Opinion ID: 865177
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: whether the circuit court erred by confirming

Text: THE ARBITRATION AWARD ¶5. This case is governed by the provisions of Miss. Code Ann. Sections 11-15-101 through -143 (Rev. 2004), which address arbitration of controversies arising from construction contracts and related agreements. The standard of review for vacating, modifying, or correcting arbitration decisions is set out in Miss. Code Ann. Sections 11-15-133 and -135. These sections contain specific grounds, and the time frame during which they must be asserted, which represent the only way a court is allowed to overturn the award of an arbitrator. As this Court said in Craig v. Barber 524 So. 2d 974, 978 (Miss. 1988), “ the only bases in our law for refusal to enforce an arbitration award are: (a) The award was procured by corruption, fraud or other undue means; (b) there was evident partiality by an arbitrator appointed as a neutral or corruption in any of the arbitrators or misconduct prejudicing the rights of the parties.” (quoting Miss. Code Ann. Section 11-15-133(1)) (emphasis in original). Miss C o d e A n n . Section 11-15- 1 The two orders of the Hinds County Circuit Court, from which Johnson now appeals, make no mention of American, which was not a party to the arbitration agreement, and which has merely adopted and incorporated by reference portions of Frazier’s briefs. 4 135(1) states in relevant part, the following additional grounds u p o n which an arbitratio n award shall be modified o r correcte d: (a) There is an evident miscalculation of figures or an evident mistake in the description of any person, thing or property referred in the award; (b) The arbitrators have awarded upon a matter not submitted to them and the award may be corrected without affecting the merits of the controversy; or (c) The award is imperfect in a matter of form, not affecting the merits of the controversy. 5 ¶6. If none of the grounds to challenge the award are asserted within their respective time limits, the court shall confirm the award in accordance with Miss. Code Ann. Section 11-15-125, which provides that: [u]pon application by a party to the arbitration filed within ninety (90) days of the receipt of the later of a copy of the award issued pursuant to section 11-15-119, or a modified or corrected award as provided by section 11-15-123 the court shall confirm the award unless within the time limits hereinafter imposed grounds are urged for vacating, modifying, or correcting the award, in which the court shall proceed as provided in sections 11-15-133 and 11-15-135. Miss. Code Ann. §11-15-125 (emphasis added). Further, the scope of judicial review of an arbitration award is quite narrow, and every reasonable presumption will be indulged in favor of the validity of the arbitration proceedings. Craig, 524 So.2d at 977 (quoting Hutto v. Jordan, 204 Miss. 30, 41, 36 So 2d 809, 812 (1948)). A court simply cannot go outside the stated grounds in the statute for challenging an arbitration award, absent a contrary provision in the contract. ¶7. Johnson argues that, according to Miss. Code Ann. Sections 11-15-125 and -135, it should have been allowed ninety days (until April 3, 2003) to challenge the arbitrator’s award based on one of the listed grounds, before the circuit court could confirm it. Frazier, however, correctly points out that according to the same code section, the award shall be confirmed absent the existence of at least one of the grounds listed for vacating, modifying, or correcting an award. Because Johnson did not assert any of these grounds in its response asserting that the motion to confirm was premature, its motion to set aside judgment, motion to vacate, or motion to reconsider, we agree that the circuit court properly confirmed the award. 6 ¶8. None of the applicable statutes expressly prohibits the circuit court’s ability to enter an order confirming the arbitration award before the ninety-day period expires. In fact, just the opposite is true. Upon application filed within ninety days after receipt a copy of the award, the court shall confirm an award if none of the statutory grounds for challenging the award are asserted within the respective time limits. The statutory language is mandatory, not discretionary. ¶9. When Frazier moved to have the arbitration award confirmed, Johnson had the opportunity to raise any of the grounds for challenge stated in the statute, but it did not. Requiring the circuit court to wait ninety days or more to confirm an arbitration award would be contrary to a “prime objective of arbitration law [which] is to permit a just and expeditious result with a minimum of judicial interference.” See Gulf Guar. Life Ins. Co. v. Conn. Gen. Life Ins. Co., 304 F.3d 476, 492 (5th Cir. 2002). ¶10. Further, according to Miss. Code Ann. Section 11-15-133(2), even a party challenging an award “predicated upon fraud, corruption, or other undue means” has only ninety days to do so, starting from the date the fraud, corruption, or other undue means is known or should have been known. It is easy to envision the negative effects Johnson’s interpretation of the statute could have on the benefits of arbitration, if a trial court must wait ninety days, in every case, before confirming the award. The protection provided when any of these three grounds is discovered, or should have been discovered, is not diminished by this logical reading of Section 11-15133(2). ¶11. Frazier’s position is also most faithful to the parties’ intentions at the time the contract was formed. They were obviously concerned with efficiency because the subcontract stated that time was of the essence, and the parties agreed to an arbitration provision that was binding. None 7 of the required statutory grounds were asserted by Johnson, so the court properly and expeditiously confirmed the award as dictated by the statute. ¶12. This Court has said “[o]ur duty is to carefully review statutory language and apply its most reasonable interpretation and meaning to the facts of a particular case.” Pope v. Brock, 912 So. 2d 935, 937 (Miss. 2005). Allowing courts to confirm an arbitration award within ninety days of the receipt of the award, when no statutory grounds for challenging it are asserted, is the most reasonable interpretation of the statute, considering both its plain language and the prime objectives of arbitration. ¶13. Even assuming, arguendo, that the trial court could not, or should not, confirm the award until the ninety days have elapsed, it would be, at most, harmless error where, as here, none of the stated grounds were asserted before the ninety-day time period expired. ¶14. Frazier also argues that when Johnson’s counsel signed an agreed order for stay pending arbitration, Johnson waived its right to later challenge the award. We do not agree, based on the facts and circumstances of this case. However, this issue is immaterial because Johnson never asserted any of the listed grounds for vacating, modifying, or correcting the award under Sections 11-15-133 or -135.