Moncharch Discretion To Arbitration Decisions Ultimately Prevailed.
No huge recitation of the facts or conclusion is required in Axten v. Axten, Case No. D073089 (4th Dist., Div. 1 Oct. 30, 2018) (unpublished). What basically happened was that one party obtained an arbitration award of $94,972 in attorney’s fees under a settlement agreement fees clause on one disputed matter (although the other disputed matter went the other way). The losing party claimed she should be awarded $99,322.50 in fees for prevailing in the matter not won by the prevailing party. The problem was that the arbitrator denied the latter fee request. In the end, even though some procedural challenges might have won the day anyway, the arbitrator’s merits determinations were unassailable such that the arbitrator did not act in excess of jurisdiction in ruling as the arbitrator did.