Court Opinion

ID: 9543770
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 16:49:04.209283+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:11:10.561999
License: Public Domain

MACK, Associate Judge,
dissenting in part:
I am persuaded by Judge Ferren’s thorough analysis of the appealability issue and I concur in his conclusion that we have jurisdiction to entertain this action. Further, I have no reason to quarrel with the majority’s pronouncement that, in court-approved arbitration the parties have a good faith duty to grant a request for a reasonable extension of the time for making the award and that each party’s consent to such extension is “presumed” unless the party promptly makes known to the court his objection and the grounds therefor. The problem here is that the trial court (and the parties before it) had no knowledge of the presumption which we create today in this case of first impression.
The trial court, after a hearing on appellant’s motion to confirm the arbitration award, found that parties had specifically contracted to abide by the Rules of the American Arbitration Association including that rule providing that the extension of the time for award can only be accomplished through the mutual consent of the parties. It found that the award was to be rendered by July 12,1978, and that appellee (who received the request for extension on the afternoon of July 11, 1978) had by letters of July 13,18, and 19,1978, advised the Tribunal Administrator of the AAA that he did not consent to the requested extension. The court noted that it had not ordered a *514time for award; relying upon some of the ample authorities cited by the majority here, it found that the arbitrators were without authority to render the award on July 27, 1978, and it ordered the parties to trial.
I cannot find that the trial court abused its discretion or that its finding was clearly erroneous. Moreover, I would not place upon appellee after-the-fact, the burden of notifying the court of a condition which by contract or law he was not then required to do. I respectfully dissent.