Oppose petition to compel arbitration in Californiia

Oppose a petition to compel arbitration in California is the topic of this blog post which will discuss briefly some of the common grounds for opposing a petition to compel arbitration. The opposition to the petition should be filed and served at least nine (9) court days before the hearing and should be served by personal delivery or overnight mail pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure section 1005 unless the court has ordered otherwise.

Parties served with a petition to compel arbitration should first carefully review the petition and any supporting documents to determine what grounds for opposition exist.

One very powerful ground for opposition is that the alleged agreement to arbitrate should not be enforced as the law in California states that an agreement to arbitrate can be invalidated, “upon such grounds as exist for the revocation of any contract.” See Code of Civil Procedure § 1281.

Other common grounds for opposition include but are not necessarily limited to:

The arbitration agreement should not be enforced due to fraud or duress.

The arbitration agreement is unconscionable as it is one-sided and/or is an adhesion contract.

The moving party unreasonably delayed in seeking arbitration.

The moving party acted in bad faith.

The moving party took advantage of the judicial discovery procedures not available in arbitration.

California Code of Civil Procedure §1281.2 states, in relevant part:

”On petition of a party to an arbitration agreement alleging the existence of a written agreement to arbitrate a controversy and that a party thereto refuses to arbitrate such controversy, the

court shall order the petitioner and the respondent to arbitrate the controversy if it determines that an agreement to arbitrate the controversy exists, unless it determines that:

(a) The right to compel arbitration has been waived by the petitioner; . . . “(Emphasis added.)

Attorneys or parties who wish to view a portion of a 20 page sample opposition to compel arbitration containing brief instructions, a table of contents and table of authorities as well as a memorandum of points and authorities with citations to case law and statutory authority, sample declaration and proof of service sold by the author can use the link shown below.

Sample opposition to petition to compel arbitration

 

The author of this blog post, Stan Burman, is an entrepreneur and freelance paralegal who has worked in California and Federal litigation since 1995 and has created over 300 sample legal documents for California and Federal litigation.

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DISCLAIMER:

Please note that the author of this blog post, Stan Burman is NOT an attorney and as such is unable to provide any specific legal advice. The author is NOT engaged in providing any legal, financial, or other professional services, and any information contained in this blog post is NOT intended to constitute legal advice.

The materials and information contained in this blog post have been prepared by Stan Burman for informational purposes only and are not legal advice. Transmission of the information contained in this blog post is not intended to create, and receipt does not constitute, any business relationship between the author and any readers. Readers should not act upon this information without seeking professional counsel.