Different Disclosure Rules Apply To Consumer Arbitrations And This Was Not A Consumer Arbitration. "Do the Ethics Standards require a retained arbitrator in a noncommercial [sic] case to disclose in one matter that he has been subsequently hired in a second matter by the same party and same law firm? We hold that the […]
Plaintiff/Appellant Did Not Need To Prove That Arbitrator's Ex Parte Communications Led To Adverse Award. A rather unusual case, this. Joanna G. Grabowski, an in pro per plaintiff/appellant successfully vacated an adverse arbitration award in a malpractice arbitration she brought against Kaiser. Joanna G. Grabowski v. Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc., et al, No. […]
Oh, The Pain. The appellant in Brian Alper et al. v. Pasquale Rotella, et al., G058088 (4/3 5/5/21) (Moore, Bedsworth, Aronson), sought to vacate an adverse arbitration award on the grounds that the arbitrator, who was in great pain and took Percocet to ease the pain during the arbitration proceeding, was so impaired that […]
Years Earlier, The Parties Had Agreed To The Appointment Of A Particular Arbitrator. Brothers Harry and Ted Soussos fought over control of family business interests. Harry moved to compel arbitration, and Ted timely objected. The arbitrator refused to recuse himself, and Harry obtained an award in his favor. The rub here is that several […]
The Arbitrator's Relationship With GLAAD Was Irrelevant To The Dispute. The arbitration award was confirmed and affirmed on appeal in Malek Media Group LLC v. AXQG Corp., B299743 (12/16/20 )) (Dhanidina, Lavin, Egerton), a case in which the disgruntled appealing party sought to disqualify the arbitrator for failure to disclose his connection with […]
And The Attack On Arbitrator's Bias Came Too Late. The trial judge in Rivera v. Shivers et al., G057919 (4th Dist. Div. 3 8/31/20) (Bedsworth, Thompson, Goethals) sua sponte ordered the unlawful detainer action to mandatory statutory arbitration. What could go wrong? For one thing, unlawful detainer actions are exempt from mandatory statutory arbitration. […]
Judge Friedland Dissents. Billboard for Chero-Cola, a long-defunct soft-drink brand, in Louisville, a town in northeastern Georgia. Carol M. Highsmith, photographer. Library of Congress. Monster Energy, FKA Hansen Beverage Company, designates JAMS as an arbitral forum in its agreements with distributors. So when a dispute arose between Monster Energy and its distributor City Beverages, LLC, […]
Also, Arbitrator’s Religious Affiliation Is No Reason For Disqualification, With Jewish Affiliation Not Showing Any Inherent Bias Against Homosexuals. Bogue v. Anesthesia Service Medical Group, Inc., Case No. D073518 (4th Dist., Div. 1 July 17, 2019) (unpublished) (McConnell, P.J.; Benke, J.; and Irion, J.) is a case where a former employee lost an arbitration […]
Court Chastises Plaintiff's Counsel And Neutral Arbitrator. The Court of Appeal expresses displeasure with "unfortunate conduct" by plaintiff's counsel and the neutral arbitrator. The conduct included "omissions of key facts and misrepresentations . . . that would allow us to deem plaintiff's challenges as forfeited," and testimony by the "neutral arbitrator" in the superior […]
Plaintiff Waived Vacatur Right As To Ethics Standard 12(b), But Did Not Waive Rights To Vacate Based On Arbitrator’s Failure To Make Required Disclosures Under Ethics Standard 7(d). Here is the ending quotation before the “Disposition” paragraph in Honeycutt v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., Case No. B281982 (2d Dist., Div. 7 Aug. 2, 2018) […]