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Gepaya v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co.12/20/2000
18 (1969) (affirming arbitration award even though the arbitrators "may have erred in the determination of fact and . . . the application of the law" in determining the award)(internal quotations omitted); Gadd v. Kelley, 66 Haw. 431, 443, 667 P.2d 251, 259 (1983) (rejecting a contention that arbitrators exceeded their authority in valuation of land, prevailing rate of return on the land and the effective valuation dates); Kalawaia v. AIG Hawaii Ins. Co., 90 Hawaii 167, 173, 977 P.2d 175, 181 (1999) (rejecting circuit court's award of prejudgement interest because the arbitration award itself encompassed any applicable prejudgement interest)). The majority apparently perceives the circuit court's actions in this case as attacking the merits of the award. The deductibility issue, however, does not implicate the merits of the award itself because the amount of the award was explicitly determined without consideration of extraneous factors such as the covered loss deductible statute. If, for example, the circuit court had increased or reduced the amount of the award because it felt that the arbitrators incorrectly determined the extent of injuries to the Gepayas, that action would be an attack on the merits of the arbitration award. However, where the application of the circuit court's ruling regarding the deductibility issue results in a reduction or set-off against the award, as was the case here, such action is not an attack immune from judicial review. The policy of judicial noninterference with arbitration awards is not undermined by the circuit court's decision that the covered loss deductible applied -- an issue that the arbitrators acknowledged was not within the scope of their authority and that the circuit court had authority to decide upon request by the parties outside of arbitration.
Although neither of the parties have challenged the circuit court's authority in deciding the legal question, the majority, relying on Inlandboatmen's Union v. Sause Bros., Inc., 77 Hawaii 187, 191, 881 P.2d 1255, 1259 (App. 1994), notes that "we may notice plain error not presented[.]" Maj. op. at 7-8 (internal quotations omitted). Inlandboatmen's Union, however, also states that " he court shall take notice of a plain error when it is necessary to prevent a miscarriage of justice." Id. at 191, 881 P.2d at 1260 (internal citations omitted) (emphasis added). Here, no "miscarriage of justice" occurred where the parties received exactly the dispute resolution they sought from a court empowered to resolve their dispute. In fact, a far greater miscarriage of justice would occur by forcing the parties to go back and re-brief, re-argue, and possibly re-appeal an issue that has already been fully briefed, argued, decided in the circuit court, and is now ripe for review on appeal. The majority's holding today would not only result in a waste of judicial resources, but would increase the burden on the parties in terms of attorneys' fees and costs. In short, the majority's use of plain error to vacate the circuit court's decision in this case is not only inappropriate but counterproductive.
Because the circuit court had the authority to confirm the arbitration award and decide the legal question not considered by the arbitrators, I would address the merits of the issues properly before us and determine the outcome of the case accordingly.
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