Appellate Court Upholds Law Firm’s Right To Compel Arbitration Of Client Claims

In Wesichadle v. Vo, the California Court of Appeal reversed the trial court’s refusal to compel arbitration of a malpractice claim brought against a law firm by its former client. Explaining that “much of the trial court’s written order focused on the procedural unconscionability of the retainer agreement,” the Court of Appeal held that the lower court’s findings were problematic in that “there was virtually no evidence to support them,” a fatal flaw in that the client “had the burden to proved unconscionability,” yet “submitted no evidence regarding the circumstances in which she entered into the retainer agreement.”