Bernett

BACKGROUND

In June 2019, plaintiff filed a demand for arbitration against defendant and Andrew Shanfeld (Shanfield) pursuant an arbitration provision in a home improvement contract (the HIC) entered into by Shanfield and Snow Construction, Inc. (Snow). The arbitration provision states in relevant part: “Any controversy or claim arising out of or related to this contract, or breach thereof, shall be settled by binding arbitration in accordance with the construction industry arbitration rules of the American Arbitration Association, and judgment upon the award rendered by the arbitrator(s) may be entered in any court having jurisdiction thereof. . . . [¶] NOTICE: By initialing in the space below you are agreeing to have any dispute arising out of the matters included in the ‘Arbitration of disputes’ provision decided by neutral Arbitration as provided by California law and you are giving up any rights you might possess to have the dispute litigated in a court or jury trial. . . .” The arbitration provision was initialed by Snow and Shanfield. Plaintiff asserted rights under the HIC as the

2 assignee of Snow’s rights thereunder in a written assignment dated June 18, 2019. The…