Raymond James Financial Services, Inc. v. Honea

55 So. 3d 1161, 2010 Ala. LEXIS 99, 2010 WL 2471019
CourtSupreme Court of Alabama
DecidedJune 18, 2010
Docket1081688
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 55 So. 3d 1161 (Raymond James Financial Services, Inc. v. Honea) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Raymond James Financial Services, Inc. v. Honea, 55 So. 3d 1161, 2010 Ala. LEXIS 99, 2010 WL 2471019 (Ala. 2010).

Opinions

STUART, Justice.

Raymond James Financial Services, Inc. (“Raymond James”), and Bernard Mi-chaud, a securities broker at Raymond James (hereinafter referred to collectively as “RJFS”), appeal the judgment of the Jefferson Circuit Court vacating an arbitration award entered in their favor and against Kathryn L. Honea, a former client. We reverse and remand.

I.

Beginning in May 1997, Honea opened multiple investment accounts at a branch office of Raymond James in Birmingham. In conjunction with the opening of the accounts, Honea signed a client agreement with Raymond James containing the following provision, entitled “Arbitration and Dispute Resolution”:

“(a) In a dispute or controversy, either arising in the future or in existence now, between me and you (including your officers, directors, employees or agents and the introducing broker, if applicable) we agree to first endeavor to settle the dispute in an amicable manner by mediation at the request of either party. Thereafter, any unsettled dispute or controversy will be resolved by arbitration conducted before the New York Stock Exchange, Inc., the National Association of Securities Dealers, Inc., or the American Stock Exchange, Inc., or other self-regulatory organizations (SRO) subject to the jurisdiction of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) pursuant to the arbitration rules of the Exchange or SRO, and in accordance with the United States Arbitration Act (Title 9 of the United States Code).
“(b) We agree that in any arbitration the arbitrators will resolve the dispute in accordance with applicable law and will be required to furnish us with a [1163]*1163written decision which must explain the reasons for their decision....
“(e) A court of competent jurisdiction may enter judgment based on the award rendered by the arbitrators. We agree that both parties will have a right to appeal the decision of the arbitrators if the arbitrators award damages that exceed $100,000; the arbitrators do not award damages and the amount of my loss of principal exceeds $100,000; or the arbitrators award punitive damages. In each of the foregoing cases, a court having jurisdiction will conduct a ‘de novo’ review of the transcript and exhibits of the arbitration hearing.”

Honea alleges that, between May 1997 and 2000, she deposited over $1,200,000 into her accounts and that the accounts decreased in value by approximately $1,050,000. On March 30, 2006, Honea sued RJFS in the. Jefferson Circuit Court, alleging that her losses were the result of abusive brokerage practices, which practices, she alleges, violated the Alabama Securities Act, § 8-6-1 et seq., Ala.Code 1975, and asserting claims of breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, negligence, wantonness, and fraud. RJFS subsequently moved the trial court to compel arbitration pursuant to the arbitration provision in the client agreement Honea had signed, noting that the client agreement was “a contract evidencing transactions involving interstate commerce and [that those transactions] therefore are subject to the provisions of the Federal Arbitration Act, 9 U.S.C. section 1, et seq.” The trial court granted the motion, and Honea thereafter pursued her claims in arbitration.

The final arbitration hearing was conducted over three days beginning on December 18, 2007. On January 3, 2008, the three-member arbitration panel unanimously entered an award in favor of RJFS, dismissing Honea’s breach-of-fiduciary-duty, negligence, wantonness, fraud, and Alabama Securities Act claims with prejudice, and denying her breach-of-contract claim based on the statute of limitations. On January 14, 2008, Honea filed a motion in the Jefferson Circuit Court seeking to vacate the decision of the arbitrators, i.e., the arbitration award, arguing that the arbitrators had manifestly disregarded the law and that one of the arbitrators was biased in favor of RJFS, because, Honea alleged, his law firm did substantial work for another financial institution alleged to be in merger negotiations with Raymond James. RJFS opposed Honea’s motion, arguing that the arbitration award was supported by both the law and the evidence and that there was no evidence of bias on the part of the one arbitrator because the speculative allegation regarding merger negotiations was wholly untrue.

The trial court originally scheduled a hearing for Honea’s motion to vacate the arbitration award for March 28, 2008; however, for reasons including the difficulty the parties had in obtaining a transcript of the arbitration proceedings, that hearing was repeatedly continued. On October 17, 2008, Honea filed an additional motion with the trial court asking it to conduct a de novo review of the arbitration award pursuant to paragraph (c) of the arbitration provision in the client agreement, quoted supra, which specifically authorized such a review by the trial court if “the arbitrators do not award damages and the amount of [the client’s] loss of principal exceeds $100,000.” On October 31, 2008, RJFS filed its response, citing Hall Street Associates, L.L.C. v. Mattel, Inc., 552 U.S. 576, 128 S.Ct. 1396, 170 L.Ed.2d 254 (2008), for the propositions (1) that manifest disregard of the law is not a valid ground for seeking the vacatur of an arbi[1164]*1164tration award; and (2) that the Federal Arbitration Act, 9 U.S.C. § 1 et seq. (“the FAA”), provides the exclusive grounds for seeking judicial review of arbitration awards in Alabama and parties may not expand those grounds by contract to provide for de novo judicial review of such awards. RJFS also repeated its argument that there was no evidence indicating that any of the arbitrators were biased in favor of RJFS.

On November 7, 2008, the trial court held a hearing on Honea’s motion to vacate the arbitration award. At that hearing, Honea reasserted the arguments she had previously made and also argued that the arbitration award should be vacated because, she alleged, the three-member arbitration panel consisted of two “non-public” arbitrators, in violation of the specific arbitration rules of the National Association of Securities Dealers (“NASD”), which governed the arbitration proceedings.1 On July 20, 2009, the trial court issued an order concluding that Honea was entitled to a de novo review of the arbitration award and that the arbitration proceeding had not been conducted pursuant to NASD rules. The trial court accordingly vacated the award that had been entered in favor of RJFS and scheduled a future status conference for the purpose of setting the matter for trial. On August 27, 2009, RJFS filed this appeal. See Rule 71B(g), Ala. R. Civ. P.

II.

In Hereford v. D.R. Horton, Inc., 13 So.3d 375, 378 (Ala.2009), this Court described the standard of review applicable to an order confirming or vacating an arbitration award as follows:

“The standard by which an appellate court reviews a trial court’s order confirming [or vacating] an arbitration award under the Federal Arbitration Act is that questions of law are reviewed de novo and findings of fact are reviewed only for clear error. See Riccard v. Prudential Ins. Co.,

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Raymond James Financial Services, Inc. v. Honea
55 So. 3d 1161 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 2010)

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Bluebook (online)
55 So. 3d 1161, 2010 Ala. LEXIS 99, 2010 WL 2471019, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/raymond-james-financial-services-inc-v-honea-ala-2010.