The Michigan Arbitration Act (MAA) often provides an efficient alternative to traditional civil litigation. Parties arbitrate their claims before either a single arbitrator or a panel of arbitrators. Once a decision is rendered, the parties are bound by the arbitrator’s decision. The tricky part comes in enforcing the decision. If the defendant is unwilling to comply with the arbitrators’ decision, the plaintiff must seek confirmation of the award by a court under MCR 3.602(I). Once a judgment is entered by the Court based on an arbitration award, the judgment can be enforced in the same manner as any other judgment.
A recent ruling by the Michigan Court of Appeals, Jaguar Trading Limited Partnership v. Presler (Aug. 3, 2010), clarified the steps a plaintiff must take in order to enforce or confirm an arbitration award. The plaintiff simply filed the Michigan Court Form 284, (Binding Arbitration Award), provided by the State Court Administrator’s Office. The plaintiff did not file a complaint with the Court. The Court of Appeals held that the plaintiff was in error by failing to file a Complaint. The Court of Appeals held that a plaintiff must timely file a complaint pursuant to MCL 600.1901 and MCR 2.101(B) in order to invoke the trial court’s jurisdiction.
Future plaintiffs must be aware that simply filing a Form 284 with the trial court is not sufficient. In order to effectively preserve the rights associated with enforcing an arbitration agreement, plaintiffs must file a complaint with the trial court. This must be done within one year after the arbitration award in order to avoid any argument that the effort to enforce the arbitration award is untimely.
This article was written by Matthew Ehrlich, Legal Clerk at Demorest Law Firm.
