Buchalter Appellate Specialists Harry W.R. Chamberlain II and Robert M. Dato argue that the California Supreme Court should uphold a validly appointed agent’s arbitration agreements with health care providers
March, 2024 - Los Angeles, California
Harry Chamberlain and Robert Dato, members of Buchalter’s Appellate Group, presented arguments on behalf of clients Country Oaks Partners and Sun Mar Management Services in Harrod v. Country Oaks Partners LLC, Cal. Supreme Court No. S276545
At issue before California’s highest court: Whether an agent who is appointed by an incapacitated patient under an advance health care directive and power of attorney to make heath care decisions may enter into a binding arbitration agreement with a nursing facility where the patient is placed for care?
The Court of Appeal declined to enforce the arbitration agreement. The California Supreme Court unanimously granted review. Chamberlain and Dato, supported by a broad coalition of hospitals, health care facilities and medical providers, business associations and bar groups argued that for the past four decades, California has steadfastly upheld arbitration agreements entered into by the patient’s designated agent under an advance health care directive. In addition, recent decisions of the United States Supreme Court and Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, including Kindred Nursing Centers LP v. Clark, 137 S. Ct. 1421 (2017) and Chamber of Commerce v. Bonta, 62 F.4th 473 (9th Cir. 2023), hold that state law restrictions on a validly appointed agent’s power to agree to arbitrate disputes on behalf of his or her principal are preempted by the Federal Arbitration Act. The California Supreme Court’s decision is expected within 90 days.
To read Buchalter’s petition for review, the merits briefs and amici curiae briefs, or to watch the webcast of oral argument in the California Supreme Court, click here.
