Merritt

—Respondent Celeste Merritt sued appellants Elaine Marks, Gary Goldberg and Norma Berson for fraud in the sale of real property. *827 The case was ordered into judicial arbitration. Appellants and their attorney failed to appear. The arbitrator awarded $9,108 to respondent. Appellants timely filed a request for a trial de novo, pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure section 1141.20 1 and California Rules of Court rule 1616. The request was denied without prejudice to their making a motion to set aside the default before the arbitrator. This appeal followed.

Under section 1141.20, subdivision (b), “[a]ny party may elect to have a de novo trial, by court or jury, both as to law and facts. ...” The judicial arbitration legislation (§ 1141.10 et seq.) sets forth no procedural prerequisites for a defaulting defendant before he or she seeks trial in the superior court other than making the request within 20 days. (Hebert v. Ham (1982) 133 Cal.App.3d 465 , 470 [ 184 Cal.Rptr. 83 ].) It cannot be said that there is an absolute right to a de novo trial. Where a party deliberately attempts to circumvent court-ordered arbitration proceedings by requesting the arbitrator to enter an…