Cases: Arbitration

Arbitration/Employment: Contractual Arbitration Clause Invalidated, Among Other Things, Because Attorney’s Fees Granted To Mere Prevailing Party On FEHA Claims

Cases: Arbitration, Cases: Employment, Cases: Unconscionability

  Employee Won Substantive Unconscionability Argument Based on Absence of Frivolousness Requirement for Employer FEHA Fee Recovery.      Normally under FEHA, a prevailing defendant (usually, an employer) can only recoup fees if it proves that plaintiff employee’s claims were frivolous, unreasonable, without foundation, or brought in bad faith. What happens when an employer inserts an […]

Arbitration/Fee Clause Interpretation: Broadly-Worded Fee Clause Allowed Litigants Successfully Asserting Third Party Claims To Recoup Fees Against Arbitration Winner In Post-Arbitration Judicial Proceedings

Cases: Arbitration, Cases: Fee Clause Interpretation

  $74,124 in Fees/$1,529.40 to Successor Trustees Were the Winning Awards.      Portico Management Group, LLC v. Harrison, Case No. C062060 (3d Dist. Dec. 28, 2011) (unpublished) is a chilling opinion–forget that it is the Holidays that are not as chilly in California as other areas of the country–both about making sure proper parties are

Arbitration: U.S. District Judge Does Have Inherent Authority To Award Attorney’s Fees To Irani Ministry Winning Arbitration

Cases: Arbitration

  Nothing in New York International Convention Negated Inherent Court Authority.      The Ministry of Defense and Support for the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran won a breach of contract arbitration award against a U.S. corporation, which was confirmed under the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (the

Arbitration: MFAA Nonbinding Fee Award Confirmed Because Losing Attorney Did Not File A Court Action 30 Days After Rendition Of Award

Cases: Arbitration

  Award Rejection and Petition to Vacate Arbitration Award Are Not “Action” Filing Equivalents.      We have posted in the past on the importance of observing formalities when it comes to rejecting a nonbinding award in an attorney-client arbitration under the Mandatory Fee Arbitration Act (MFAA). Well, here is another unpublished decision that tells attorneys,

Fees Clause Interpretation/Arbitration: “Such Proceeding” Language Broad Enough To Encompass Fee Recovery For Litigation, Where Parties Waived Arbitration Rights

Cases: Arbitration, Cases: Fee Clause Interpretation

  Breadth of Language Made the Difference in this One.      Here is an interesting one that confirms that the breadth of language in a fees clause can make a difference. It especially did here, where the parties waived arbitration rights but the fees clause, but the use of “proceeding” language was broad enough to

MFAA Arbitration: Two Unpublished Decisions Explore MFAA Issues

Cases: Arbitration

  #1: Post-Rejection Suit After Nonbinding Award Must Signal Award Rejection and Request for Trial De Novo; If Not, the Nonbinding Award May Become Binding.      Kessinger v. Pepper, Case No. D057680 (4th Dist., Div. 1 July 28, 2011) (unpublished) is a very important decision for litigants rejecting a non-binding arbitration award made in an

Arbitration: Failure to Comply With MFAA Notice Requirements Required Dismissal Of Contractual Claims Without Prejudice And Did Not Impact Slander Claims

Cases: Arbitration

  Except for Slander Claim, Attorneys Relegated to Arbitrating Remaining Fee Claims.      This next one is an interesting dispute between (former) clients and attorneys, where the lawyers sued for standard breach of contract, fraud, and slander. The problem is that lawyers could not effectively showe that they served a notice of right to arbitrate

Arbitration: Court of Appeal, Fourth District, Division 3, Rejects Appellant’s Argument that Arbitrator Needed to Disclose that His Parents Were German Jewish Refugees from Nazi Germany.

Cases: Arbitration

  Court Affirms Judgment that Includes Arbitrator’s Award of $1,136,000 in Attorney’s Fees and Costs.      The Hon. Stephen E. Haberfeld (Ret.), was valedictorian at UCLA, an articles editor at Harvard Law School, a law clerk on the U.S. Court of Appeals, 2nd Circuit, an Assistant Watergate Special Prosecutor, and a U.S. Magistrate Judge. Acting

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