Vestigial Powers of Court Following Stay Leave It Without Power to Lift Stay Under the Circumstances
MKJA sued 123 Fit Franchising alleging that it had been fraudulently induced to enter into franchise agreements. The defendant commenced arbitration in Colorado pursuant to an arbitration, and sought a stay in California of the lawsuit pursuant to Cal. Code Civ. Proc. section 1281.4. Apparently the arbitration in Colorado never really got underway, plaintiff concluding that it was too expensive to arbitrate in Colorado. Plaintiff asked the trial court in California to lift the stay because the arbitration was unconscionable. The trial court believed that Plaintiff should be able to pursue its claim in some forum, and had exhausted efforts to do so in Colorado. It lifted the stay. MKJA, Inc. v. 123 Fit Franchising, LLC, 191 Cal.App.4th 643 (2011).
Defendant appealed the lifting of the stay.
Held: "[A] party's inability to afford to pay the costs of arbitration is not a ground on which a trial court may lift a stay of litigation that was imposed pursuant to section 1281.4. Accordingly, we reverse the trial court's order lifting the stay.”
Query whether a helpful arbitration provision could be drafted that would address the circumstance in which a party is financially unable to pay the arbitrator’s fees.
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