Opinion ID: 1629925
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: statement of appellate jurisdiction

Text: ¶ 6. Initially, the trial court's order appears to be interlocutory and thus insulated from review by this Court. Scott seeks relief on state law grounds in his complaint, alleging breach of implied warranties of merchantability and fitness as codified in Miss.Code Ann. §§ 75-2-314(2)(c) & 75-2-608(1)(a) as well as breach of express warranties found in the Mississippi Motor Vehicle Warranty Enforcement Act as codified in Miss.Code Ann. § 63-17-151 and following. The trial court's order denying the motion to compel arbitration leaves the state claims for breach of warranty intact and pending resolution at the trial level. ¶ 7. However, the Federal Arbitration Act provides that an appeal can be taken from an order denying a motion to compel arbitration, 9 U.S.C. § 16(a)(1)(C) (2002), and the Fifth Circuit allows such an appeal. See, e.g., Walton v. Rose Mobile Homes, LLC, 298 F.3d 470 (5th Cir.2002). Some state courts have also held that an appeal from an order denying a motion to compel arbitration is the appropriate avenue of review. See A.G. Edwards & Sons, Inc. v. Clark, 558 So.2d 358, 360 (Ala.1990); Walton v. Lewis, 337 Ark. 45, 987 S.W.2d 262, 264 (1999); Dakota Wesleyan Univ. v. HPG Intern., Inc., 560 N.W.2d 921, 922-23 (S.D.1997). ¶ 8. Recently, this Court has reviewed two cases on interlocutory appeal, pursuant to M.R.A.P. 5, where the trial judge denied a motion to compel arbitration. See Oakwood Homes Corp. v. Randall, 824 So.2d 1292 (Miss.2002); East Ford, 826 So.2d at 711. We have also recently reviewed an order granting a motion to compel arbitration and dismissed the appeal from that order as interlocutory. See Banks v. City Fin. Co., 825 So.2d 642 (Miss.2002). Similarly, we have reviewed on the merits and affirmed an order granting a motion to compel arbitration, but did not discuss this Court's jurisdiction as the issue was not raised as it was in Banks. See Russell v. Performance Toyota, Inc., 826 So.2d 719 (Miss.2002). Finally, we have affirmed an order denying a tardy motion to compel arbitration which reached us on direct appeal after a jury trial. See Cox v. Howard, Weil, Labouisse, Friedrichs, Inc., 619 So.2d 908 (Miss.1993). ¶ 9. The instant case was not granted interlocutory appeal per M.R.A.P. 5, nor is the order denying the motion to compel arbitration certified as final judgment per Miss. R. Civ. P. 54(b). Although Mississippi has a statute allowing for appeals from an order denying a motion to compel arbitration, this statute only applies to construction contracts. See Miss.Code Ann. §§ 11-15-141 & 11-15-101(2). See also Miss.Code Ann. §§ 11-15-1 to -37, which deals with arbitration, but has no such appeals provision. The statute generally allowing for appeals from circuit court reads as follows: An appeal may be taken to the Supreme Court from any final judgment of a circuit or chancery court in a civil case, not being a judgment by default, by any of the parties or legal representative of such parties; and in no case shall such appeal be held to vacate the judgment or decree. Miss.Code Ann. § 11-51-3 (Rev.2002). ¶ 10. Since it appears to us after examining our statutes and case law that there may be some confusion as to the finality of an order denying a motion to compel arbitration and thus this Court's jurisdiction, we find a bright-line rule must be established here. The lack of a final judgment or a grant of a petition for interlocutory appeal notwithstanding, we find that we have jurisdiction over this appeal. Adopting the procedure of the Federal Arbitration Act and following the lead of other jurisdictions, we find an appeal may be taken from an order denying a motion to compel arbitration.