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An "advisory" portion of an arbitrator's written opinion on issues outside the scope of the arbitration should not be considered part of the arbitration award that is enforceable upon confirmation, according to the California Court of Appeal.
In Amador v. Charter, No. A114181, 2007 WL 2063113 (Cal. Ct. App. July 19, 2007), a dispute arose between the parties regarding land easements. The dispute was resolved through arbitration, resulting in the entry of an award. The written opinion by the arbitrator contained certain statements regarding the status of the easements that were outside the scope of the arbitration, and were designated by the arbitrator as "advisory in nature." Amador petitioned the trial court for confirmation of the award, opposed by Charter because the particular form of the award presented to the court did not include the conclusions in the "advisory" portion of the written opinion. The trial court granted the petition, and Charter appealed.
The Court affirmed the confirmation of the award, rejecting Charter's argument that the court impermissibly summarized and paraphrased the award by omitting the content in the advisory portion of the written opinion. Since the arbitrator labeled the disputed portion as "advisory," the trial court was correct to omit those portions as outside the scope of arbitrable issues, deferring to the arbitrator's own determination of his scope of authority.
The Court also distinguished between an arbitration award and its written opinion, rebuffing Charter's presumption that both are one and the same. The Court analogized an award and written opinion to a court's judgment and its statement of opinion. As comments in a court's statement of opinion are not necessarily binding in a judgment, comments within an arbitrator's written opinion not necessarily binding in an award, if outside the scope of issues presented in the proceeding. The Court also observed that equating a written opinion to an award would render statutory provisions clearly distinguishing the two superfluous.
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