What Vestigial Jurisdiction Does The Court Retain After Granting A Motion To Compel Arbitration? Plaintiff Dee Lew-Williams, the successor in interest to her late physician husband, sued defendants for embezzlement. Defendants successfully moved to compel arbitration. But Lew-Williams, claiming lack of funds, was unable to prosecute the arbitration, and so defendants moved the trial […]
Liquidated Damages Of $250K Were Reasonable In Proportion To $2.2M Settlement. After an all-day tele-mediation the parties executed a term sheet providing that defendant/cross-complainant would pay $1.6M to plaintiff, and cross-defendant would pay $600K. Defendant/cross-complainant had second thoughts the next day and reneged on payment. Cross-defendant paid $600K. And plaintiff successfully enforced the settlement […]
California Health Care Decisions Law Allows For Appointment Of A Health Care Agent. The problem in Harrod v. Country Oaks Partners, LLC, S276545 (CA S.Ct. 3/28/24) (Jenkins, J.) is that the health care agent who signed an agreement with a skilled nursing home facility containing an arbitration clause was acting outside the scope of […]
The Court Also Rejected Argument That Federal Preemption Required Enforcement Of Browserwrap Arbitration Provision. Plaintiff Brinan Weeks sued Interactive Life Forms, LLC in a putative class action, alleging that it made false claims, alleging "that he purchased a device called a Stamina Training Unit (STU) from the fleshlight.com website (the website) on or around […]
One More California Appellate Case Rejects Felisilda. We have written before about courts rejecting the application of the equitable estoppel doctrine to allow vehicle manufacturers to piggyback on to the arbitration provision in sales contracts between customers and automobile dealerships. In Davis v. Nissan North America, Inc. v. Nissan North America, Inc., D083006 (4/1 […]
The Supreme Court Does Not Decide Whether The Ninth Circuit's Decision Was Correct, Only Whether The Decision Was For The Court To Make. The parties "had executed two contracts: the User Agreement, which sent disputes about arbitrability to arbitration, and the Official Rules, which appeared to send disputes to California courts." Coinbase, Inc. v. […]
Overruling A Ninth Circuit Decision (62 F.4th 1201 (2023). Though the plain language of the Federal Arbitration Act appeared to require a district court to stay a lawsuit pending arbitration rather than dismiss it, the Ninth Circuit ruled that case law allowed district courts to dismiss the lawsuit when all claims are subject to […]
Mediation. Generally, we have little to say on our ADR blog about mediation, because key issues, such as the scope of confidentiality, are settled law. But there is a noteworthy Senate Bill, SB 1141 which, when it passes through all legislative hoops, will impact mediation. Currently, the superior courts cannot order a matter to […]
Public Advocate And Conservation Champion. My book review of the Hon. M. Margaret McKeown's The Environmental Legacy of William O. Douglas Public Advocate and Environmental Champion appears in the April 2024 issue of Los Angeles Lawyer. You can also read the review here: Download Citizen Justice.
A 9-0 Opinion Authored By Justice John Roberts. Wonder Bread Store, B-80, Rock Springs, Wyoming. Photographer: John Margolies. 2004. Library of Congress. No known restrictions. The Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, holds: "A transportation worker need not work in the transportation industry to fall within the exemption from the FAA provided by §1 […]