An Order Denying Defendants’ Cross-Petition To Compel An Arbitration They Already Initiated Does Not Adversely Affect Them – And Therefore They Can’t Appeal It O’Malley v. Avenatti, Case No. G045806 (4th Dist. Div. 3 June 13, 2012) (Ikola, J., author) (not for publication) is the kind of lawsuit only lawyers can love – a […]
Split of Opinion Continues About Arbitrability of State Statutory Labor Claims “Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more.” (Henry V, Act 3, Scene 1). Hoover v. American Income Life Insurance Company, Case No. E052864 (4th Dist. Div. 2 May 16, 2012) (Codrington, J., author) (certified for publication) underscores a split in the […]
Stockton Positions Itself to Be Able to End Mediation and File for Chapter 9 Protection From Its Creditors We blogged on May 30, April 8, and March 11, 2012, about the efforts of California cities in financial distress to comply with AB 506 by mediating as a precondition to filing for bankruptcy. […]
Plaintiff’s Filing Of Lawsuit Without Requesting Mediation Did Not Negate Duty of Defendant to Participate In Mediation After Plaintiff Did Request Mediation The Cullens bought a vacation home in 2002, and sued the sellers, the Corwins, in 2009, for failing to disclose the defective condition of the roof. The Cullens lost their case […]
Court of Appeal Borrows Reasoning From Collateral Estoppel Effect Of Arbitration On Third Party The Wus (Sellers) sold an apartment building to the Sobel Family Trust (Buyer). Buyer sued Seller for failure to disclose material defects in the 75 year old building, and obtained an award in arbitration that Sellers paid. Sellers followed […]
Vindication of Statutory Rights Loophole to Arbitration Is Closed In an April 25, 2012 post, we suggested, based on Kinecta Alternative Financial Solutions, Inc. v. Superior Court of Los Angeles County, (2012) (partially published) (District 2, Div. 3), that “the rule in Gentry [42 Cal.4th 443 (2007)] allowing for invalidation of class arbitration waiver […]
“Anonymous Attorney” is Not Anonymous In a March 18, 2012 post, we spoke of “the sheer ingenuity of the anonymous attorney who drafted the arbitration clause at issue” in AT&T Mobility v. Concepcion. After poking around the web a bit, we learned that the “anonymous attorney” is actually Archis Parasharami, a partner at Mayer […]
In a May 28, 2012 opinion piece in the National Law Journal, Andrew J. Pincus saw the precedent he had made, and, behold, it was very good. (Cf. Gen. 1:31 King James Version). Mr. Pincus is the attorney at Mayer Brown heralded for arguing and winning Concepcion before the Supreme Court in 2011. He […]
Court of Appeal Concludes Binding Mediation Need Not Be An Oxymoron, Distinguishing Lindsay v. Lewandowski The trial court enforced a settlement agreement, under Cal. Code Civ. Proc. section 664.6, resulting in a binding mediation award in favor of plaintiffs. Defendant appealed, contending that it never agreed to resolve the dispute through “binding mediation”, that […]
AB 1692 Would Expand AB 506 CBS News reports that the state Assembly has rejected legislation (AB 1692) seeking to expand the mediation process for California cities about to declare bankruptcy. At the end of last year, AB 506, drafted by Assemblyman Bob Wieckowski (D – Fremont), created a mediation requirement for municipalities […]