When you're representing the appellant, it's not a good start when the first paragraph of the opinion reads:
"Seventeen months and more than 1,300 attorney hours after plaintiff Julio Oregel
(Oregel) filed a class action against his former employer, defendant PacPizza, LLC
(PacPizza), PacPizza petitioned to compel arbitration of Oregel’s claims. The trial court
denied the petition, finding PacPizza waived its right to enforce a purported arbitration
agreement between the two parties. PacPizza appeals, primarily contending the court
erred in denying the petition, and also asserting two other claimed errors. We conclude
the petition was properly denied, a conclusion that moots PacPizza’s remaining
arguments. We thus affirm."
But it's even worse when the second paragraph reads:
"We begin with an observation that, as the appellant, PacPizza was tasked with
providing in its opening brief a summary of all evidence in the record that is material to
the issues raised on appeal. (Cal. Rules of Court, rule 8.204(a)(2)(C); Foreman & Clark
Corp. v. Fallon (1971) 3 Cal.3d 875, 881.) This, it failed to do. PacPizza sets forth a
less-than-candid 'Chronology of Pertinent Events Underlying Appeal' that suggests little transpired in the 17 months between Oregel’s filing of his complaint and PacPizza’s
filing of its petition to compel arbitration. Among other things, PacPizza has omitted any
discussion of the extensive class discovery it conducted—an omission that is nothing
short of brazen given the trial court’s finding that Oregel was prejudiced by the discovery
the parties conducted on his class allegations during the lengthy period of time PacPizza
delayed in seeking arbitration.
What follows is a chronology of what actually transpired."
I won't pile on by quoting the various other portions of the opinion in which Justice Richman makes it clear that he's none-too-pleased with counsel for appellant, Robert Michael Bodzin. It's enough to say that Mr. Bodzin was undoubtedly displeased with the opinion.
Nor the subsequent decision to publish it, I'm sure.
