SERVICE STATION AID, INC., A FLORIDA CORPORATION, APPELLANT,
v.
TURNBERRY ASSOCIATES, A FLORIDA GENERAL PARTNERSHIP, APPELLEE
AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.
Florida appellate court reversed trial court's vacation of an arbitrator's attorney's fee award, holding that parties may stipulate to arbitrator jurisdiction over fees and arbitrators' legal errors do not warrant vacation.
When parties stipulate that an arbitrator may decide attorney's fees, the arbitrator's fee award cannot be vacated by a trial court on grounds of legal error.
[1] Parties to an arbitration agreement may by stipulation confer jurisdiction on the arbitrator to decide entitlement to attorney's fees and assess such fees.
[2] An arbitration award cannot be vacated by a trial court on the ground that the arbitrator made an error of law.
Previewing 2 of 2 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“a trial court has no authority to vacate such an attorney's fee award by an arbitrator...on the ground that the award is legally incorrect...because an arbitration award cannot be vacated because the arbitrator made an error of law.”
Court explaining the limits of trial court authority to review arbitrator fee awards
Service Station Aid, Inc. successfully defended an arbitration action brought by Turnberry Associates. The arbitrator awarded attorney's fees to the d…
The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.
Explore caselaw by topic → Browse Arbitrator'S Jurisdiction cases and more on FLexlaw
PER CURIAM.
The defendant Service Station Aid, Inc. appeals a trial court order vacating an arbitration award of attorney’s fees in its favor for successfully defending an arbitration action brought by the plaintiff Turnberry Associates against the defendant, as well as a co-defendant who is not a party to this appeal.
We reverse the trial court order vacating the arbitrator’s award of attorney’s fees based on a holding that (1) the trial court, in effect, found, based on substantial competent evidence, that the parties stipulated that the arbitrator should decide the issue of attorney’s fees in the case; (2) the parties to an arbitration agreement may by stipulation confer jurisdiction on the arbitrator to decide entitlement to attorney’s fees and to assess such fee, Pierce v. J.W. Charles-Bush Securities, Inc., 603 So. 2d 625 (Fla. 4th DCA1992) (en banc); and (3) a trial court has no authority to vacate such an attorney’s fee award by an arbitrator, as was done in the instant case, on the ground that the award is legally incorrect [i.e., that there is no statute or contract between the parties authorizing such an award] because an arbitration award cannot be vacated because the arbitrator made an error of law. § 682.13, Fla.Stat. (1991); Schnurmacher Holding, Inc. v. Noriega, 542 So. 2d 1327 (Fla.1989). The final order under review is reversed and the cause is remanded to the trial court with directions to confirm the arbitration award in the instant ease.
Reversed and remanded.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
Turnberry Assocs. v. Serv. Station AID, Inc., 651 So. 2d 1173 (Fla. 1995)…ANSTEAD, Justice. We have for review Service Station Aid, Inc. v. Turnberry Associates, 629 So. 2d 204 (Fla. 3d DCA 1993) because it conflicts with Higley South, Inc. v. Quality Engineered Installation, Inc., 632 So. 2d 615 (Fla. 2d DCA 1994), review granted, 642 So. 2d 1362 (Fla.1994), and Fridman v. Citicorp Real Estate, Inc., 596 So. 2d 1128 (Fla.…
-
Verzura Constr., Inc. v. Surfside Ocean, Inc., 708 So. 2d 994 (Fla. 3d DCA 1998)…rs are not guilty of the acts of misconduct set forth in the statute, the award operates as a final and conclusive judgment. See Schnurmacher Holding, Inc. v. Noriega, 542 So. 2d 1327, 1328 (Fla.1989); Service Station Aid, Inc. v. Turnberry Assocs., 629 So. 2d 204, 204 (Fla. 3d DCA 1993), review granted, 639 So. 2d 983 (Fla.1994), aff'd, 651 So. 2d 1173 (Fla.1995); Keyes Co. v. Gomez, 590 So. 2d 954, 955 (Fla. 3d DCA 1991); Packard, 531 So. 2d at 991. Indeed, the arbitration code itself specifically provides…
-
GCA, Inc. v. 90 S.W. 8TH ST. Enters., Inc., 696 So. 2d 1230 (Fla. 3d DCA 1997)…an arbitration agreement may confer jurisdiction on the arbitration panel to decide entitlement to attorney’s fees and assess the agreed fee.” Subsequently, in Turnberry Associates v. Service Station Aid, Inc., 651 So. 2d 1173 (Fla.1995), approving 629 So. 2d 204 (Fla. 3d DCA 1993), the Florida Supreme Court agreed with the Fourth District’s construction of section 682.11 in Pierce and concluded that “[ujnder section 682.11, ... the parties continue to have the right to have the issue of attorney’s fees deci…
Previewing 3 of 5 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Schnurmacher Holding, Inc. v. Noriega, 542 So. 2d 1327 (Fla. 1989)
- Pierce v. J.W. Charles-Bush Sec., Inc., 603 So. 2d 625 (Fla. 4th DCA 1992)