Kokubu

INTRODUCTION

This appeal arises out of a dispute between several investors, whose best-laid plans to exploit a Japanese tax incentive promoting wood frame construction has left them fighting about their respective rights in a decades-old office complex in Los Angeles County. Appellants1 were some of the defendants below. Respondents2 include three other defendants, plus the plaintiff (Kokubu). Appellants seek reversal of the trial court’s order denying their motion to compel arbitration, which they filed more than two years after the lawsuit began. The trial court denied the motion on the basis that Appellants had waived their right to arbitrate by unreasonably delaying their motion, taking actions inconsistent with the right to arbitrate, and depriving Respondents the benefits of arbitration. It also found that the third-party arbitration exception applied, independently warranting denial of the motion. Appellants contend, in relevant part, that: (1) waiver may be found only where the non-movant is prejudiced; (2) the type of prejudice Respondents suffered is

The appellants are Beach Front Properties, LLC (BFP); Daniel J. Niemann, Inc.; NPI Beach Front Ventures, LLC; and…