Judge Michael Small, Case Number: 23STCV28689, Date: 2024-04-22 Tentative Ruling

The unopposed motion of Defendants to compel arbitration of Plaintiffs' claims against them under the governing "Operating Agreement" is GRANTED. Proceedings in this Court are stayed pending the outcome of the arbitration.

The Court is DENYING Defendants' request for an award of attorney's fees and costs incurred in connection with their motion to compel arbitration by dint of having prevailed on the motion. The provision of the Operating Agreement authorizing an award of attorney's fees and costs is triggered by a party's success in "any legal action or proceeding that is brought for the interpretation or enforcement of th[e] Agreement or because of an alleged dispute, breach, default, or misrepresentation in connection with any of [its] provisions . . . ." That provision does not state that a party who successfully moved to compel arbitration of claims under the Agreement is entitled to fees and costs from the party who resisted arbitration. The agreements in the precedents on which Defendants rely to support their request contained a provision authorizing an award of fees and costs to the party who prevailed on a motion to compel arbitration. (Patterson v. Superior Court (2021) 70 Cal.App.5th 473, 479, 483; (2007) 150 Cal.App.4th 1124, 1132.) Those precedents are inapposite