Author: calmediation

Arbitration/Enforceability/FAA/Construction: Arbitration Clause That The Employer Can Change Turns Out To Be Illusory

  Problem Here: Modification Provision Was Not Sufficiently Restricted So As To Exempt All Employee Claims, Accrued Or Known, From A Contract Change      Magician, Illusionist, Entertainer.  1913.  Library of Congress.      The next case takes us back to law school days:  is a contract illusory?  The case required the Court of Appeal to determine […]

Arbitration/Nonsignatories/Third Party Beneficiaries: Financial Advisor of Corporation Can’t Compel Arbitration With Corporation’s Creditors on Third-Party Beneficiary Theory

  Corporate Creditors Would Have Benefited Alright If Advisor Had Successfully Obtained Financing for Corporation — But Benefit Alone Does Not a Third-Party Beneficiary Make      One exception to the rule that a nonsignatory cannot be compelled to arbitrate a dispute is when the nonsignatory is a third-party beneficiary of the contract containing the arbitration […]

One Hundred Years Ago: 1912 Nobel Peace Prize Goes To Elihu Root For Work In International Arbitration and Cooperation

April 15, 2012 · Miscellaneous

Elihu Root Negotiated Some 40 International Arbitration Treaties      Elihu Root (1845-1937) was awarded the 1912 Nobel Peace Prize for his work in negotiating some 40 reciprocal international arbitration treaties and in promoting international cooperation.  Root was a prototype for the twentieth-century  “wise man” – enormously successful as a private attorney, he also accepted appointments […]

Arbitration/Nonsignatories: Second District, Division 5 Refuses to Enforce Arbitration Agreement Against Nonsignatory Broker

  Opinion Not For Publication Rejects Dictum In Published Opinion      Nonsignatories to arbitration agreements may find themselves bound to arbitrate if they are agents of a signatory party to the transaction. But that didn’t happen to the real estate brokers here. 3118, LLC v. CBD Investment, Inc., B234706 (2nd Dist. Div. 5 April 10, […]

Arbitration/Pending Cases: Consumer Car Arbitration Riding on New Treads As Ninth Circuit "Recalls" Opinion in Kolev v. Euromotors West/The Auto Gallery

  Axle of Evil:  Opinion Withdrawn in Kolev v. Euromotors West/The Auto Gallery Was Critical of Pre-Dispute Binding Arbitration Where Automobile Problems and Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act Are Concerned      On April 11, 2012, the Ninth Circuit withdrew the Opinion in Kolev v. Euromotors West/The Auto Gallery, 586 F.3d 1024 (9th Cir. 2011), explaining that it […]

Arbitration/Standard of Review: Fourth District, Division Two Holds Arbitrator Did Not Exceed Authority In Ruling County Employee Was Terminated Without Just Cause

  Court of Appeal Also Rejects Public Policy Argument Put Forward By County for Vacating Arbitrator’s Award      The County of Riverside terminated the Respondent, Ms. Matheson, a network administrator, for allegedly accessing email of the District Attorney’s Office without authorization. Pursuant to the procedure agreed to between the County and Ms. Matheson’s labor union, […]

Arbitration: Third District Rules That FAA Does Not Preempt California Arbitration Statute Allowing for Denial of Arbitration Where There Is Possibility of Conflicting Rulings

  Elder Abuse of Parent and Emotional Distress of Daughter Set Up Possibility of Conflicting Rulings      The trial court denied motions of operators of skilled care nursing facilities to compel arbitration of parent’s Elder Abuse claim that was subject to arbitration. Why? Because the daughter’s claim of emotional distress caused by her mother’s alleged […]

Mediation: Solution to Mammoth Problem Facing Mammoth Lakes?

April 8, 2012 · News

First Stockton, Now Mammoth Lakes      On March 11, 2012, we blogged about Stockton’s fiscal plight and effort to take advantage of a new California law, AB 506, to mediate with its creditors.  The law positions bankruptcy as a last resort, after the municipality has exhausted other means for working out it financial problems.       […]

Mediation: Does Mediation Confidentiality in California Require a Legislative Fix?

California Assembly Bill 2025 Would Allow Introduction of Mediation Communications Between Attorneys and Their Clients in Actions For Malpractice or Breach of Fiduciary Duty      California Assembly Member Don Wagner introduced Assembly Bill 2025 to amend California Evidence Code section 1120 to allow: “The admissibility in an action for legal malpractice, an action for breach […]

Mediation: Ninth Circuit Orders Mediation Of Dispute Concerning Conditions For Holding Gun Shows At The Alameda County Fairgrounds

April 4, 2012 · Mediation: Attendance

But Chief Judge Alex Kozinski “Wants No Part Of It”      An en banc panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, believing that the parties should attempt to settle their long-running dispute concerning the conditions for holding gun shows at the Alameda County fairgrounds, has ordered the dispute to mediation.  Nordyke v. King, No. […]