In Gonzalez v. Metro Nissan of Redlands, 2013 WL 4858770 (Cal.App. 4 Dist. 2013), an unpublished decision, the Court of Appeal entered the Sanchez fray, and came down on the side of enforcing the arbitration clause in the LawPrinting RISC. "Because we have no guidance from the Supreme Court, and because we cannot rely on the decisions of our sister courts,… Read More
In Gillette v. First Premier Bank, 2013 WL 3205827 (S.D.Cal. 2013), Plaintiff's counsel employed a strategy purportedly designed to secure a waiver of arbitration clause. Plaintiff filed a small-value Rosenthal Act claim and settled it with the defendant. However, Plaintiff also had filed a federal class action under Penal Code 632 -- California's call recording statute. Defendant moved to compel arbitration of… Read More
The Supreme Court of the United States just issued its decision in American Express v. Italian Colors, Inc., here The syllabus of the Court summarizes the decision as follows: The FAA does not permit courts to invalidate a contractual waiver of class arbitration on the ground that the plaintiff’s cost of individually arbitrating a federal statutory claim exceeds the potential recovery.… Read More
In Vargas v. Sai Monrovia B, Inc., --- Cal.Rptr.3d ----, 2013 WL 2419044 (Cal.App. 2 Dist. 2013), the same panel that decided Sanchez v. Valencia Holding Co., LLC (2011) 201 Cal.App.4th 74, re-examined the enforceability of the arbitration clause in the standard California car purchase contract and held that its prior decision was correct. The Court held that the clause… Read More
In Kilgore v. Keybank, Nat. Ass'n, --- F.3d ----, 2013 WL 1458876 (9th Cir. 2013), the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, stepped back from the panel's ruling that Concepcion abrogates Cruz v. Pacificare Health Systems, Inc. (2003) 30 Cal.4th 303 and Broughton v. Cigna Healthplan of California (1999) 21 Cal.4th 1066, as well as Davis v. O'Melveny &… Read More
In Cayanan v. Citi Holdings, Inc., 2013 WL 784662 (S.D.Cal. 2013), Judge Anello ordered TCPA class actions to arbitration finding that the Arbitration clause in loan agreements were not both procedurally and substantively unconscionable and that the TCPA claims fell within the language of the arbitration agreements. Plaintiffs Elsie Cayanan, Kimberly Baker, and Jesse McKay filed a putative class action… Read More
In Natalini v. Import Motors, Inc. (2013) 2013 DAR 1673, the Court of Appeal followed the reasoning similar to Sanchez v. Valencia Holding Co., holding that the arbitration clause in the standard Law Printing car contract is unconscionable and unenforceable due to the $100,000 and injunction triggers to three arbitrator review and the reservation of self-help remedies including repossession. Read More
In Natalani v. Import Motors, Inc., 2013 WL 64611 (Cal.App. 1 Dist. 2013), the First District Court of Appeal found in an unpublished decision that the arbitration clause in a standard-form automobile RISC to be procedurally and substantively unconscionable, thus affirming the trial court's denial of the dealer's petition to arbitrate. Appellant contends that Concepcion broadly restricts the application of the… Read More
In Norton v. Ford of Santa Monica et al., 2012 WL 6721400 (Cal.App. 2 Dist. 2012), the Court of Appeal for the Second District, found in an unpublished decision that an automobile RISC's arbitration was procedurally and substantively unconscionable. As to procedural unconscionability, the Court of Appeal found: The vehicle purchase contract contains elements of surprise. Placement of the arbitration agreement… Read More
In Sherf v. Rusnak/Westlake et al., 2012 WL 4882547 (Cal.App. 2 Dist. 2012), the Court of Appeal in an unpublished decision, followed a similar analysis to the Caron decision, finding the class action waiver and arbitration clause in an automobile RISC enforceable, but remanding to the trial court for a determination of unconscionability. Sherf had signed a typical RISC for the… Read More
In O'Brien v. American Exp. Co., 2012 WL 3628667 (S.D.Cal. 2012), Judge Moscowitz addressed arbitrability of a TCPA class-action claim. Plaintiff Karin O'Brien brought the putative class action under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”), 47 U.S.C. § 227, alleging that Defendant American Express contacted her and others similarly situated by telephone without express prior consent and in violation of… Read More
In Goodridge v. KDF Automotive Group, Inc., 2012 WL 3635279 (Cal.App. 4 Dist. 2012), the Court of Appeal in an unpublished decision adopted the Sanchez analysis lock-stock-and-barrel, declining to order an automobile case to arbitration due to the ‘unconscionable’ arbitration clause in the RISC. Unconscionability. Applying a sliding scale for procedural and substantive unconscionability, we conclude the Contract's arbitration clause… Read More
In Mora v. Harley-Davidson Credit Corp.,2012 WL 3245518 (E.D.Cal. 2012), Judge Ishii adopted the Magistrate’s ruling certifying an NOI class against HDCC, rejecting the argument that an arbitration clause contained in some but not all of the RISCs could defeat class certification. Magistrate McAuliffe's full opinion which Judge Ishii reviewed can be found at Mora v. Harley-Davidson Credit Corp., 2012… Read More
In Caron v. Mercedes–Benz Financial Services USA LLC --- Cal.Rptr.3d ----, 2012 WL 2579662 (Cal.App. 4 Dist. 2012), the Fourth District Court of Appeal found that the dealer and finance company adequately authenticated the sales contract in moving to compel arbitration. Defendants attached both pages to their motion, and the first page matched the one plaintiff had attached her complaint,… Read More
In Iskanian v. CLS Transportation Los Angeles, Inc., here, the Court of Appeal for the Second District found that Concepcion overruled the Gentry test for determining the validity of a class action waiver in an arbitration clause, and required waiver of such class action rights. The Gentry court laid out a four-factor test for determining whether a class waiver should… Read More
