Ninth Circuit Apparently Agrees, Also.
We would like to thank Hon. Lawrence C. Waddington (Ret.), former Los Angeles County Superior Court judge who is now a neutral with JAMS, for contributing an April 21, 2009 post on enBanc, the Los Angeles County Bar Association’s blog, about a recent Second Circuit decision that has fee implications.
In ReliaStar Life Ins. Co. of N.Y. v. EMC National Life Co., 2009 WL 941173 (2d Cir. 2009), the Second Circuit Court of Appeals held that the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) allows an arbitrator to assess attorney’s fees as a sanctions for the bad faith conduct of attorneys for the losing party in a contractual arbitration proceeding. Apparently, the Ninth Circuit agreed in a much earlier decision. See Todd Shipyards Corp. v. Cunard Line, Ltd., 943 F.2d 1056 (9th Cir. 1991).
We thank Judge Waddington for his post.
BLOG OBSERVATION—Co-contributor Mike recalls that Judge Waddington, while on the bench, helped him settle a couple of cases pending in Los Angeles County Superior Court, West District (Santa Monica).