Confirmation & enforcement of an arbitration award; Court review of arbitration awards; Michigan Dep’t of State Police v Michigan State Police Troopers Ass’n; Abandonment & waiver; American Arbitration Association (AAA)

The court held that the trial court did not err in granting plaintiff-Cornwell’s motion to confirm and enforce the arbitration award in this dispute arising from a franchise agreement. Cornwell manufactures and distributes auto repair tools. It entered into the franchise agreement with defendants-Karrips and their company, DK. “After a dispute arose regarding DK and the Karrips’ alleged failure to pay Cornwell for inventory, the parties participated in” an arbitration hearing before the AAA. “The arbitrator awarded Cornwell roughly $91,000 in addition to prejudgment and postjudgment interest.” Cornwell then filed suit to confirm and enforce the award. In response, defendants contended “they never executed a valid arbitration agreement” and filed a counterclaim. The court affirmed “the trial court’s decisions to enforce the arbitration award and dismiss the Karrips’ counterclaim on summary disposition for several reasons.” It found that the Karrips “abandoned these issues by failing to address the underlying merits of the trial court’s orders, and they waived any challenge to the trial court’s decisions on the basis of their former attorney’s alleged legal malpractice. Additionally, the arbitrator did not exceed his authority or commit a legal error apparent on the face of the arbitration award. And the trial court correctly dismissed the Karrips’ counterclaim on summary disposition because it arose from the parties’ franchise agreement and was subject to arbitration.” They alleged in the counterclaim “that Cornwell deliberately sabotaged their business by neglecting to fulfill product orders, interfering with sales, and requiring them to use faulty software that ruined multiple computers.” Thus, this claim arose from “the parties’ franchise agreement and was subject to arbitration.”