Split Between State And Federal Blanket Enforcement Of Arbitration Agreements Far From Resolved The February 19, 2015 issue of the Los Angeles Daily Journal includes an article by John Roemer entitled “9th Circuit to test arbitration ruling.” This “test” concerns the California Supreme Court’s holding in Iskanian v. CLS Transportation Los Angeles LLC, 59 […]
The Parties Had Agreed To Mediate. Efforts to avoid mediation can be costly. For example, in real estate disputes, the standard California Association of Realtors purchase and sale agreement requires mediation before litigation – and participation in mediation becomes a precondition to collecting attorneys fees for a prevailing party. In our next case, a […]
Parties Agree Trial Court Is Best Positioned to Resolve Procedural Issues. After ruling in Iskanian v. CLS Transportation Los Angeles, LLC, 59 Cal.4th 348 (2014) that the Federal Arbitration Act did not preempt a state law rule prohibiting waiver of Private Attorney General Act of 2004 representative actions, the California Supreme Court left it […]
California Attorney’s Fees has a short post dated February 18, 2015, with tips for successful enforcement of arbitration clauses in fee retainers found in a recent article in the Daily Report, authored by Randy Evans and Shari Klevens of McKenna Long.
“Judicial Economy Was Not . . A Proper Basis For Delaying Arbitration.” What’s a judge to do when confronted with the possibility of compelling thousands of individual grievances to arbitration, versus staying the arbitration of arbitral issues, while one case is tried? Here, the trial judge expediently stayed the individual arbitrations, and got reversed […]
State Of The Record And Substantial Evidence Of Waiver Result In Affirmance. Defendants appealed the trial court’s order denying First American Title Insurance Company and First American Title Company’s motion to compel individual arbitration of plaintiffs’ claims. Kaufman v. First American Title Insurance Company, No. B248689 (2/5 Feb. 2, 2010) (Turner, Kriegler, Goodman) (unpublished). […]
By Suing DirectTV For Unpaid Wages, Employee Acknowledged Existence Of An Employment Relationship With Entity That Survived Merger. May a nonsignatory defendant enforce an arbitration agreement between a signatory plaintiff and a corporation that was acquired by the nonsignatory defendant, which assumed all rights and obligations of the acquired corporation? “We have found no […]
The Pros And Cons Of Creative Ambiguity. Lawrence Wright has written a fascinating book about the thirteen days of intense negotiations at Camp David in 1979 leading to a peace agreement between Egypt and Israel. Earlier, Wright earned a Pulitzer Prize for his book The Looming Tower about events leading up to 9/11. […]
Sometimes Unilateral Changes To Agreement Are Protected By Covenant of Good Faith And Fair Dealing – But Not Here. I have posted about employment cases in which the covenant of good faith and fair dealing allowed an employer to unilaterally change an arbitration provision without the contract being illusory, because the covenant reins […]
Plaintiffs’ Pleading Allegations Didn’t Help Their Argument. The somewhat anomalous circumstances in this case allowed a nonsignatory defendant to arbitrate its claims with a nonsignatory plaintiff. O’Donnell Strategic Industrial REIT v. Super. Ct., G049498 (4/3 Jan. 28, 2015) (Thompson, Bedsworth, Moore) (unpublished). In a dispute concerning the setting up and operation of […]