Best v. Best

898 So. 2d 559, 2005 La. App. LEXIS 524, 2005 WL 474820
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMarch 2, 2005
DocketNo. 2004-919
StatusPublished

This text of 898 So. 2d 559 (Best v. Best) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Best v. Best, 898 So. 2d 559, 2005 La. App. LEXIS 524, 2005 WL 474820 (La. Ct. App. 2005).

Opinion

JjGREMILLION, Judge.

In this case, the plaintiff, Kris A. Dubois Best, appeals the final judgment partitioning community property between her and her ex-husband, Ronald J. Best. For the following reasons, we remand to the trial court for further proceedings, consistent with this opinion.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Kris filed a petition for custody, support, and other matters in August 1999. Ronald reconvened and requested a divorce under La.Civ.Code art. 102. A judgment of divorce was granted on March 16, 2000, however, an amended judgment was rendered on May 1, 2000, to reflect some procedural changes.

On March 16, 2000, Ronald filed a petition for partition of community property with an order setting time for filing descriptive lists and traversals. On March 23, 2000, the trial court ordered the parties to file detailed descriptive lists and, thereafter, traverse or concur in the other’s descriptive lists. On July 16, 2001, Ronald filed his descriptive list of assets and liabilities. On September 27, 2001, Kris filed her descriptive list. On August 13, 2002, Kris filed another detailed descriptive list.

In August 2002, a hearing officer conference was held in which the hearing officer recommended binding arbitration to settle the community property issues. A binding arbitration agreement was signed by Ronald and Kris and attorney Robert L. Cole, who was designated as the arbitrator.

The trial court, in its January 26, 2004 judgment, adopted Cole’s findings. On February 20, 2004, Kris filed a motion and order to set trial on the | ¿merits. The trial court declined to sign the order on April 12, 2004. Kris now appeals. She also filed a motion to supplement the record on appeal, which was granted.

ISSUES

Kris filed her appeal in proper person and made seven assignments of error. We have determined that she actually assigned ten different errors as follows:

[561]*5611. Was the trial court authorized to order arbitration when she only agreed to mediate?
2. Was she “coerced” and “tricked” into affixing her signature on the arbitration agreement?
3. Was the entire arbitration process “heavily flawed?” Kris claims numerous flaws including:
a) the failure to update property values following damage from a 2002 hurricane;
b) improper valuation dates; and,
c) using different combined descriptive lists at the arbitration.
4. Was the arbitrator biased and partial throughout the proceedings?
5. Did the trial court err in granting an order forcing her to attend the second arbitration?
6. Did the trial court err in allowing an ad hoc judge to sign a Judgment?
7. Was it error for her attorney to fail to file a Motion for Invalidity of the Arbitrator’s award?
8. Was it error for the trial court to fail to reschedule another meeting as her attorney could not attend an April 12, 2004 meeting?
|s9. Was it error for the law clerk (referred to only as Nancy) to tell her not to go to the April 12, 2004 meeting? Was it error that the law clerk told her that she would be able to plead invalidity of the arbitration at another hearing?
10. Did the trial court err in making the judgment res judicata at the April 12,- 2004 meeting when she did not attend the meeting because Nancy had told her to stay home?

PROCEDURAL ISSUES

We first note that Kris failed to follow the procedure prescribed by the Louisiana Revised Statutes in the arbitration provisions. Pursuant to La.R.S. 9:4210 and 9:4211, a party must file a motion to vacate, modify, or correct an arbitration award. See also Commercial Renovations, Inc. v. Shoney’s of Boutte, Inc., 00-2319 (La.App. 4 Cir. 10/10/01), 797 So.2d 183. Additionally, we note that the record Kris provided is incomplete. There is no transcript of the second arbitration session, which was held on July 23, 2003. However, despite these deficiencies and in the interest of justice, we will address her remaining issues.

DISCUSSION

Kris’s brief essentially argues that the entire arbitration process was fraudulent, erroneous, and biased against her. She claims that between her numerous attorneys, Nancy the law clerk, and the arbitrator, the errors were so egregious that she should not be held accountable to the resulting judgment and that it should be declared invalid and new trial ordered. We disagree.

Louisiana Revised Statute 9:4201 states:

A provision in any written contract to settle by arbitration a controversy thereafter arising out of the contract, or out of the refusal to perform the whole or any part thereof, or an agreement in writing between two or more persons to submit to arbitration any. controversy 1 ¿existing .between them at the .time of the agreement to submit, shall be valid, irrevocable, and enforceable, save upon such grounds as exist at law or in equity for the revocation of any contract.

Both Kris and Ronald signed a “Binding Arbitration, Document,” which was, thereafter, also signed by the arbitrator, Cole. Yet, Kris argues at length that she agreed [562]*562only to “mediate.” The record is devoid of anything that would suggest she agreed to mediate, and in fact, Kris attended the two arbitration sessions. Kris suggests that her attorney’s secretary stated that this was a “mediation agreement,” despite its title of “Binding Arbitration Agreement.” She further argues that she felt “coerced and tricked” into signing the agreement, but offers absolutely no proof whatsoever that would indicate that was the case. The “Binding Arbitration Document” states:

STATE OF LOUISIANA
PARISH OF LAFAYETTE
NOW TO THESE PRESENTS, come Robert L. Cole, hereinafter referred to as “Arbitrator”, and Charlie Hutchens, attorney for Ronald J. Best, and the said Ronald J. Best individually, hereinafter referred to as “Plaintiff’, and Anthony J. Fontana, Jr., attorney ■ for Kris A. Dubois Best, and the said Kris A. Du-bois Best individually, hereinafter referred to as “Defendant”, who do now enter into the following arbitration contract.
PLAINTIFF and DEFENDANT do hereby agree to retain the services of ARBITRATOR for the purpose of ruling on the issues of their community property and/or property owned in indivisión including reimbursement claims, if any, under the following terms and conditions.
1. ARBITRATOR shall be bound by ' the terms of any written stipulations entered into by the parties, and submitted to him prior to the hearing. The parties desire that the reimbursement claims involving Charter Compressors and Perto Clean shall not- be subject to arbitration.
2. ARBITRATOR shall apply the law of the State of Louisiana,. particularly the Louisiana Civil Code in rendering all decisions.
L3.

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Bluebook (online)
898 So. 2d 559, 2005 La. App. LEXIS 524, 2005 WL 474820, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/best-v-best-lactapp-2005.