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A state court in Connecticut held an arbitration panel's award granting a refund of attorney fees in an action brought by the attorney to collect a balance due did not exceed the authority of the arbitration panel.
In Alderman & Alderman v. Pollack, 100 Conn. App. 80 (Conn. App. Ct. Mar. 20, 2007), Pollack paid approximately $30,000 of a $53,000 legal bill from Alderman. Alderman sought payment of the balance, but an arbitration panel found for Pollack and ordered Alderman to refund $11,000 of the fees already paid.
Alderman claimed that the arbitration panel's award exceeded the scope of the parties' submission in ordering a refund because Pollack did not assert a counterclaim. However, the Court held that because Pollack had raised issues concerning the entire fee, and because Alderman had not explicitly limited the submission, the arbitration panel did not exceed its authority by ordering a refund.
Next, the Court noted that although the state statute requires that an arbitration award "shall state only the amount of the Award," it nowhere prohibits the arbitrators from issuing a written decision that includes findings.
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