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A United States District Court in Utah held that a party is not entitled to recover attorneys’ fees incurred in obtaining arbitration award confirmation where a challenge to the award was partly successful.
In Youngs v. Behnken, No. 1:04-CV-00183PGC, 2006 WL 3421875 (D. Utah Nov. 27, 2006), Youngs and Behnken were involved in an arbitration proceeding and an award was issued in favor of Youngs. Behnken challenged the award, but the award was confirmed in almost its entirety. However, the Court corrected an error in the relative percentage of ownership interest.
Under Utah law, a party who prevailed in a challenge to an arbitration award may receive a grant of attorneys' fees. Utah Code Ann. § 78-31a-126(3). Such a grant or denial is in the court’s discretion. Court rejected Youngs’ argument that he should be granted attorneys’ fees because the arbitration award was confirmed in part, and rejected Behnken’s reasons for vacating the award. The arbitration award included an error…that would have remained but for the defendants' challenge to the award.” Although Youngs was successful in part; Behnken prevailed as well. Because the Court modified the award to correct the percentage of ownership interest, Youngs was “not entitled to attorneys' fees in defending against [Behnken's] challenge to the arbitration award” and the fee motion was denied.
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