SAN FRANCISCO UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT VS. NORTHERN CALIFORNIA REGIONAL LIABILITY EXCESS FUND

SF Superior Court - Law & Motion / Discovery Dept 301 - CPF25519131 - July 23, 2025 Hearing date: July 23, 2025 Case number: CPF25519131 Case title: SAN FRANCISCO UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT VS. NORTHERN CALIFORNIA REGIONAL LIABILITY EXCESS FUND Case Number: | | CPF25519131 | Case Title: | | SAN FRANCISCO UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT VS. NORTHERN CALIFORNIA REGIONAL LIABILITY EXCESS FUND | Court Date: | | 2025-07-23 09:00 AM | Calendar Matter: | | MOTION TO COMPEL ARBITRATION | Rulings: | | Matter on the Law & Motion / Discovery calendar for Wednesday, July 23, 2025, Line 1. PETITIONER SAN FRANCISCO UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT's MOTION TO COMPEL ARBITRATION.

Petitioner San Francisco Unified School District petitions to compel arbitration of its dispute with the Northern California Regional Liability Excess Fund (NCR) pursuant to CCP 1281.2. The court grants the petition on terms discussed below.

SFUSD has met its burden of presenting "prima facie evidence of a written agreement to arbitrate the controversy." (Ramirez v. Golden Queen Mining Company, LLC (2024) 102 Cal.App.5th 821, 830; see also Iyere v. Wise Auto Group (2023) 87 Cal.App.5th 747, 755; Ex. 1 to Kiburtz Dec.) NCR presents no evidence to create a factual dispute about the existence of the arbitration agreement and raises no argument that it does not cover this dispute. Rather, NCR's briefing is devoted to the merits of its underlying dispute with SFUSD, which is not at issue on this motion, and to the qualifications of the arbitrator it prefers. Because SFUSD has met its burden, the court grants the petition and compels arbitration.

The arbitration agreement does not provide a method of appointing an arbitrator and the parties have not agreed to a single neutral arbitrator. (Kiburtz Dec., Ex. 1, p. 23.) The court orders the parties to exchange at least five names each by July 30, 2025 and to agree on an arbitrator if possible by August 6, 2025. If the parties are unable to agree, each is ordered to submit three names to the court in simultaneous supplemental filings by August 8, 2025. The court sets the matter for further hearing on August 13, 2025 and will select an arbitrator and alternative arbitrators at that hearing. (See CCP 1281.6.)

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Counsel for the prevailing party is required to prepare a proposed order which repeats verbatim the substantive portion of the tentative ruling and must email it to contestdept301tr@sftc.org prior to the hearing even if the tentative ruling is not contested.

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