Opinion ID: 1161648
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Dr. Miller's motion to reconsider

Text: Not waiting until the circuit court filed its written order, Dr. Miller filed a motion styled as Motion to Reconsider Order Denying Respondent [Dr. Miller's] Motion to Vacate [the] Arbitration Award or, in the Alternative for Relief from Order Confirming [the] Arbitration Award (the August 8, 1997 motion). The August 8, 1997 motion raised a new ground for vacating the arbitration award based on new evidence that allegedly did not become available until after the circuit court had orally granted Sousaris's petition to confirm the arbitration award. In his memorandum in support of the August 8, 1997 motion, Dr. Miller asserted that Dr. Peroff engaged in ex parte consultations with other physicians in violation of section 31 of the arbitration rules, which mandated that all evidence be taken in the presence of all of the arbitrators and all of the parties. Such conduct, according to Dr. Miller, constituted prejudicial misconduct under HRS § 658-9(3). See supra note 2. An affidavit submitted by Quinn served as the basis for Dr. Miller's assertion of a new ground to vacate the arbitration award. Quinn stated that after receiving the arbitration award, he attempted to contact Dr. Peroff to discuss Dr. Peroff's analysis of the evidence. After several unsuccessful attempts, Quinn finally spoke with Dr. Peroff on August 1, 1997, the day that the circuit court heard arguments on Sousaris's petition to confirm and Dr. Miller's petition to vacate the arbitration award. Quinn claimed that during their telephone conversation, Dr. Peroff admitted to consulting several outside physicians and to using the information gleaned from those consultations to arrive at his conclusion that Dr. Miller was negligent. Along with his affidavit, Quinn attached a transcript of the conversation with Dr. Peroff based on the speed-written notes that Quinn took during the conversation. On August 20, 1997, Sousaris filed a memorandum in opposition to the August 8, 1997 motion, wherein Sousaris argued: (1) that Dr. Peroff properly consulted with outside medical experts to corroborate his own conclusions; (2) that Dr. Peroff's statements were inadmissible to impeach the arbitration award; and (3) that the August 8, 1997 motion was untimely insofar as it advanced a new basis for vacating the arbitration award after the ten-day period set forth in HRS § 658-11 had elapsed. In an affidavit attached to Sousaris's memorandum in opposition, Dr. Peroff maintained that he reached his decision based solely on his evaluation of the evidence presented during the arbitration proceedings. Dr. Peroff claimed that he contacted other physicians to confirm the conclusions that he already reached. Moreover, Dr. Peroff related that Char, his fellow arbitrator, instructed Dr. Peroff not to discuss the award with the attorneys until ten days after the arbitration award was issued. On August 25, 1997, the circuit court, without a hearing, issued a minute order denying the August 8, 1997 motion and filed a written order to the same effect on September 5, 1997. The September 5, 1997 order, however, did not set forth the circuit court's the rationale for denying the August 8, 1997 motion. On September 15, 1997, Dr. Miller filed an appeal from the August 14, 1997 and the September 5, 1997 orders. On November 30, 1997, however, this court filed an order of dismissal wherein we determined that Dr. Miller's September 15, 1997 appeal was premature. On November 28, 1997, Dr. Miller filed his second notice of appeal wherein, in addition to the August 14, 1997 and September 5, 1997 orders, he appealed from the November 7, 1997 judgment filed by the circuit court. [3]