Kors

*46 Opinion

This case involves a fee dispute between a law firm, respondent Benjamin, Weill & Mazer, a professional corporation (BWM), and its former client, appellant Nancy Hurwitz Kors. After Kors refused to pay the full amount billed her, BWM sued her for breach of the parties’ fee agreement. Based on the arbitration clause in the agreement, Kors moved to compel arbitration under the California Arbitration Act (CAA) (Code Civ. Proc., § 1280 et seq.). 1 The court granted the motion and directed binding arbitration pursuant to the rules of the Bar Association of San Francisco (BASF). After the arbitrators ruled in its favor, BWM petitioned the court to confirm the award. Opposing the petition, Kors moved to vacate the award due to the chief arbitrator’s failure to disclose “matters that could cause a person aware of the facts to reasonably entertain a doubt that the proposed neutral arbitrator would be able to be impartial,” as required by the CAA (§ 1281.9, subd. (a)). The trial court denied Kors’s motion and confirmed the award. Kors appeals from that ruling.

As originally briefed, the questions presented on appeal were whether the trial court erred in rejecting Kors’s claim…