July 31 (Reuters) - An attorney embroiled in a compensation battle with his former law firm must attempt to resolve the issue through arbitration, a California judge ordered on Monday.

Former Perkins Coie partner Harold DeGraff is bound by an arbitration clause in his partnership agreement with the Seattle-based law firm, ruled U.S. District Judge Jeffrey S White. However, DeGraff is not bound by a provision in the agreement requiring the proceeding be kept confidential, the judge said, because secrecy would benefit the law firm at DeGraff's expense.

The ruling defused an effort by DeGraff to keep his case in court on grounds that a 90-day deadline in the arbitration process, among other things, would hinder his ability to make his case.

"(DeGraff) has not demonstrated that these terms are ... 'overly harsh' or 'generates one-sided results,'" White said in court documents.

DeGraff, a corporate lawyer who had worked at the Perkins Coie office in Menlo Park, Calif., initially sued his former firm in federal court in California earlier this year. He claimed it had deducted from his pay business expenses, unemployment insurance, Medicare and Social Security costs, among others, that should have been paid by the law firm.

"These practices have been uniformly applied to dozens of attorneys classified as W-2 employees at Perkins Coie offices throughout California," DeGraff said in court documents.

The suit had sought class action status on behalf of all lawyers who have worked or are working in Perkins Coie's California offices.

Perkins Coie is a full service firm with more than 850 lawyers in 19 offices worldwide.

The case is DeGraff v. Perkins Coie et al, No. 3:2012-cv-02256.

For the plaintiff: Monique Oliver and Thomas Duckworth, Duckworth Peters Lebowitz Olivier.

For the defendant: Ronald McIntire and Melora Garrison, Perkins Coie.

(Reporting By Casey Sullivan)

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