The Los Angeles County Bar Blog

Arbitration: Broad Form Clauses

The courts have drawn a distinction between "broad" arbitration clauses and "narrow clauses." This categorization is fact specific and contingent on the language of the clause and its scope.

Although a "broad form" arbitration clause includes torts "arising out of the contract," not every dispute clearly outside the contemplation of the parties and their intention in contracting is covered. The California Court of Appeal illustrates this distinction in a case involving a securities transaction. The parties disputed the scope of the clause based on the definition of their contractual relationship; Valentine Capital Asset Management, Inc. v. Agahi. 

Although Valentine is based on the distinction between "broad" and "narrow" arbitration clauses, the court reaches its conclusion based on the language of the pleadings.  The plaintiff pled multiple causes of action alleging misconduct by various defendants.  When the court ruled on a motion to compel arbitration, the legal characterization of the parties in the Complaint controlled the ruling. 

Valentine is also an excellent case for reviewing the role of Self Regulating Organizations  (SRO) now consolidated under the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA)  

New and Old Criminal Cases

—"An FBI investigation that lead to the federal indictment of several members of MS13 details murders, drug deals, robberies and witness intimidation that even in dry legal language is quite chilling." Crime Scene. The indictment includes names and streets. Celeste Fremon of Witness LA is surprised the Alex Sanchez of Homies Unidos is among those indicted.

—The LA Weekly has a follow-up story on how the case against grocer George Torres fell apart it was revealed that taped conversations with witnesses were not made available to the defense.

SCOTUS Rules School Strip Search Illegal

"The Supreme Court ruled today that a school's strip search of an Arizona teenage girl accused of having prescription-strength ibuprofen was illegal." LA Times and Jonathan Turley

Twittering a Revolution

The continuing protests and repression in Iran have illustrated the old, familiar power of speech, image, and narrative, as well as the importance of old and new technologies, such as the Internet, Twitter, and the neighborhood phone tree. Andrew Sullivan. Fark. The Daily Telegraph. Neda Soltani's wikipedia page.

Employment Application Requests Internet Passwords

According to Montana News Station, "to be considered for a job [with the city of Bozeman] applicants must provide log-in information and passwords for social network sites in which they participate." Hypercrit has a roundup.

And on the Volokh Conspiracy: "Court Strikes Down Random Drug Test Policy for All Public School Employees." More here.

Pixar Grants Dying Girl's Wish to See "Up"

Pixar sent an employee with a DVD so that a Huntington Beach girl could watch "Up." OC Register. Jonathan Turley.

A Gang, a Baby, and Federal Rule 23

—According to an AP story, "[C]riminal defense attorney Isaac Guillen, 48, of West Covina, [has been arrested and charged] with laundering illegal proceeds on behalf of the Mexican Mafia." Via SF Gate. LA Now. FBI press release.

—In a Ninth Circuit case, Vernoff v. Astrue, the court addresses the issue of whether a child conceived after the death of her father by means of artificial insemination is his dependent. Met News. The California Appellate Report blog has more.

—Mark Anchor Albert, in his article in the current issue of Los Angeles Lawyer, argues that while corporations may not be eager to be listed as mandatory defendants in patent cases, Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure allows for certification in order to resolve issues common to the class.

Judge Chaney Nominated for Court of Appeal

According to the Met News, "Arnold Schwarzenegger yesterday nominated Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Victoria G. Chaney and U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeffrey W. Johnson of the Central District of California to Div. One of this district’s Court of Appeal."

Hungry?

—According to UCLA Law School: "UCLA School of Law's Clinical Program, working together with Sanjukta M. Paul, a civil rights attorney with the firm Rothner, Segall, Greenstone & Leheny, secured a victory for catering food truck operators in a case challenging the constitutionality of a city ordinance that has been aggressively implemented against these vendors in Los Angeles since the beginning of 2008. On Friday, Los Angeles Superior Court Commissioner Barry D. Kohn ruled on appeal that the ordinance, which required catering trucks to move every 30 or 60 minutes to a distant location and not vend for 30 to 60 minutes, is not rationally related to public safety or public health and is preempted by the California Vehicle Code."

—Justice has also come for Cap'n Crunch. According to California Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse, "A judge has tossed a lawsuit filed by a San Diego woman against the manufacturers of Cap'n Crunch's Crunch Berries cereal for leading her to believe that the crunch berries were real fruit, but she is appealing."

—"Can you trademark a chocolate bunny?" WSJ.

—Pringles are potato chips. "Britain’s Supreme Court of Judicature ruled with Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs and against Procter & Gamble U.K....The ruling means that Proctor & Gamble owes $160 million in taxes." Jonathan Turley.

Uighurs to Be Released

Matthew Allee of the Constitution Project writes: "The United States has reached an agreement with Palau, a Pacific archipelagic nation, to accept the 17 Chinese Muslims, known as Uighurs, currently being held at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility. The Uighurs have been held at Guantanamo for nearly seven years now, but have long been recognized by the U.S. government not to be 'enemy combatants,' nor hostile to the U.S., dating back to the Bush administration. The Constitution Project welcomes their long-overdue release from detention."