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 […]
Stockton Goes Bankrupt On June 28, 2012, Stockton declared bankruptcy. The news story was widely reported. But all is not gloom and doom. As quoted in the New York Times, bankruptcy attorney Karol K. Denniston, who helped draft AB506, the California legislation requiring municipalities to mediate before filing a bankruptcy petition, optimistically observed: […]
For Fee Recovery, Complaint And Cross-Complaint Are Treated As Separate Actions In Frei v. Davey, 124 Cal.App.4th 1506 (2004), the Court of Appeal made it very clear that parties need to pay attention to those pesky provisions requiring that one request mediation before filing suit, or else risk losing attorney’s fees even if […]
Supreme Court Faced “Tension Between Two Principles” In United Teachers of Los Angeles v. Los Angeles Unified School District, S177403 (Cal. Sup. Ct. June 28, 2012) (Liu, J., author), the Supreme Court found itself “required to resolve a tension between two principles: (1) collective bargaining provisions in conflict with the Education Code are unenforceable, […]
Settlement Provision Conferred Limited Authority On Arbitrator to Amend Settlement Agreement to Make It Enforceable A cleverly drafted settlement provision, which had implications for the res judicata effect of an arbitration award, and for the confidentiality of mediation, is the reason this next case earns a blawg post. The underlying dispute was a […]