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 […]
Recommended Reading: Post-Arbitral Award Investigation Of Bias. Paul J. Dubow, an arbitrator and mediator in San Francisco, asks whether post-award investigation can vacate arbitration awards in “ADR Update”, California Litigation (Vol. 27, No. 1 2014), p. 37. It is easy for an unhappy client’s attorney to do a Google search about an arbitrator […]
Once Plaintiff Knew of Arbitrator’s Relationship With Defendant, Plaintiff Was On Inquiry Notice To Ask About Details An arbitrator must make certain disclosures within 10 days of receiving notice of his or her nomination to serve as a neutral arbitrator. See CCP section 1281.9. Once the arbitrator makes those disclosures, a party has 15 […]
The Purported Conflict Did Not Come Within Any Of Those Specifically Listed Matters That Must Be Disclosed Plaintiff Diamond Manufacturing & Engineering Co. (Diamond) obtained a favorable arbitration award against defendant Equipment Parts Wholesale, LLC (EPW). When Diamond petitioned the trial court to confirm the award, EPW requested – unsuccessfully – that the […]
California Code of Civ. Proc. Section 1281.9 Enumerates Specific Instances Where Disclosure Is Always Compelled Plaintiff appealed an adverse judgment affirming a medical malpractice decision in favor of defendant doctor, arguing arbitrator failed to make a necessary disclosure. The neutral arbitrator and defendant’s counsel failed to disclose that defendant’s counsel had, subsequent to the […]
Finding No Due Process Violation In Administrative Hearing Process, The Court Of Appeal Underscores Differences Between An Arbitrator And A Hearing Officer Plaintiff, Dr. Safari, sought a determination that the administrative peer reviewing hearing process involving Kaiser, resulting in findings that he should no longer treat patients, violated his due process rights and […]
FINRA Begin Again? On June 21, 2012, we posted about a $5M award by FINRA to brokers John Paladino and Todd G. Vitale. FINRA is the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, and its awards are generally difficult to overturn. However, San Diego Judge Lisa Schall has overturned the award, based on the failure of one […]
California’s Code of Civil Procedure Provisions Governing International Arbitration Differ From Ordinary Domestic Arbitration Provisions With this post, we inaugurate a new sidebar category: “Arbitration: International.” Comerica Bank v. Howsam, et al. Case No. B232749 (2nd Dist. Div. 5 August 20, 2012) (Turner, P.J., author)(partially published) involves appeals from orders confirming three […]
Arbitrator’s Professional Relationships Were Too Attenuated to Require Disclosure On July 26, 2012, we posted about Nemecek & Cole v. Horn, Case No. B233274 (2nd Dist. Div. 8 7/23/12). The case, involving a significant fee dispute between a client and the client’s law firm, addressed whether an arbitrator should have disclosed certain professional relationships. […]
Profession Relationships Were Too Attenuated To Justify Disqualification Our next case is a lawsuit between a law firm and a lawyer/client over a significant amount of attorney’s fees – confirmation of the mission statement in our other blog, California Attorney’s Fees (brought to you by Mike Hensley and Marc Alexander), that attorney’s fees are […]