Brokaw v. Morey and Upton, LLP CA4/3

Filed 9/5/24 Brokaw v. Morey and Upton, LLP CA4/3

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION THREE

DENNIS BROKAW,

Plaintiff and Appellant, G062931

v. (Super. Ct. No. 30-2017- 00897307) MOREY AND UPTON, LLP, et al., OPINION Defendants and Respondents.

Appeal from an order of the Superior Court of Orange County, Donald F. Gaffney, Judge. Dismissed. Dahl Law Firm and Richard Dahl for Plaintiff and Appellant. Freeman Mathis & Gary and Christian E. Foy Nagy for Defendants and Respondents.

Dennis Brokaw filed an appeal following the trial court’s denial of his motion to vacate an order compelling arbitration. We dismiss because no appealable order is presented. FACTS Until 2015, respondents—a law firm and its attorneys— represented Brokaw in a lawsuit for personal injuries suffered in 2012. In 2017, Brokaw filed the underlying legal malpractice lawsuit against respondents, claiming they failed to properly pursue a government entity as a defendant. The representation was governed by a retainer agreement containing an arbitration clause that agreed an arbitrator from the American Arbitration Association (AAA) would resolve any covered dispute.1 In July 2017, respondents moved to compel arbitration based on the arbitration clause. After a convoluted procedural path not material to this appeal, in December 2018, the trial court granted the motion (the 2018 arbitration order). The matter was submitted to AAA, which designated it as a commercial matter. Brokaw alleges that AAA knew respondents deliberately

1 The arbitration clause in the agreement stated: “If any dispute arises out of, or relates to, a claimed breach of this agreement, the professional services rendered by [a]ttorneys or [c]lient’s failure to pay fees for professional services[,] and other expenses specified, or any other disagreement of any nature, type or description[,] regardless of the facts[,] or the legal theories which may be involved, such dispute shall be resolved by arbitration before the American Arbitration Association by a single arbitrator in accordance with the Commercial Rules of the American Arbitration Association in effect at the time the proceeding is initiated. The hearing shall be held in the American Arbitration Association office closest to [a]ttorneys, and each side shall bear his/her/its own costs and attorneys fees.”