One Can Prevail For Purposes of Getting Postarbitration Fees Even If the Arbitrator Awarded No Fees For Arbitration Work.
Justice Ikola, on behalf of a 3-0 panel in Toal v. Tardif, Case No. G044823 (4th Dist., Div. 3 Mar. 29, 2012) (unpublished), drew an important distinction for parties involved in arbitration: even if an arbitrator denies an award of fees to the prevailing party in an arbitration–which he/she can do–this does not mean that the prevailing party cannot gain fees for work in obtaining judicial confirmation of the arbitration award. (Carole Ring & Associates v. Nicastro, 87 Cal.App.4th 253, 254-257, 261-262 (2001).) Given that there was a broad fees clause in the context of the dispute, the lower court’s denial of postarbitration fees was reversed, with a chance for the prevailing party to recoup about $32,000 in requested postarbitration fees.
The case is also the subject of a blog post on California Mediation and Arbitration.