Brokaw

FACTS

Until 2015, respondents—a law firm and its attorneys— represented Brokaw in a lawsuit for personal injuries suffered in 2012. In 2017, Brokaw filed the underlying legal malpractice lawsuit against respondents, claiming they failed to properly pursue a government entity as a defendant. The representation was governed by a retainer agreement containing an arbitration clause that agreed an arbitrator from the American Arbitration Association (AAA) would resolve any covered dispute.1 In July 2017, respondents moved to compel arbitration based on the arbitration clause. After a convoluted procedural path not material to this appeal, in December 2018, the trial court granted the motion (the 2018 arbitration order). The matter was submitted to AAA, which designated it as a commercial matter. Brokaw alleges that AAA knew respondents deliberately

1 The arbitration clause in the agreement stated: “If any dispute arises out of, or relates to, a claimed breach of this agreement, the professional services rendered by [a]ttorneys or [c]lient’s failure to pay fees for professional services[,] and other expenses specified, or any other disagreement of any nature, type or description[,]…