Judge: Cherol J. Nellon, Case: 23STCV18715, Date: 2024-01-16 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: 23STCV18715    Hearing Date: January 16, 2024    Dept: 14

Robany LLC v. Travelers Casualty Insurance Company

    Petitioner insured its commercial property with Respondent. Petitioner has invoked an appraisal clause in its insurance contract. That clause requires Petitioner to select an appraiser, Respondent to select an appraiser, and then the two appraisers to select an “umpire” who will resolve any differences between the appraisers.

Petitioner has selected Mr. Craig Bordon. Respondent has selected Mr. Thad E. Eaton. Mr. Bordon and Mr. Eaton have been unable to select an umpire. In that event, the contract dictates, pursuant to Insurance Code § 2071, that a court will select the umpire.

Petitioner now moves this court for an order selecting an umpire.

The motion is CONTINUED to February 1, 2024, at 8:30 am.

Respondent is ORDERED to submit a list of five suggested umpires no later than January 25, 2024.

Code of Civil Procedure § 1281.6 provides the rules for the court’s selection of any neutral, even though it expressly only refers to arbitrators. Section 1281.6 provides as follows:

“If the arbitration agreement provides a method of appointing an arbitrator, that method shall be followed. If the arbitration agreement does not provide a method for appointing an arbitrator, the parties to the agreement who seek arbitration and against whom arbitration is sought may agree on a method of appointing an arbitrator and that method shall be followed. In the absence of an agreed method, or if the agreed method fails or for any reason cannot be followed, or when an arbitrator appointed fails to act and his or her successor has not been appointed, the court, on petition of a party to the arbitration agreement, shall appoint the arbitrator.

When a petition is made to the court to appoint a neutral arbitrator, the court shall nominate five persons from lists of persons supplied jointly by the parties to the arbitration or obtained from a governmental agency concerned with arbitration or private disinterested association concerned with arbitration. The parties to the agreement who seek arbitration and against whom arbitration is sought may within five days of receipt of notice of the nominees from the court jointly select the arbitrator whether or not the arbitrator is among the nominees. If the parties fail to select an arbitrator within the five-day period, the court shall appoint the arbitrator from the nominees.”

Petitioner has supplied a list of five persons. (Motion filed December 15, 2023, p. 5-6). Respondent has not. The court owes Respondent a fair opportunity to submit a list. However, this process is meant to work expeditiously, and the court intends to ensure that it does. Therefore, Respondent will have until January 25, 2024, to supply their own list of five persons.

The court will issue its list of five nominees, chosen from the lists of Petitioner and Respondent, at the hearing on February 1, 2024. The court will then continue the hearing to February 8, 2024 at 8:30 am.

Pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure § 1281.6, the parties will have until February 6, 2024, to select an arbitrator from the court’s list. If they do not, the court will make the selection at the hearing on February 8, 2024.