In September, the Colorado Courtroom of Appeals discovered itself coping with yet one more case whereby one facet wished the case determined by arbitration and the opposite facet wished the case determined by a court docket.
The information within the case went like this. In August 2020, Debra Wooden died in a hearth at her house in Clifton, east of Grand Junction. The hearth was attributable to {an electrical} downside in a window air conditioner in poor situation. The house owners of the house constructing had beforehand been advised the constructing, which contained 4 rental models, was in want of $20,000 in electrical upgrades. Nonetheless, these upgrades had not been made.
Additionally, the constructing didn’t have a sprinkler system or smoke detectors, and Wooden’s house had just one exit. Wooden died of smoke inhalation earlier than she made it to the exit.
Wooden’s two daughters, Religion and Grace, sued the house owners of the constructing for the wrongful dying of their mom. The constructing house owners — the defendants within the case — filed a movement asking the Mesa County District Courtroom to dismiss the lawsuit and order the events to arbitration. This movement was primarily based on language in Debra Wooden’s lease stating that every one disputes “arising in connection” with the lease had been topic to binding arbitration.
The District Courtroom decide denied the defendants’ movement they usually appealed. The Colorado Courtroom of Appeals affirmed the District Courtroom’s ruling, concluding that the daughters’ claims had been ruled by a Colorado statute — the Premises Legal responsibility Act — and due to this fact the binding arbitration provision within the lease didn’t apply. The Premises Legal responsibility Act, the court docket famous, solely units forth the duties property house owners owe to somebody injured at their property and takes precedence over another contractual or noncontractual duties.
So, you would possibly ask, why do folks put arbitration provisions of their contracts? It’s as a result of, in principle a minimum of, arbitration is inexpensive and extra expeditious than a lawsuit within the courts. Plus, with arbitration, there is no such thing as a jury. A single arbitrator (and typically a panel of three arbitrators) will determine the case. As well as, arbitration eliminates the chance of a category motion.
However if you happen to’re a claimant in a authorized dispute, you would possibly very properly desire a jury deciding your case. And you’ll positively fear about the truth that with arbitration there is no such thing as a proper of enchantment. In a authorized dispute determined by a court docket, there can be a decide overseeing the continuing who will know the next court docket is trying over his (or her) shoulder and anticipating the decide to make choices primarily based on guidelines of legislation put in place by a legislature or via judicial precedent. Against this, arbitrators know there can be no enchantment, making a temptation to see justice carried out primarily based on one thing apart from the cautious software of present guidelines of legislation.
Happily, most arbitrators have a minimum of some coaching within the legislation and they’re, with uncommon exception, honest and moral. Nonetheless, as a result of there is no such thing as a proper of enchantment, if an arbitrator (having a nasty day) reads a statute that claims “black” to imply “white,” there may be nothing the shedding facet can do about it.
In any occasion, except the Colorado Supreme Courtroom reverses the Courtroom of Appeals, the legal responsibility, if any, of the house constructing house owners for the dying of Debra Wooden can be determined within the Mesa County District Courtroom and never via an arbitration continuing.
Jim Flynn is a enterprise columnist. He’s of counsel with the Colorado Springs agency Flynn & Wright LLC. He will be contacted at moneylaw@jtflynn.com.
