cir. TBD TBD TBD TBD OT 2018 Issues: (1) Whether a dispute over applicability […]
Paul J. Dubow Provides Us With The Update. Paul J. Dubow is an experienced mediator and arbitrator in San Francisco. Mr. Dubow writes often about mediation and arbitration topics, serves as an editor for California Litigation, and has authored the arbitration section of the annual update of California law for both the Litigation […]
Gentry v. Superior Court: It's Alive, It's Alive! Gentry v. Superior Court (2007) 42 Cal.4th 443 (Gentry) held that class action waiver provisions in a contract are unenforceable, and a motion to compel arbitration may be denied, where the so-called "Gentry factors" are satisfied, and it is determined that a class action is a […]
Washington And California State Law Unconscionability Analysis Are Different. DeGraff v. Perkins Coie California P.C. et al., A148405 (1/1 2/21/18) (Dondero, Humes, Banke ) (unpublished) applies Washington state law to analyze the enforceability of an arbitration provision in a dispute between an attorney and his former law firm. Reversing the order denying the […]
Settlement Agreement Incorporated Arbitration Clause In Licensing Agreement — But Only Claims Arising Out Of Or In Connection With Any Provision In The Licensing Agreement Could Be Arbitrated. On February 9, 2018, we posted about Cirile v. Petersen-Dean, an unpublished case, in which incorporation by reference was too amorphous and vague to incorporate an […]
To Ask The Question Is To Answer It . . . My law professors seemed fond of that old chestnut, "to ask the question is to answer it." Once you know the question presented by the Court of Appeal in Douglass v. Serenivision, Inc., B277574 (2/2 2/18/18) (Hoffstadt, Lui, Chavez) (published), you will […]
An Agreement Need Not Expressly Provide For Arbitration But May Do So In A Document Incorporated By Reference. Petersen-Dean appealed from denial of its petition to compel arbitration. The central question on appeal was "whether the mention of the warranty in the contract incorporated the warranty, with its arbitration clause, into the contract." Cirile […]
Confidentiality and Sexual Harassment. Peter J. Marx, an experienced mediator and arbitrator affiliated with Alternative Resolution Centers (ARC) has written a short article entitled, "Confidentiality: Special Considerations In Sexual Harassment Cases." The article is available on the ARC website at this link. Mr. Marx recounts a mediation involving alleged date-rape, alcohol, […]
The Case Includes Good Discussion Of What Constitutes A Judicial Admission. With narrow exceptions, an arbitrator's decision cannot be reviewed for errors of fact or law. One such exception, which was invoked by the Appellant in Shenoi Koes LLP v. Bank of America, et al., B281756 (2/4 1/31/18) (Willhite, Epstein Manella) (unpublished) is […]