Vacating a California arbitration award under Code of Civil
Procedure section 1286.2 is the topic of this blog post. Code of Civil
Procedure section 1286.2 is the statute that lists the grounds on which a
California award of arbitrator may be vacated.
These awards are also referred to
as an award of arbitrator or by the technical name of arbitral award.
Anyone considering a petition to vacate a California arbitration
award must file that petition within 100 days after the date a signed copy of
the award is served on the petitioner as required by Code of Civil Procedure
section 1288 or their petition will most likely be denied.
Vacating a California arbitration award is somewhat
difficult unless the petitioner can make a sufficient showing that one of the
grounds listed in Code of Civil Procedure section 1286.2 applies in their case.
Code of Civil Procedure §1286.2 states in pertinent part
that,
“(a) Subject to Section 1286.4, the court shall vacate the
award if the court determines any of the following:
(1) The award was procured by corruption, fraud or other
undue means.
(2) There was corruption in any of the arbitrators.
(3) The rights of the party were substantially prejudiced by
misconduct of a neutral arbitrator.
(4) The arbitrators exceeded their powers and the award
cannot be corrected without affecting the merits of the decision upon the
controversy submitted.
(5) The rights of the party were substantially prejudiced by
the refusal of the arbitrators to postpone the hearing upon sufficient cause
being shown therefor or by the refusal of the arbitrators to hear evidence
material to the controversy or by other conduct of the arbitrators contrary to
the provisions of this title.
(6) An arbitrator making the award either: (A) failed to
disclose within the time required for disclosure a ground for disqualification
of which the arbitrator was then aware; or (B) was subject to disqualification
upon grounds specified in Section 1281.91 but failed upon receipt of timely
demand to disqualify himself or herself as required by that provision.”
California case law exists regarding the issue of vacating
an arbitration award as several decisions of both the California Supreme Court
and Courts of Appeal have discussed when a arbitration award may be vacated.
It is established that the scope of judicial review of
arbitration awards is extremely narrow in both the trial and appellate courts.
See Moncharsh v. Heily & Blase (1992) 3 Cal.4th 1, 11, 33.
However in a more recent case the California Supreme Court
stated that the Legislature has provided for judicial review of arbitration
awards in situations where there are serious problems affecting the fairness of
arbitration process.
And the California Supreme Court stated in another case that
in order to ensure the integrity of the arbitration process it is essential
that the arbitrator must be neutral.
A fairly recent case from a California Court of Appeal stated
that the arbitrator must give all of the parties to the dispute an adequate
opportunity to present their evidence and arguments and if they fail to do so
that may be grounds for vacating the award.
Other recent California Court of Appeal cases have stated
that if an arbitrator fails to decide an issue submitted to them that this may
constitute grounds for vacating the award and that courts may vacate an award
where it violates a well-defined public policy.
However the party petitioning to vacate the award on the
grounds of fraud has the burden of making a sufficient showing of fraud as another
California Court of appeal case stated that the petitioner must show that they
did not have the opportunity to rebut or discover and then reveal the alleged
fraud at the arbitration hearing.
In certain cases the court may order a rehearing before new
arbitrators as Code of Civil Procedure § 1287 states in pertinent part that,
“If the award is vacated, the court may order a rehearing before new
arbitrators.”
As mentioned earlier a petition to vacate an arbitration
award should be considered in situations where the party can show sufficient
facts and evidence to support one of the valid grounds and files a timely
petition to vacate the award.
Attorneys or parties
in California that would like to view a portion of a sample 14 page petition to
vacate arbitration award containing brief instructions, a memorandum of points
and authorities with citations to case law and statutory authority and sample
declaration sold by the author can use the link shown below.
View over 300 sample legal documents for sale
The author of this blog post, Stan Burman, is an entrepreneur and freelance paralegal who has worked in California and Federal litigation since 1995 and has created over 300 sample legal documents for California and Federal litigation. If you are in need of assistance with any California or Federal litigation matters, Mr. Burman is available on a freelance basis. Mr. Burman may be contacted by e-mail at DivParalgl@yahoo.com for more information. He accepts payments through PayPal which means that you can pay using most credit or debit cards.
*Do you want to use this article on your website, blog or e-zine? You can, as long as you include this blurb with it: “Stan Burman is the author of over 300 sample legal documents for California and Federal litigation and is the author of a free weekly legal newsletter. You can receive 10 free gifts just for subscribing. Just visit http://freeweeklylegalnewsletter.gr8.com/ for more information.
Follow the author on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/LegalDocsPro
You can view sample legal document packages for sale by going to http://www.legaldocspro.com/products_main.aspx
DISCLAIMER:
Please note that the author of this blog post, Stan Burman is NOT an attorney and as such is unable to provide any specific legal advice. The author is NOT engaged in providing any legal, financial, or other professional services, and any information contained in this blog post is NOT intended to constitute legal advice.
The materials and information contained in this blog post have been prepared by Stan Burman for informational purposes only and are not legal advice. Transmission of the information contained in this blog post is not intended to create, and receipt does not constitute, any business relationship between the author and any readers. Readers should not act upon this information without seeking professional counsel.
No comments:
Post a Comment