Judge: Jon R. Takasugi, Case: 22STCV35450, Date: 2023-10-10 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: 22STCV35450    Hearing Date: October 10, 2023    Dept: 17

Superior Court of California

County of Los Angeles

DEPARTMENT 17

TENTATIVE RULING

Defendant’s motion for an order recognizing the automatic stay in this action is GRANTED.

On 11/8/2022, Plaintiff LFG Payments (Plaintiff) filed suit against Christian Smith (Defendant), alleging: (1) intentional misrepresentation; (2) concealment; (3) unjust enrichment; (4) violation of Business and Professions Code section 17200.

Now, Defendant moves for an automatic stay, or requests a protective order in the alternative.

Discussion

Defendant argues that this action is automatically stayed based on his 8/2/2023 appeal of this Court’s order denying Defendant’s motion to compel arbitration.

CCP section 916(a) provides:

(a) Except as provided in Sections 917.1 to 917.9, inclusive, and in Section 116.810, the perfecting of an appeal stays proceedings in the trial court upon the judgment or order appealed from or upon the matters embraced therein or affected thereby, including enforcement of the judgment or order, but the trial court may proceed upon any other matter embraced in the action and not affected by the judgment or order.

California case law confirms that a CCP section 916(a) stay automatically applies when an order denying a motion to compel arbitration is appealed. For example, in Prudential-Bache Securities, Inc. v. Superior Court (1988) 201 Cal.App.3d 924, the defendant moved to compel arbitration, and the motion was denied. After the defendant filed a notice of appeal, the trial court ordered the defendant to file an at-issue memorandum, and then set the case for trial. The defendant petitioned the Court of Appeal for writ relief, which was granted, requiring the trial court to vacate its trial date “and to entertain no further proceedings until the remittitur issues.” (Id. at pp. 925- 926.) As the Court explained, CCP section 916 “stays proceedings in the trial court upon the matters embraced therein or affected thereby,” and an appeal from denial of a motion to compel arbitration “affects the entire case,” thus triggering the stay. (Id. at p. 925.)

The Court in Varian Med. Sys., Inc. v. Delfino (2005) 35 Cal.4th 180, 190 approved this conclusion, similarly finding that “[t]hus, an appeal from the denial of a motion to compel arbitration automatically stays all further trial court proceedings on the merits.”

Notably, Plaintiff has confirmed to Defendant that it does not oppose this motion.

            Based on the foregoing, Defendant’s motion for an order recognizing the automatic stay in this action is granted.

It is so ordered.

Dated:  October    , 2023

   Hon. Jon R. Takasugi
   Judge of the Superior Court

Parties who intend to submit on this tentative must send an email to the court at smcdept17@lacourt.org by 4 p.m. the day prior as directed by the instructions provided on the court website at www.lacourt.org.  If a party submits on the tentative, the party’s email must include the case number and must identify the party submitting on the tentative.  If all parties to a motion submit, the court will adopt this tentative as the final order.  If the department does not receive an email indicating the parties are submitting on the tentative and there are no appearances at the hearing, the motion may be placed off calendar.  For more information, please contact the court clerk at (213) 633-0517.