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After the Court of Appeal requested briefing on plaintiff’s writ petition seeking reversal of an order compelling arbitration, Horvitz & Levy convinced the Court of Appeal that writ relief is unnecessary because plaintiff can appeal from any arbitration award that is confirmed.
In this lemon law action, Honda successfully moved to compel arbitration of plaintiff’s claims under Felisilda v. FCA. Plaintiff waited 15 months before moving for reconsideration of the order, citing more recent decisions disagreeing with Felisilda. When the superior court declined to reconsider its prior order, plaintiff filed a writ petition challenging both the initial order and the denial of reconsideration. The Court of Appeal issued an order to show cause, requesting briefing on the issue from Honda.
Horvitz & Levy was retained to file Honda’s response. Our brief explained that Honda had offered to stay the arbitration pending the Supreme Court’s decision in Ford Motor Warranty Cases, which will resolve the split between Felisilda and the later decisions cited by plaintiff in his reconsideration motion. The return argued that it would be more efficient for plaintiff to arbitrate his claims now, potentially obtaining full relief and obviating any need for further judicial proceedings, while retaining the ability to obtain appellate review of the challenged order. We further explained that plaintiff could obtain the same result sought in his petition by simply accepting Honda’s offer to stay the arbitration pending the Supreme Court’s Ford Motor decision.
The Court of Appeal denied plaintiff’s petition on the merits, holding that “petitioner has an adequate remedy by way of appeal in the event an arbitration award, if any, is confirmed.”
