Standard Of Review Pretty Much Ordained The Result Here, And Nothing Was Changed By Appealing This is one of those “Cain v. Abel” disputes, in which beneficiaries/brothers (Douglas and Martin Buser), fought over their parents’ family trust. It appears Douglas fought tooth and nail, but unsuccessfully, getting hit with attorney’s fees assessed against his […]
Yesterday, June 23, 2014, the California Supreme Court agreed that an arbitration class action waiver in Iskanian v. CLS Transportation Los Angeles was enforceable. See my June 23 post. On the same day, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed that class action waivers are valid – at least in the circumstances of the […]
Iskanian Decision Yields Opinion Of Four, Plus Justice Chin, Concurring, Plus Justice Werdegar, Concurring And Dissenting In a much-awaited decision, the California Supreme Court has ruled that a state’s refusal to enforce a class action waiver on grounds of public policy or unconscionability is preempted by the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA), but that […]
Substitution Of New Named Plaintiff To Represent Class Didn’t “Restart The Clock”. In Jacoby v. Islands Restaurants, L.P., No. B250886 (2nd Dist. Div. 5 June 20, 2014) (Turner, Kriegler, Mink) (unpublished), the Court of Appeal ruled that substantial evidence supported the trial court’s finding that defendant employer had waived its right to arbitrate. […]
Dissenting Justice Would Have Waited For Further Guidance From Supreme Court On Pending Cases Nine plaintiffs sued their mortgage foreclosure consultant and others for fraud, breach of contract, and other claims, alleging they were duped into signing their agreements and lost money when they paid for services that were never rendered. Defendants successfully petitioned […]
DOA: Neither Appellant Nor Respondents Were Able To Discover Copy Of A Written Agreement To Arbitrate It was undisputed that in the ordinary course of business, respondents required all employees to sign an arbitration agreement, and it was not clear why the appellant, Mr. Corselli “might have been an exception to this rule.” Apparently, the […]
Waiver Of Right To Arbitrate Does Not Require Voluntary Relinquishment Of Known Right Plaintiff sued 1-800-GET THIN and several other parties, after undergoing an endoscopic screening procedure for gastric band surgery and allegedly suffering injury. The trial court denied defendants’ petition to arbitrate, noting “delay and denial of discovery”, and that Plaintiff “will suffer […]
All Things Considered . . . Appellant Akin’s opening brief stated: “All things considered . . . it was assumed that the May 30th arbitration had been cancelled.” The lesson of our next case is that one who fails to show up for a scheduled arbitration hearing had better dot i’s and cross […]
How About Two Years – Is Two Years Good For You? Brothers appealed from a superior court order denying their petition to vacate several awards of an arbitrator with whom they were dissatisfied. They contended the arbitrator failed to disclose his professional relationship with opposing party’s counsel. In 2011, one of the appellants discovered […]
Maricopa County Waived Argument That Evidence Admitted To Show Settlement Should Be Privileged Under Federal Law 87 Yard Punt . . . In Wilcox v. Arpaio, No. 12-16418 (9th Cir. Feb. 2, 2014) (Tashima, Farris, Reinhardt), the Ninth Circuit avoids having to “determine whether a mediation privilege should be recognized under federal common […]