Advent Environmental Consulting, LLC v. Jotform Inc.

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

ADVENT ENVIRONMENTAL Case No. 21-cv-06639-VC

CONSULTING, LLC,

Plaintiff, ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANT’S

MOTION TO COMPEL

v. ARBITRATION AND DENYING

DEFENDANT’S REQUEST FOR FEES

JOTFORM INC.,

Re: Dkt. No. 14 Defendant.

1. Jotform’s motion to compel arbitration is granted. Two conditions must be met to compel arbitration: (1) there exists an agreement between the parties to arbitrate, and (2) the agreement “covers the dispute” between them. Brennan v. Opus Bank, 796 F.3d 1125, 1130 (9th Cir. 2015). When Advent signed up for Jotform’s web service, it agreed to its Terms of Service in the signup flow. Those terms contain an arbitration provision, requiring “the use of arbitration on an individual basis to resolve disputes, rather than jury trials or class actions,” and limiting “the remedies available . . . in the event of a dispute.” Because Advent agreed to the provision by creating its Jotform account, there exists an arbitration agreement between the parties. The agreement also covers this dispute. Advent’s complaint alleges that Jotform falsely promised to fix…