Passage Of SB 766 Opens Up Opportunities For Foreign Attorneys To Participate In International Arbitration In California. An excellent article by Eric Z. Chang appearing in California Litigation –The Journal of the Litigation Section of the CLA, Vol. 31,No. 2 (2018), p. 27, explains how an ambiguity in the law as to whether foreign attorneys […]
Consolidated Appeals Brought By Uber Overturn Pro-Driver Rulings Of District Court. O'Connor v. Uber, No. 16-5595, and related appeals (9th Cir. 9/25/18) (Clifton, Tallman, Ikuta) reverses the district court's denial of Uber's motions to compel arbitration, based on Mohamed v. Uber Technologies, Inc., 848 F. 3d 1201 (9th Cir. 2016). Mohamed, which we blogged […]
Tribal Sovereign Immunity Was At Issue. Lawsuits filed against Indian tribes trigger issues of tribal sovereign immunity and jurisdiction. Such was the case in Findleton v. Coyote Valley Band of Pomo Indians, A150444 (1/2 9/25/18) (Stewart, Kline, Richman). This is the third appeal concerning contractor Findleton's efforts to enforce arbitration clauses against the Coyote […]
Court Of Appeal Also Holds That The Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) Does Not Preempt California's Anti-SLAPP Statute. This dispute began in 2012 when Ruiz filed a putative class action against Moss Bros. Auto Group, Inc. (MBAG) for employment- related claims. By the time we get to the instant appeal, Moss Bros. Toy, Inc. […]
Defendant, A United Arab Emirates Bank, Lacked Sufficient Contacts With The US. The court staff summary of this case states: "The panel reversed the district court's judgment compelling arbitration of claims concerning a contract and remanded for dismissal on the ground that the district court lacked personal jurisdiction over the defendant." InfoSpan, Inc., et al. […]
Did Owners Collude To Keep Him From Playing Or Did All The Owners Happen To Individually Decide To Keep Him From Playing? The NYT and other news sources report that arbitrator Stephen B. Burbank denied the NFL's motion for summary judgment in its dispute with Colin Kaepernick. For now, Kaepernick can proceed with his […]
Majority Remands So That Quantum Meruit Recovery Can Be Considered; Dissent Believes Neither Contractual Nor Quantum Meruit Recovery Should Be Awarded. Dear Readers, as we approach the three-day Labor Day Weekend, which I hope each of you will enjoy, I would like to spare your having to read a California Supreme Court majority slip […]
Arbitrator Did Not Exceed Powers By Abridging An Unwaivable Statutory Right Or Policy. One of the grounds for a court to vacate an arbitrator's award is that the arbitrator exceeded his or her powers. See Code of Civ. Proc. section 1286.2(a)(4). And arbitrators may exceed their powers by issuing an award that violates a party's […]
The Security Agreement Included An Arbitration Clause, But The Purchase Agreement Did Not. It is not unusual for a consumer to execute more than one agreement at the time of purchase, only one of which contains an arbitration clause. Such was the case in Fuentes v. TMCSF, Inc., E066242 (4/2 8/23/18) (Ramirez, Slough, […]
Henry Schein, Inc. v. Archer & White Sales, and Lamps Plus v. Varela. On August 20, 2018, Amy Howe reported in SCOTUSblog that the Supreme Court will hear oral argument (Nov. 7) on two cases involving interpretation of the FAA. She reports: "Henry Schein, Inc. . . . asks the justices to decide whether the act allows […]