Proposed Revisions to Notice of Your Rights After Fee Arbitration Form.
Business and Professions Code section 6200, et seq. governs the Mandatory Fee Arbitration (MFA) Program. Mandatory Fee Arbitration programs are required by statute to deliver to the parties with any fee arbitration award a notice advising them of their rights to judicial relief following the arbitration proceeding. The State Bar's Committee on Mandatory Fee Arbitration (MFA Committee) makes recommendations to the Board of Governors to approve revisions, as warranted, to the Notice of Your Rights after Fee Arbitration form distributed by the State Bar for all MFA programs to use.
The purpose of the instant revision is to include a new informational section confirming a party's right to request the arbitrator(s) to correct or amend an arbitration award, if made timely after service of the award, in addition to the right to petition the court for such relief. A recent appellate opinion, Karton v. Segreto (2009) 176 Cal.App.4th 1 emphasized the preferred approach that a party first request the arbitration panel to correct or amend the fee arbitration award prior to seeking relief from the court. At its March 4, 2010 meeting, the Discipline Oversight Committee released the suggested revision to the Notice of Your Rights After Arbitration form for a 45 day public comment period.
State Bar Board Discipline Oversight Committee, March 4, 2010, Agenda Item #II.A
April 21, 2010
Jill Sperber, Director Office of Mandatory Fee Arbitration The State Bar of California 180 Howard Street, 6th Floor San Francisco, CA 94105 415-538-2023 415-538-2335 Fax
Proposed Revisions to Notice of Your Rights After Fee Arbitration Form.