District Court Could Decide Whether Nonsignatory Could Compel Arbitration Toyota has been enmeshed in arbitration concerning the ABS braking system of its 2010 Prius. In Kramer v. Toyota Motor Corporation, et al., Case No. 12-55050 (9th Cir. January 1, 2013) (Quist, D. J., author 3-0) (published), owners of 2010 Priuses, parties to arbitration agreements […]
In Which We Inaugurate A New Side Bar Category: Section 1295 (Medical Malpractice) “The Patient.” Frederic Dorr Steele, artist. 1901. Library of Congress. The plaintiff in the next case, Norma Daniels, is alive. Her mother, Margaret Barcenas, is dead. Ms. Daniels sued a residential care facility for the elderly (RCFE), its […]
Standard of Review Was Crucial To Affirmance of Trial Court’s Order Denying Motion to Compel Arbitration What a difference the standard of review can make. Plaintiff Thiel, an investor, sued MKA Real Estate Qualified Fund I, LLC for investment mismanagement. Several investment advisors, as well as real estate developers, were named as co-defendants. […]
Parties Moving to Compel Arbitration Were Unable to Take Advantage of Nonsignatory’s Admissions Where Moving Parties Denied Existence of Agreement Between Themselves and Nonsignatory Our next case is an odd one in which each of the adversaries took seemingly inconsistent positions. PMCI and Gregory, a contractor and its principal, were moving parties seeking to […]
Court of Appeal Delves Further Into Whether Alleged Agency Relationship Relates to Activities Governed By The Arbitration Clause The underlying dispute among different YMCA organizations, concerned the right to use camp grounds in the Sierra. Plaintiff Central Valley Young Man’s Christian Association, Inc. ran into financial difficulties, as a result of which the […]
Outcome Depended On Capacity In Which Signatory Signed The trial court determined that Plaintiff Allen Othman was not a party to a contract containing an arbitration provision in an agreement, and therefore was not bound to arbitrate his claims against Zions First National Bank. Mr. Othman had tried to purchase a property through […]
Corporate Creditors Would Have Benefited Alright If Advisor Had Successfully Obtained Financing for Corporation — But Benefit Alone Does Not a Third-Party Beneficiary Make One exception to the rule that a nonsignatory cannot be compelled to arbitrate a dispute is when the nonsignatory is a third-party beneficiary of the contract containing the arbitration […]
Opinion Not For Publication Rejects Dictum In Published Opinion Nonsignatories to arbitration agreements may find themselves bound to arbitrate if they are agents of a signatory party to the transaction. But that didn’t happen to the real estate brokers here. 3118, LLC v. CBD Investment, Inc., B234706 (2nd Dist. Div. 5 April 10, […]
Elder Abuse of Parent and Emotional Distress of Daughter Set Up Possibility of Conflicting Rulings The trial court denied motions of operators of skilled care nursing facilities to compel arbitration of parent’s Elder Abuse claim that was subject to arbitration. Why? Because the daughter’s claim of emotional distress caused by her mother’s alleged […]
Perennial Issue: Can Nonsignatories To Arbitration Agreement Compel Arbitration? An investment advisor and related defendants petitioned to arbitrate claims brought by an investor’s successor in interest. The successor (John) alleged that the accounts of his deceased mother had been “churned” to improperly generate commissions. The trial court denied the petition brought by the […]