Flores v. Barretto9/24/2002
icle accident and (2) that chiropractic and massage treatments pursuant to the plan were reasonable in light of those injuries. Moreover, the circuit court had already entered summary judgment in Flores's favor as to Barretto's negligence in causing the accident, and the circuit court found at trial that the accident caused Flores's injuries. Consequently, the issue of the compensability of treatment under the December 1993 Plan was identical in the arbitration and at trial.
B. Final Judgment on the Merits
In the present case, the arbitration proceeding was conducted pursuant to HRS chapter 658. See HRS § 431:10C-213 (1993). However, Barretto argues that the arbitrator's award had no preclusive effect on the trial court because the arbitrator's decision was not confirmed pursuant to HRS § 658-8 (1993) and, therefore, was not a final judgment according to HRS § 658-12 (1993). I disagree.
Barretto relies upon Oppenheimer v. AIG Hawaii Ins. Co., 77 Hawaii 88, 881 P.2d 1234 (1994), in which this court held that HRS § 658-12 allows direct appeals from orders confirming, modifying, or correcting an arbitration award. Id. at 92, 881 P.2d at 1238. However, appealability and finality are related but distinguishable concepts. See generally Labayog v. Labayog, 83 Hawaii 412, 422, 927 P.2d 420, 430 (App.), cert. dismissed, 83 Hawaii 545, 928 P.2d 39 (1996). Appellate jurisdiction and collateral estoppel implicate different policy concerns. For purposes of appellate jurisdiction, the requirement of a final judgment prevents piecemeal litigation. Jenkins v. Cades Schutte Fleming & Wright, 76 Hawaii 115, 118-19, 869 P.2d 1334, 1337-38 (1994) (citing Powers v. Ellis, 55 Haw. 414, 417, 520 P.2d 431, 433 (1974)). However, the purpose of collateral estoppel is to prevent inconsistent results, prevent duplicative litigation, and promote finality and judicial economy. See Dorrance, 90 Hawaii at 148-49, 976 P.2d at 909-10 (citations omitted). Thus, for purposes of collateral estoppel, the requirement of a final judgment ensures that the decision to be given preclusive effect is not tentative or subject to change. See Glover v. Fong, 42 Haw. 560, 574 (1958);see also Kauhane v. Acutron Co., Inc., 71 Haw. 458, 465, 795 P.2d 276, 279 (1990) (holding that, once the plaintiff withdrew his appeal, the circuit court's judgment became final for res judicata purposes); Silver v. Queens Hospital, 63 Haw. 430, 439-40, 629 P.2d 1116, 1123-24 (1981) (holding that the plaintiff's claims were barred by res judicata when the federal court's judgment was finalized by denial of his petition for certiorari). Therefore, to determine whether the arbitrator's decision in this case had preclusive effect on the trial court requires an examination as to whether the arbitrator's decision was tentative or subject to change.
This court has noted that:
An arbitration award is considered to be final when consideration of the submitted issues has been concluded and a resolution reached. Although there is no requirement that the award be self-executing, and although "it is not faulty because litigation may ensue in enforcing it," it should be "sufficiently definite that only ministerial acts of the parties are needed to carry it into effect," and "clear enough to indicate unequivocally what each party is required to do." Wayland Lum Constr., Inc. v. Kaneshige, 90 Hawaii 417, 424, 978 P.2d 855, 862 (1999) (citations omitted).
Here, the arbitrator resolved the issue submitted to him when he concluded that the treatment proposed under the December 1993 Plan was compensable. The award was sufficiently definite to indicate what each party was required to do, and AIG, in fact, paid for the disputed
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