Versaci v. Superior Court of San Diego County

Defendant, Bridge Banc, LLC, appeals from an order denying its petition to compel arbitration of a dispute with plaintiff, Hotels Nevada, LLC. Defendant filed its petition to compel arbitration after a pending arbitration was stayed pursuant to the decision of the arbitrator and plaintiff filed the present court action. The trial court denied the petition on the ground it should first determine the legality of the contract as a whole. We hold that no violation of the United States Arbitration Act (9 U.S.C. § 1 et seq.) results when an arbitrator, under an arbitration clause requiring the application of California law, allows the trial court to decide the issue of illegality. Accordingly, we affirm the order denying defendants petition to compel arbitration.