Arbitration Clause In Operating Agreement Did Not Cover Statutory Request To Copy And Inspect In Sachs v. GP/T Holdings, LLC et al., B254289 (2/5 Feb. 20, 2015) (Turner, Krieger, Goodman) (unpublished) plaintiff, alleging rights to copy and inspect documents under the Corporations Code, petitioned to compel defendants to produce documents for inspection and copying. […]
Second District, Division 2, Rejects Appellants’ “Tortured” Reading Of Arbitration Provision And Affirms Order Denying Motion To Compel Arbitration. Plaintiffs, investors in an independent bookstore, refused the request of defendants, the bookstore and its prior owner, to arbitrate a business dispute. The key language in the arbitration provision read: “Notwithstanding the foregoing, no arbitrator […]
Court Of Appeal Affirms Order Denying Policy Holder’s Petition To Compel Arbitration Of Appraisal Dispute. Despite countervailing considerations that favor arbitration, California courts continue to deny petitions to compel arbitration for the simplest of reasons: the dispute is beyond the scope of the arbitration agreement. Such was the case in Moghtader v. Travelers Commercial […]
Plaintiffs Manage To Distance Themselves From Discovery Response, Allowing Them To Avoid Having To Arbitrate Their Malpractice Claims. By a deft interrogatory, Defendant tried to corner Plaintiffs into having to arbitrate their malpractice claims in LADT, LLC v. Greenberg Traurig, LLP, B246649 (2/1 Nov. 25, 2014) (Miller, Rothschild, Johnson) (unpublished). The gravamen of […]
Richard Chernick, Esq. of JAMS Has Written “A Primer On Arbitrability”. I have posted frequently about “gateway” arbitrability issues, including recent developments concerning gateway arbitrability issues in class and representative actions, and distinctions between substantive and procedural gateway arbitrability issues. See my posts of November 17, 2014, and October 13, 2014. In fact, “Gateway […]
Arbitrator Did Not Exceed Powers Or Commit Misconduct. We see many cases in which a party seeks to vacate an award on the grounds the arbitrator exceeded his or her powers. This is usually an uphill battle, as it was in our next case. The plaintiff received an arbitrator’s award in the amount […]
Arbitrator Did Not Exceed Jurisdiction Because Awards Ruling On Access To Records Did Not Violate Public Policy. Sometimes the Court’s weariness with a dispute drips onto the page as in this description of an appeal from judgments entered after the trial court denied petitions “to vacate the most recent arbitration awards in a decade-long […]
Plaintiff Alston, the founder of GB, brought a private equity firm into GB in exchange for the firm’s investment in GB to help build the company. Fast forward — Alston is terminated by GB as a director, and sues GB and two executives, alleging misrepresentation, declaratory relief, defamation, interference, and wrongful termination. Because Alston […]
Standard Of Review Pretty Much Ordained The Result Here, And Nothing Was Changed By Appealing This is one of those “Cain v. Abel” disputes, in which beneficiaries/brothers (Douglas and Martin Buser), fought over their parents’ family trust. It appears Douglas fought tooth and nail, but unsuccessfully, getting hit with attorney’s fees assessed against his […]
Basis For The Wrongs Alleged By Plaintiffs Was A Separate Investment Services Agreement Containing No Arbitration Provision Stephen Goldberg and Victoria Pynchon sued their investment advisors, Coggins Company, for breach of contract, professional negligence, and other claims relating to a real estate investment gone sour in Wildomar Investors, LLC. Among other things, Plaintiffs […]