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Old Republic Ins. Co. v. St. Paul Fire & Marine Ins. Co.5/17/1996
RYLAARSDAM, J.
Two insurance carriers entered into a stipulation for "arbitration by a special master" and, by their stipulation, purported to confer jurisdiction on this court to conduct a plenary review of the purported master's decision. We hold they cannot do so and affirm the judgment.
FACTS
This is a dispute between two insurance carriers; one of them insured a truck, the other a trailer. They dispute which insurer is responsible for the costs of defense and the indemnity they paid in connection with two personal injury actions, and contest the amount of insurance coverage available. These suits resulted from the truck-trailer combination colliding with another vehicle. Because of the procedural posture of the case, we need not recite either the circumstances of the accident or the nature of the coverage afforded by each of the carriers.
Following settlement of the personal injury actions, Old Republic Insurance Company filed a complaint against St. Paul Fire & Marine Insurance Company seeking reimbursement for defense costs. Although the record does not contain a copy, a subsequent stipulation relates that St. Paul filed a cross-complaint for its defense costs and the amount it paid to settle the underlying actions.
Wisely, the parties immediately stipulated to have their dispute resolved pursuant to a stipulation for arbitration, appointing the Honorable Robert E. Rickles, retired Justice of the Court of Appeal, to act as the arbitrator. Not so wisely, St. Paul, disappointed with the decision of the arbitrator, now appeals from the judgment confirming the award and seeks to have this court determine Justice Rickles committed errors of law in reaching his decision. The short response to their quest is that we lack the jurisdiction to do so. ( Moncharsh v. Heily & Blase (1992) 3 Cal. 4th 1, 11-12 [10 Cal. Rptr. 2d 183, 832 P.2d 899].) However, the short answer will not here suffice because the parties, by their stipulation, which, although it limited the power of the trial court to review the decision of the arbitrator, purported to confer the power of plenary review upon this court.
The stipulation is entitled "Stipulation For Binding Arbitration Before Special Master." It provided all issues raised by the pleadings are "to be submitted to arbitration before a . . . Special Master," and that the arbitration was to be "governed by the provisions of California Rules of Court, Rules 1607, 1609, 1610, 1611, 1612, 1613, 1614 and 1615." In addition, the stipulation required the "Special Master" to "enter findings of fact and Conclusions of law." We quote the last three paragraphs of the stipulation in full:
"(7) The decision of the Special Master, including his findings of fact and Conclusions of law, will be treated by the parties as a Petition to the Court to enter the Special Master's decision as an award and judgment. The Court's review of the findings of fact and Conclusions of law submitted by the Special Master shall be governed by Code of Civil Procedure sections 1286, 1286.2, 1286.4, 1286.6, and 1286.8.
"(8) If the Court makes any changes or alterations to the findings of fact or Conclusions of law entered by the Special Master, these changes shall be noted on the award and judgment. Based upon such corrected award, judgment shall be entered pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure section 1287.4.
"(9) When such judgment is entered, the judgment shall be treated as a judgment of the Superior Court for all purposes, including, without limitation, the right of any party adversely affected by said judgment to seek review of the findings of fact, Conclusions of law, or judgment as if
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