Stewart Title Guaranty Co. v. Tilden

2003 WY 31, 64 P.3d 739, 2003 WL 731690
CourtWyoming Supreme Court
DecidedMarch 5, 2003
Docket02-37
StatusPublished
Cited by40 cases

This text of 2003 WY 31 (Stewart Title Guaranty Co. v. Tilden) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Wyoming Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Stewart Title Guaranty Co. v. Tilden, 2003 WY 31, 64 P.3d 739, 2003 WL 731690 (Wyo. 2003).

Opinion

GOLDEN, Justice.

[¶ 1] The primary issue in this appeal is whether the satisfaction of an arbitration award of costs precludes a district court from confirming the award as a judgment under Wyoming’s Arbitration Act. We conclude that when an arbitration award for costs has been satisfied and no controversy remains, the doctrine of mootness prohibits the district court from entering judgment. We reverse the order confirming the award and remand for dismissal.

ISSUES

[¶ 2] Appellant Stewart Title Guaranty Company (Stewart) presents this statement of the issues:

I. A party must demonstrate injury in fact in order to have standing to bring an action in the court system. Roe v. Board of County Comm’rs, 997 P.2d 1021, 1021 (Wyo.2000). Stewart Title previously satisfied all obligations to Tilden which were entered in an underlying arbitration proceeding. Did the District Court properly enter judgment on a prior arbitration award, when no unsatisfied duties or obligations existed as between the parties?
II. The Wyoming Arbitration Act is designed to allow litigants to reduce an arbitration award to judgment so that they can obtain the relief ordered by the arbitrator. The Arbitration Act does not provide authority for the Judgment entered by the District Court because the Arbitration Award had been previously satisfied. Does the Wyoming Arbitration Act require that a district court enter a judgment on an arbitration award that has been previously satisfied?

Appellee Samuel J. Tilden (Tilden) states that the issues are:

1. Did the District Court correctly construe the language of W.S. § 1-36-102 and 1-36-113 of the Wyoming Uniform Arbitration Act?
2. Having neglected to seek review of the arbitration findings within the time permitted by the Uniform Arbitration Act, was the Company bound by its own Title Policy’s express consent to entry of judgment on the arbitration award?
*741 3. Was there reasonable basis for the arguments Stewart Title presented in the Brief of Appellant?
4. Should Tilden be awarded fees on appeal?

PACTS

[¶ 3] In May of 1998, Tilden informed Stewart of a title defect. Two years later, an arbitration award determined that insurance coverage existed, and Stewart cured the title defect. A few months later, on December 5, 2000, a final arbitration award determined that Stewart failed to cure the title defect in a reasonably diligent manner, but that Tilden had suffered no actual damages. Both parties had deposited an amount for arbitration fees and costs, and the final arbitration award ordered Stewart to pay Tilden’s share of those fees and costs in an amount of $5,299.20. One week later, on December 12, 2000, Stewart paid that amount to Tilden.

[¶ 4] Many months later, Tilden filed an application for confirmation of the arbitration award pursuant to Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 1-36-113. Stewart objected on grounds that its earlier satisfaction of the award rendered the controversy moot and the district court was without jurisdiction to enter the award confirmation. The district court found that Stewart’s objections included a claim that the arbitration proceedings were defective, decided this claim was tantamount to a request for the court to review, and concluded that the claim proved that mootness was not at issue. It held that the statutory time frame for such a review had expired and summarily confirmed the arbitration award. Stewart appealed.

DISCUSSION

[¶ 5] Wyoming’s Uniform Arbitration Act (Act), Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 1-36-101 through 1-36-119, provides for confirmation of an arbitration award by a district court having jurisdiction under Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 1-36-113 (Lexis 1999) which states, in pertinent part:

Upon application of a party the court shall confirm the award unless within the time limits allowed grounds are urged for vacating or modifying the award[.]

Stewart contends that Tilden did not have standing to request confirmation of a satisfied award and the district court did not have jurisdiction to confirm a satisfied award. These contentions present a question of law, requiring statutory interpretation of the Act.

[¶ 6] A question of law is reviewed de novo by this Court as an exercise of its plenary authority, and no deference is given to the district court’s determination that it could confirm a satisfied arbitration award. Pecha v. Smith, Keller & Associates, 942 P.2d 387, 390 (Wyo.1997). Absent ambiguity, we do not construe the statute but will rely on its plain language alone to ascertain its meaning. LePage v. State Dep’t of Health, 2001 WY 26, ¶ 10, 18 P.3d 1177, ¶ 10 (Wyo.2001). The statute directs the court to confirm an award unless it is petitioned to vacate or modify the award. We have previously decided that judicial review of arbitration awards is limited and an award can only be vacated, modified or corrected as provided by statute. Dorr, Keller, Bentley & Pecha v. Dorr, Bentley & Pecha, 841 P.2d 811, 817-18 (Wyo.1992). The statutory grounds for vacating or modifying an award are not relevant here because Stewart’s only contention on appeal is that the district court was without power to confirm the award.

[¶ 7] The authorities generally agree that the purpose of confirming an award is to provide a judgment that can be enforced through court proceedings. Kutch v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 960 P.2d 93, 98-99 (Colo.1998). Usually, the arbitration agreement under which the parties operate provides for resolution by an award, and a breach permits judicial involvement to confirm the award and permit enforcement. Id. Wyoming statute provides the mechanism for a confirmation, and the statute uses the language, “shall,” which is usually accepted by this Court as mandatory. LePage, ¶ 11. The statute mandates that a district court confirm the award upon petition and does not state that the district court may reject a confirmation motion and dismiss it. See Kenneth W. Brooks Trust v. Pacific Media LLC, 111 Wash.App. 393, 44 P.3d 938, 941 *742 (2002). Accordingly, it cannot be found that Tilden did not have standing or that the district court did not have jurisdiction to enter a confirmation. The purpose of the statute, however, is to provide a means for enforcement of an unsatisfied award by means of court-ordered judgment. If the trial court confirms the award, it must then enter a consistent judgment for enforcement. Id.

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2003 WY 31, 64 P.3d 739, 2003 WL 731690, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/stewart-title-guaranty-co-v-tilden-wyo-2003.