Sample Retainer Arbitration Clause Is Also Included.
In our 2009 year end summary (Part 2 of 2), we examined the California Supreme Court’s decision in Schatz v. Allen Matkins Leck Gamble & Mallory LLP, 45 Cal.4th 557 (2009), which examined the interplay between the California Arbitration Act and the Mandatory Fee Arbitration Act. It decided that a mandatory arbitration agreement in an attorney retainer contract could be enforceable if the arbitration provision is correctly framed.
Joseph P. McMonigle and Jessica R. MacGregor, partners in San Francisco’s Long & Levit, have written an article entitled “Mandatory Fee Arbitration” in the January 2010 edition of The California Lawyer, which has an MCLE practice examination for those readers who are interested. Aside from surveying Schatz and prior decisions, the article has a sample contractual arbitration clause that can be adapted by practitioners—after, of course, making sure they believe it is applicable and passes muster under Schatz.