Change In Law Permitted Court To Revisit Order Denying Arbitration.

In a class action alleging misrepresentation of cellular phone rates, the trial court denied defendants’ motion to compel arbitration in 2006, prior to the United States Supreme Court’s decision in AT&T Mobility LLC v. Conception (2011) 131 S.Ct. 1740, [179 L.Ed.2d 742]. Defendants renewed their motion to compel arbitration and the trial court granted it the second time around. The Court of Appeal, after noting an order compelling arbitration is not appealable and treating the appeal as a petition for a writ of mandate, issued the writ, stating:  “An intervening change of law permitted the trial court to revisit its order denying arbitration and to issue a new order compelling arbitration.” Phillips v. Sprint PCS  (Cal. App. First Dist., Div. 3;  September 26, 2012) 209 Cal.App.4th 758.