Case Is Remanded So District Court Can Assess Jurisdictional Issue. The plaintiff-appellant Mr. Castro took on a job as a deck hand on ship. His employment agreement contained a mandatory arbitration provision and it required arbitration to occur in and be subject to the procedural rules of American Samoa. After severely injuring himself, […]
Tribal Sovereign Immunity Was At Issue. Lawsuits filed against Indian tribes trigger issues of tribal sovereign immunity and jurisdiction. Such was the case in Findleton v. Coyote Valley Band of Pomo Indians, A150444 (1/2 9/25/18) (Stewart, Kline, Richman). This is the third appeal concerning contractor Findleton's efforts to enforce arbitration clauses against the Coyote […]
Defendant, A United Arab Emirates Bank, Lacked Sufficient Contacts With The US. The court staff summary of this case states: "The panel reversed the district court's judgment compelling arbitration of claims concerning a contract and remanded for dismissal on the ground that the district court lacked personal jurisdiction over the defendant." InfoSpan, Inc., et al. […]
"Partial Final Award" Did Not Constitute An Award Immediately Reviewable By Superior Court. Maplebear, Inc. v. Donna Busick, No. A151677 (1/2 8/21/18) affirms the trial court's order dismissing Maplebear's (Instacart's) petition to vacate an award, which award was dismissed for lack of jurisdiction. Instacart is a same-day grocery delivery service, and the dispute […]
To Ask The Question Is To Answer It . . . My law professors seemed fond of that old chestnut, "to ask the question is to answer it." Once you know the question presented by the Court of Appeal in Douglass v. Serenivision, Inc., B277574 (2/2 2/18/18) (Hoffstadt, Lui, Chavez) (published), you will […]
Attorney Charged Discounted Rate, Delayed Collection, And Accepted Hybrid Free Structure Due To Client's Limited Cash. Attorney James D. Daily helped the Stueve Brothers Farms, LLC (Stueve) recover some $20M in property. Stueve and others (Claimants) then sought to arbitrate their fee dispute with Daily. After the arbitrator awarded Daily $1.35 in hourly fees, and […]
The Federal Arbitration Act and the California Arbitration Act Diverge On Whether Interim Arbitration Awards Can Be Vacated. In the aptonymically-named case, Judge v. Superior Court, No. B267694 (2/7 8/15/16) (unpublished), the Court of Appeal considered whether the trial judge had property vacated an arbitrator’s ruling on clause construction requiring class arbitration of plaintiff’s […]
In Re Swift Transportation, No. 15-70592 (9th Cir. 7/26/16): No To Mandamus. In a prior appeal, the 9th Circuit held that the district court, rather than the arbitrator, must decide whether the dispute was exempt from arbitration under 9 U.S.C., section 1. That section of the Federal Arbitration Act provides that the FAA does […]
Court of Appeal Distinguishes Between Service For Purposes Of Notice And Service For Purposes Of Jurisdiction. Claimants appealed a judgment entered after the trial court granted the petition of insurer GEICO to confirm an award in its favor in an uninsured motorist case where there were questions about coverage. GEICO General Ins. Co. v. […]
Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. v. The Best Service Co., Inc., Case No. B253861 (2/5 Dec. 17, 2014) (Turner, Mosk, Kriegler) (published). In Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. v. The Best Service Co., Inc., the Court of Appeal dismissed defendant’s appeal of an order denying its motion to stay the action pending arbitration, because the stay […]