Opinion ID: 1059205
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Equity Power

Text: Lackman asserts that the procedure in Code § 8.01-581.010 is not the exclusive method for vacating an arbitration award, and, therefore, the trial court erred in striking Count VI of his amended bill of complaint in which he invoked the trial court's equity powers to enjoin enforcement of the arbitration award based on his equitable defenses of fraud, estoppel, and unclean hands. We disagree. The predecessor to the current statute, former Code § 8.01-580, specifically stated that the section shall not be construed to take away the power of courts of equity over awards. This provision continued the traditional authority of equity courts to review arbitration awards based on a submission in pais.  See e.g. Edge Hill Stock Farm, Inc. v. Morris, Gray & Hunter, 155 Va. 103, 108, 154 S.E. 473, 474 (1930). The General Assembly eliminated this provision when it enacted Code § 8.01-581.010 in 1986. Elimination of the provision terminated the ability of a court to invoke its equity powers when reviewing an arbitration award. Thus, Code § 8.01-581.010 provides the exclusive means for setting aside an arbitration award, and the trial court correctly struck Count VI of Lackman's amended bill of complaint. See Signal Corp., 265 Va. at 45, 574 S.E.2d at 257.