Following Birbrower, Montalbano, Condon & Frank v. Superior Court (1998) 17 Cal.4th 119 and distinguishing Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton, LLP v. J-M Manufacturing Co., Inc. (2018) 6 Cal.5th 59, this decision affirms a judgment confirming an arbitration award in defendant’s favor. Even though one of defendant’s lawyers was unlicensed in California when he performed part of the work under plaintiff client’s retainer agreement, the agreement was not rendered wholly unenforceable as a result. Instead, the retainer agreement remained partially enforceable both as to its arbitration clause and as to the work performed by other of defendant’s attorneys who were licensed in California. J-M Manufacturing is distinguishable because there, the law firm could not ethically enter into the retainer agreement at all, as it had an undisclosed conflict of interest in representing a defendant (on other matters) in litigation J-M sought to file. Here, the retainer agreement could be (and in part was) performed by properly licensed attorneys.