Technical Discussions Across The Board, But Deadlines For Practitioners To Keep In Mind. Folke v. Pulliam, Case No. BV033781 (L.A. Super. Ct. Oct. 6. 2023, posted for publication on Nov. 1, 2023) did consider the timeliness of serving a petition to vacate an arbitration award rendered under the Mandatory Fee Arbitration Act, Bus.
Broad Contractual Dispute Resolution Clauses Supported The Appellate Results. As we have said many times in this category, arbitration awards—unless against public policy—are hard to overturn because the merits of the award are usually not subject to rescrutiny by trial or appellate courts. Also, the emerging trend is that post-arbitration court proceedings fees are
Acquiescence Was A Key Predicate For Appeal Affirmance. In Fidelity National Title Co. v. Mehta, Case No. B309988 (2d Dist., Div. 1 June 27, 2023) (unpublished), an arbitrator awarded about $440,000 in compensatory damages which were affirmed on appeal (even after reversal of a trial court deletion of consequential damages) and also awarded $167,315.94
Arbitrator’s Fee Clause Interpretation Was Immune From A Merits Challenge. In Mikali v. Benyamini, Case No. B316525 (2d Dist., Div. 5 May 16, 2023) (unpublished), an arbitrator interpreted a fees clause under a contractual agreement with an arbitration and fees clause, awarding certain defendants, respectively, $639,119 in fees and $32,647 in fees. The trial
The Award Was Governed By The Statutory Fee Provisions Provided For By The Mandatory Fee Arbitration Act, Not The Parties’ Contract Fee Provision. Under the MFAA (Bus. & Prof. Code, § 6200 et seq.), enacted to eliminate bargaining power disparity between attorneys and clients trying to resolve fee disputes, neither party to a
Because Client Had To Hire Appellate Attorneys Reversing The De Novo Trial Results, Client Was Awarded $334,458.11 In Fees/Costs—Affirmed By The Appellate Court. Soni v. Cartograph, Inc., Case No. B316270 (2d Dist., Div. 5 Mar. 23, 2023) (unpublished) is quite a megillah of an arbitration/litigation odyssey about a client-attorney dispute over fees. Looks like
CLRA Claims Require Bad Faith Prosecution To Award Prevailing Party Fees To Defendants, With The Clause Not Covering This Eventuality. Gostev v. Skillz Platform, Inc., Case No. A164407 (1st Dist., Div. 2 Feb. 28, 2023) (published) is a must read for litigants and their attorneys on the enforceability of delegation and other arbitration damage/statute
Bright-Line Rules On Arbitration Procedures Adopted, With Plaintiff Employee Entitled To Fees On Appeal. This case may have more tips for practitioners and jurists when it comes to deadlines for parties seeking to correct and vacate arbitration awards, especially where a timely motion to confirm an arbitration award is made. However, we briefly summarize
This Is The Third In A Recent Trio Of Cases To So Hold. In our November 25, 2022 post, we discussed DeLeon and Espinoza, two appellate cases holding that a business failing to timely pay its share of arbitration fees under a consumer contract eschews its right to arbitrate and can be forced to
Arbitration Tribunal’s Fee Award Was Not Completely Irrational In Nature Under The FAA. In HayDay Farms, Inc. v. FeeDx Holdings, Inc., Case Nos. 21-55650/21-55698 (9th Cir. Dec. 19, 2022) (published), two parties (HayDay and FeeDx) entered into an exclusive distribution agreement with each other through Nippon, providing for arbitration and making Nippon liable for
