Two Separate Agreements, Rather Than One Fully Integrated Agreement, Governed The Relationship Between The Parties. Pacific Interventionalists, Inc. v. Pedes Orange County, Inc., G052815 (4/3 12/116/16) (O’Leary, Fybel, Ikola) (unpublished) delves into the application of the parol evidence rule to an agreement containing a promise to arbitrate. In order to determine if parties intend […]
Acknowledgment Of Employee Handbook Is Not Necessarily Agreement To All Its Contents. Courts apply the rule requiring resolution of ambiguities against the drafting party “with peculiar force in the case of a contract of adhesion.” That’s what happened in Rollins v. Stack & Associates, CPAs, No. D069390 (4/1 11/30/16) (Nares, Benke, Huffman) (unpublished), in […]
Court Looks At Evolution Of Class Action Waiver Law In California For Help Construing Meaning Of The Contractual Language. In 2011, AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion, 563 U.S. 333 (2011) held the Discover Bank rule, invalidating a class arbitration waiver, had been preempted by the Federal Arbitration Act. After Concepcion, employers frequently insert class […]
Second District, Division One Provides In-Depth Discussion Of Whether Arbitration Clause Is Broad Or Narrow. An issue that comes up repeatedly is whether an arbitration clause is broad enough to encompass tort claims. Our next case, certified for publication, is worth reading because it offers an in-depth analysis of how to determine the scope […]
Course Of Conduct By The Parties Weighed Heavily In Construing Their Conduct. North County Communications of Arizona v. Qwest Corporation, No. 14-35254 (9th Cir. May 31, 2016) (Scannlain, Silverman, Bea) involves two communications carriers, North County and Qwest, in a messy billing dispute, construction of their “interconnection agreement” (ICA), and the panel’s skillful avoidance […]
. . . In Which We Inaugurate A New Sidebar Category (Foreign Arbitration) And Petitioners Who Successfully Compelled Arbitration In District Court Lawsuit Concerning Coffee Franchise Dispute Get Roasted On Appeal. Our next case involves a dispute between an Italian corporation seeking to open a coffee franchise in the United States, and two entrepreneurs […]
Arbitration Provision Clearly Applied To Litigation, But Not To Earlier Transactional Work. Nordman Cormany Hair & Compton, formerly in business for 75 years in Ventura County, appealed an order denying its petition to compel arbitration of a legal malpractice lawsuit. Aggeler v. Nordman Cormany Hair & Compton, B253566 (2/6 April 27, 2015) (Gilbert, Yegan, […]
Second District, Division 2, Rejects Appellants’ “Tortured” Reading Of Arbitration Provision And Affirms Order Denying Motion To Compel Arbitration. Plaintiffs, investors in an independent bookstore, refused the request of defendants, the bookstore and its prior owner, to arbitrate a business dispute. The key language in the arbitration provision read: “Notwithstanding the foregoing, no arbitrator […]
Strong Policy In Favor Of Arbitration Yields To Court’s Independent Review Of What Parties Intended By Their Contractual Language. In Backflip Software, Inc. v. Cisco Systems, Inc., No. H040382 (6th Dist. Dec. 3, 2014) (Bamattre-Manoukian, Elia, Mihara) (unpublished), the Court concludes, based on its independent review of contractual language, the trial court did not err […]
Judgment Confirming Arbitration Award Is Reversed, And Appeal From Sanction Order Is Dismissed. Wendy Kronick appealed from the trial court’s judgment confirming an arbitration award in favor of her former family law attorney, Debra A. Opri. Kronick v. Opri, B241510 (2/1 Sept. 30, 2014) (Ashmann-Gerst, Chavez, Ferns) (unpublished). Ms. Kronick argued that the […]