Assembly Bill (AB) 51, which attempts
to ban certain mandatory arbitration agreements, was scheduled to
go into effect on January 1, 2020. However, a coalition of business
organizations filed a suit on December 9, 2019 seeking to enjoin AB
51. On December 30, 2019, a federal court in California issued a
last minute
temporary restraining order blocking AB 51 from going
into effect and scheduled a hearing on the motion
for January 10, 2020.
At the hearing, Chief U.S. District Judge Kimberly Mueller of
the Eastern District of California heard oral argument on the
motion for preliminary injunction in the Chamber of Commerce's
challenge to AB 51. Judge Mueller had many
questions—especially for the State. For now, the temporary
restraining order remains in place and the matter has been taken
under submission with supplemental briefing to be filed on January
17, 2020, and January 24, 2020, by the State and the Chamber of
Commerce, respectively, on two issues: (1)
