Parties’ Agreement To Litigate In Superior Court Proved Fatal To Prevailing Party’s Fee Recovery Plaintiff Mari sued Defendant Hawkins for professional negligence in connection with a survey, and prevailed in the trial court. However, the trial court denied Plaintiff’s request for attorney’s fees, because the fee provision was part of an arbitration provision […]
Marc Alexander is of counsel in the Santa Ana office of AlvaradoSmith APC, and a member of the Firm’s litigation department. He has over 30 years of experience in bench and jury trials, binding arbitrations, judicial references, mediations, and appellate work in state and federal courts in California. Mr. Alexander received his B.A. with honors […]
Email: calmediation@gmail.com Telephone: 714 852-6800 Marc Alexander
Are Arbitrators Stingier Than Trial Court Judges? Payback in FINRA Arbitration Bill Singer comments about a FINRA (Financial Industry Regulatory Authority) arbitration in the June 20, 2012 on-line edition of Forbes, under the heading, “Former Morgan Stanley Smith Barney Brokers Win $5 Million Employment Dispute Arbitration Award.” We surmise some of the conduct may […]
Enforcing Settlement Agreement Under CCP 664.6 Requires Strict Compliance With Statute The next case teaches us about the need to strictly comply with Cal. Code Civ. Proc. section 664.6 in order to enforce a settlement agreement under that provision. Hampton-Mitchell v. Mitchell, Case No. B228988 (2nd Dist. Div. 7 June 20, 2012) (Zelon, […]
Labor Code Section 206.5 Prohibits Employer From Obtaining Release of Claim For Wages Under Specified Circumstances, But Does Not Preclude Employee From Waiving Right to Jury By Agreeing To Arbitrate The scenario is familiar: Employee (Pulli) sues employer (Pony International, LLC), for wrongful termination and other claims. Because employee signed an arbitration provision, […]
Plus We Learn Some Legal Arcana The next case, though unpublished, covers several interesting issues concerning the arbitrator’s authority, rules, sanctions, and fees. Prime Associates Group, LLC v. NAMA Holdings, LLC, Case No. B226167 (2nd Dist. Div. 4 June 19, 2012) (Suzukawa, J., author) (not for publication). The case involved a messy dispute […]
St. Agnes Factors Weighted In Favor of Finding of a Waiver The leading California case for determining whether a waiver of the right to arbitrate has occurred is St. Agnes Medical Center v. PacifiCare of California, 31 Cal.4th 1187 (2003). St. Agnes provides a multi-factor test that the court handily applied in Alspaugh […]
Failure to Pay Arbitrator’s Fees Led to Waiver of Right to Arbitrate in Cinel v. Barna On May 20, 2012, we blogged about Cinel v. Barna, Case No. B232380 (2nd Dist. Div. 1 May 18, 2012) (Johnson, J.) an unpublished case at the time. As of today, the case is certified for publication.
. . . And So Party Suing and Prevailing On the Promissory Note Could Recover Fees Without Initiating Mediation We have a sidebar category, "Mediation: Condition Precedent," reflecting the fact that many contracts, such as real estate purchase and sale agreements, and listing agreements, now require a party to mediate before filing a […]