MONTGOMERY, Ala. (Legal Newsline) – The Supreme Court of Alabama has denied a petition for a writ of mandamus regarding the appeal of an arbitration award.
According to the Nov. 16 decision written by Justice James Allen Main, the petition, in reference to Jeremy Gowan v. Minton Industries, was denied because the high court said the issue raised in the petition is moot.
"There is nothing further for the (Calhoun) Circuit Court to do in this matter, and it has no jurisdiction to reset the case for a jury trial,” the ruling states. "Accordingly, the question whether Rule 71B permits a jury trial under the circumstances as presented in this petition for a writ of mandamus is now moot.”
The opinion states Gowan had entered into an arbitration agreement with Cavalier Home Builders, which does business as Minton Industries and Buccaneer Homes, regarding the sale of a manufactured home in February 2014. While an arbitration award of $10,000 was issued in favor of Gowan and against Buccaneer Homes in June 2017, the award was not immediately entered as the final judgment of the court. Moreover, the Circuit Court also set the case for a jury trial before the award was entered as a judgment.
Gowan filed an appeal in June 2017 stating the award was insufficient, but Buccaneer filed a motion to dismiss the appeal due to the deviation from the proper arbitration award procedure.
The Supreme Court said that while Gowan filed a post-judgment motion, it was denied by operation of law because the Circuit Court didn’t rule on his Rule 59 motion within 90 days
"Because Gowan's post-judgment motion has been denied by operation of law, the Circuit Court has no jurisdiction to enter any further orders in this case," the ruling states.
Justices Lyn Stuart, Michael Bolin, Tom Parker, Greg Shaw, Alisa Wise, Tommy Bryan, William Sellers and Brady Menheim Jr. concurred.