Metropolitan News-Enterprise

 

Thursday, February 17, 2022

 

Page 1

 

Court of Appeal:

Judge Erred in Denying Arbitration Based on Procedural Bar

 

By a MetNews Staff Writer

 

The Court of Appeal for this district found yesterday that a Los Angeles Superior Court judge usurped the role of an arbitrator in determining that no arbitration could be ordered because mediation, a prerequisite to arbitration under the parties’ agreement, had not taken place.

In reversing an order by Judge Maureen Duffy-Lewis denying a motion for arbitration, Div. Two pointed out, in an unpublished opinion by Justice Victoria M. Chavez, that the U.S. Supreme Court “has consistently reaffirmed that arbitrators, and not courts, must decide whether a condition precedent to arbitrability has been fulfilled.”

Chavez wrote:

“Whether mediation was a condition precedent to arbitration, and whether plaintiff has no duty to arbitrate because defendants failed to seek mediation before moving to compel arbitration, are issues to be decided by the arbitrator, and not the trial court.

“Assuming the arbitrator determines that mediation was a condition precedent to arbitration, whether defendants’ failure to request mediation waived their right to compel arbitration must also be decided by the arbitrator, and not the trial court.”

The case is Lopez v. Fountain View Subacute and Nursing Center, B309714.

Attorneys on appeal were Curtis A. Graham, Anthony G. Ly and Melanie H. Rollins of the downtown Los Angeles firm of Littler Mendelson, for the party seeking arbitration, and Jonathan Roven and Britanie A. Martinez of the Valley Village firm of Jonny Law the party opposing it.

 

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