Simons

BACKGROUND

I. The underlying arbitration and court proceedings1

The parties ran a business that primarily owned and operated parking lots across the nation. A written agreement governing their relationship contained arbitration and attorney fees provisions. The attorney fees provision provided that fees and costs incurred in a dispute as a result of or by reason of the agreement shall be awarded to the prevailing party. When a dispute arose, Simons initiated arbitration, which was structured into three phases. The first phase involved governance issues and concluded in 2010 with a partial award in

1 The background is largely from our opinion, Simons v. Superior Court of Los Angeles County (Sept. 30, 2021, B306193) [nonpub. opn.] (Simons I).

2 Enterprise’s favor. The trial court (Hon. Gregory Alarcon) confirmed the award and awarded Enterprise attorney fees in an amount that was 25 percent of what Enterprise had requested. The second phase concluded in 2019 with another partial award. In short, the award dissolved the business and distributed the properties comprising the business according to the parties’ percentage interests—the so-called in-kind division. Simons then…