Desert Outdoor Advertising v. Superior Court

Opinion

MARCHIANO, P. J.

A lawyer represents a client under a fee agreement that does not contain an arbitration clause. As sometimes occurs these days, the lawyer changes firms in the middle of the litigation. The client signs a new engagement and fee agreement that includes an arbitration clause set forth in understandable terms. Is it the client’s responsibility to read the fee agreement, or does the scope of the lawyer’s fiduciary duty require the lawyer to separately explain the arbitration clause to the client, so that the client’s admitted failure to fully read the agreement is…