A Critical Letter Provided The Evidentiary Linchpin. The Court of Appeal in Gamma Eta Chapter of PI Kappa Alpha, B25667 (2/8 2/6/20) (Wiley, Bigelow, Grimes), reversed the trial court's order denying a motion to compel arbitration and remanded so that the trial court could grant the motion and stay the case pending arbitration. The […]
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 […]
Arbitration Cases Fly Under The Radar. In recent years, I have concentrated more on published arbitration cases than on unpublished cases — first, because the unpublished cases are not citable in California state courts, and second, because there are simply so many of them. However, today, I have gathered five unpublished cases appearing […]
A Mistake By The Trial Court Did Not Affect The Outcome. Client Nussbaum and attorney Liberty had a fee dispute that they arbitrated pursuant to the Mandatory Fee Arbitration Act (MFAA). The arbitration panel awarded Liberty $75K in fees and $30K in interest. After the notice of the award was mailed and more than 30 […]
Absence Of A Record Was A Major Problem For Appellant. Law Offices of Mark Waecker, APC v. Pius Kim, B268212 (2/5 12/1/16) (Turner, Kriegler, Kumar) (unpublished) illustrates the proposition that an arbitrator’s decision is generally not reviewable for factual or legal errors. Moncharsh v. Heily & Blase, 3 Cal.4th 1 (1992). Therefore, the Court […]
Employer Claimed Appeal Was Based On Entire Record, But Failed To Provide Court With Entire Record. Employer ICC Collision Centers, Inc. appealed the trial court’s order denying its motion to compel its employee Ogannesian to arbitrate his wage/hour claims. The trial court had concluded that the employer waived its right to arbitrate by delaying […]
State Of The Record And Substantial Evidence Of Waiver Result In Affirmance. Defendants appealed the trial court’s order denying First American Title Insurance Company and First American Title Company’s motion to compel individual arbitration of plaintiffs’ claims. Kaufman v. First American Title Insurance Company, No. B248689 (2/5 Feb. 2, 2010) (Turner, Kriegler, Goodman) (unpublished). […]
Inadequate Record Is Basis For Affirmance The trial court orders the signatories to an arbitration agreement to arbitrate, while staying the matter as to the nonsignatory plaintiffs’ sole claim for attorney malpractice. Defendants appeal from the order staying the nonsignatory plaintiffs’ attorney malpractice claim until after arbitration. Defendants appeal. Mouradian v. Jehdian, Case No. […]
A Statement of Decision Couldn’t Have Hurt Appellants Here The facts are somewhat odd here. Defendants/Appellants were involved in a fee dispute with Plaintiff/Respondent, a law firm. Defendants moved to compel arbitration, while arguing that the parties’ agreement, governed by the Los Angeles County Bar Association rules, did not allow the arbitrators to decide […]
Court of Appeal Is Skeptical About Gentry, But Avoids Addressing Gentry Factors, Because Record Was Lacking Macy’s Department Store’s Flagship location in Manhattan, New York. Carol M. Highsmith Collection. Library of Congress. The issue of the enforceability of class action waivers and compulsory arbitration in employment disputes is before the California Supreme […]