{"id":742914,"date":"2015-05-13T06:09:43","date_gmt":"2015-05-13T12:09:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?p=742914"},"modified":"2015-05-06T14:11:19","modified_gmt":"2015-05-06T20:11:19","slug":"award-of-attorneys-fees-in-construction-dispute-founded-solely-on-aaa-rules","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/award-of-attorneys-fees-in-construction-dispute-founded-solely-on-aaa-rules\/","title":{"rendered":"Award of Attorneys\u2019 Fees in Construction Dispute Founded Solely on AAA Rules"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Kenneth A. Slavens | Husch Blackwell LLP | May 5, 2015<\/p>\n<p>On Tuesday, April 21, 2015, the Missouri Court of Appeals issued its decision in City of Chesterfield v. Frederich Construction Inc., et al. The Court of Appeals confirmed an arbitration award that included the payment of attorneys\u2019 fees despite the lack of contractual provision or statutory authority for such an award. The court held that the arbitrators had the authority to award fees because the AAA rules were incorporated into the parties\u2019 contract.<\/p>\n<p>City of Chesterfield v. Frederich Construction, Inc., et al.<\/p>\n<p>The owner and contractor in this construction dispute were parties to a contract that contained a provision stating that all disputes between the parties would be subject to arbitration under the Construction Industry Arbitration Rules of the American Arbitration Association (AAA). The AAA rules provide that arbitrators may award attorneys\u2019 fees \u201cif all parties have requested such an award or it is authorized by law or their arbitration agreement.\u201d R-45(d)(ii).<\/p>\n<p>When disputes arose on the construction project, the parties submitted the disputes to the AAA for arbitration in accordance with the contract. The contractor\u2019s demand for arbitration requested an award of attorneys\u2019 fees. The owner also requested attorneys\u2019 fees in its amended answer and also in its counterclaim. The owner argued that the prayers for attorneys\u2019 fees were merely boilerplate and that they did not constitute prayers for fees that would trigger R-45(d)(ii).<\/p>\n<p>In the final award, the arbitrators found in favor of the contractor and awarded the contractor attorneys\u2019 fees of just under $280,000. The arbitrators noted that there was no contractual provision authorizing the award of attorneys\u2019 fees, no statutory authority to award attorneys\u2019 fees, and no \u201cspecial circumstances\u201d that would justify the award of attorneys\u2019 fees. The arbitrators reasoned that they were authorized to award attorneys\u2019 fees because the parties\u2019 contract incorporated the AAA rules, which state that the arbitrators may award attorneys\u2019 fees if all parties request them. On review, the trial court confirmed the award, and on appeal, the Court of Appeals affirmed.<\/p>\n<p>The Court of Appeals held that in light of its standard of review, the only question it can resolve is: Did the arbitrators decide an issue that was within the scope of the parties\u2019 agreement? In this instance, the Court of Appeals decided that it did.<\/p>\n<p>The Court of Appeals held that, by incorporating the AAA rules into their agreement, the parties made the rules as much a part of the contract as any other provision. The parties\u2019 requests of attorneys\u2019 fees was sufficient to trigger the application of R-45(d)(ii). The decision is then up to the arbitrators to decide if the conditions of the rule were met. The Court of Appeals noted that even if it were permitted to review the arbitrators\u2019 decision on the application of R-45(d)(ii), it would agree that the award of attorneys\u2019 fees was proper.<\/p>\n<p>What This Means to You<\/p>\n<p>When a construction contract contains a provision that all disputes between the parties will be subject to arbitration under the Construction Industry Arbitration Rules of the AAA, caution needs to be exercised when filing a dispute with the AAA. As this case demonstrates, a party can unintentionally trigger the award of attorneys\u2019 fees even when such relief is absent from the contract and is not provided by statute. While this case happened in Missouri, the outcome is not necessarily state-specific given the national application of the AAA arbitration rules.<\/p>\n<p>via <a href=\"http:\/\/www.lexology.com\/library\/detail.aspx?g=69532ad3-57d0-4b9f-9ca3-e8fbb04922c8&amp;utm_source=Lexology+Daily+Newsfeed&amp;utm_medium=HTML+email+-+Other+states+section&amp;utm_campaign=Lexology+subscriber+daily+feed&amp;utm_content=Lexology+Daily+Newsfeed+2015-05-06&amp;utm_term=\">Award of attorneys\u2019 fees in construction dispute founded solely on AAA rules &#8211; Lexology<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Kenneth A. Slavens | Husch Blackwell LLP | May 5, 2015 On Tuesday, April 21, 2015, the Missouri Court of Appeals issued its decision in City of Chesterfield v. Frederich Construction Inc., et al. The Court of Appeals confirmed an arbitration award that included the payment of attorneys\u2019 fees despite the lack of contractual provision&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/award-of-attorneys-fees-in-construction-dispute-founded-solely-on-aaa-rules\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Award of Attorneys\u2019 Fees in Construction Dispute Founded Solely on AAA Rules<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[41,164],"tags":[42,528,224,164],"class_list":["post-742914","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-arbitration","category-construction-dispute","tag-arbitration-2","tag-attorney-fees","tag-construction-contract","tag-construction-dispute","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Award of Attorneys\u2019 Fees in Construction Dispute Founded Solely on AAA Rules  - Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/award-of-attorneys-fees-in-construction-dispute-founded-solely-on-aaa-rules\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Award of Attorneys\u2019 Fees in Construction Dispute Founded Solely on AAA Rules  - Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Kenneth A. Slavens | Husch Blackwell LLP | May 5, 2015 On Tuesday, April 21, 2015, the Missouri Court of Appeals issued its decision in City of Chesterfield v. Frederich Construction Inc., et al. The Court of Appeals confirmed an arbitration award that included the payment of attorneys\u2019 fees despite the lack of contractual provision&hellip; Continue reading Award of Attorneys\u2019 Fees in Construction Dispute Founded Solely on AAA Rules\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/award-of-attorneys-fees-in-construction-dispute-founded-solely-on-aaa-rules\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Advise-Consult-Inc-126949043996790\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-05-13T12:09:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@adviseconsult\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@adviseconsult\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/award-of-attorneys-fees-in-construction-dispute-founded-solely-on-aaa-rules\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/award-of-attorneys-fees-in-construction-dispute-founded-solely-on-aaa-rules\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0a11abe008083d5fb19c2b0feefe7bd7\"},\"headline\":\"Award of Attorneys\u2019 Fees in Construction Dispute Founded Solely on AAA Rules\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-05-13T12:09:43+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/award-of-attorneys-fees-in-construction-dispute-founded-solely-on-aaa-rules\/\"},\"wordCount\":604,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"arbitration\",\"Attorney Fees\",\"Construction Contract\",\"Construction Dispute\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Arbitration\",\"Construction Dispute\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/award-of-attorneys-fees-in-construction-dispute-founded-solely-on-aaa-rules\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/award-of-attorneys-fees-in-construction-dispute-founded-solely-on-aaa-rules\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/award-of-attorneys-fees-in-construction-dispute-founded-solely-on-aaa-rules\/\",\"name\":\"Award of Attorneys\u2019 Fees in Construction Dispute Founded Solely on AAA Rules - Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-05-13T12:09:43+00:00\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/award-of-attorneys-fees-in-construction-dispute-founded-solely-on-aaa-rules\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.\",\"description\":\"Construction Expert Witnesses\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Advise & Consult\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/AC-Red-Logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/AC-Red-Logo.png\",\"width\":162,\"height\":75,\"caption\":\"Advise & Consult\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Advise-Consult-Inc-126949043996790\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/adviseconsult\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company-beta\/204526\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/MrConstructionExpert\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0a11abe008083d5fb19c2b0feefe7bd7\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b01e71b7acadd7657af782b7ad1a30cc?s=96&d=mm&r=pg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b01e71b7acadd7657af782b7ad1a30cc?s=96&d=mm&r=pg\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.expertwitnessinconstruction.com\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Award of Attorneys\u2019 Fees in Construction Dispute Founded Solely on AAA Rules  - Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/award-of-attorneys-fees-in-construction-dispute-founded-solely-on-aaa-rules\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Award of Attorneys\u2019 Fees in Construction Dispute Founded Solely on AAA Rules  - Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.","og_description":"Kenneth A. Slavens | Husch Blackwell LLP | May 5, 2015 On Tuesday, April 21, 2015, the Missouri Court of Appeals issued its decision in City of Chesterfield v. Frederich Construction Inc., et al. The Court of Appeals confirmed an arbitration award that included the payment of attorneys\u2019 fees despite the lack of contractual provision&hellip; Continue reading Award of Attorneys\u2019 Fees in Construction Dispute Founded Solely on AAA Rules","og_url":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/award-of-attorneys-fees-in-construction-dispute-founded-solely-on-aaa-rules\/","og_site_name":"Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Advise-Consult-Inc-126949043996790\/","article_published_time":"2015-05-13T12:09:43+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@adviseconsult","twitter_site":"@adviseconsult","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/award-of-attorneys-fees-in-construction-dispute-founded-solely-on-aaa-rules\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/award-of-attorneys-fees-in-construction-dispute-founded-solely-on-aaa-rules\/"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0a11abe008083d5fb19c2b0feefe7bd7"},"headline":"Award of Attorneys\u2019 Fees in Construction Dispute Founded Solely on AAA Rules","datePublished":"2015-05-13T12:09:43+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/award-of-attorneys-fees-in-construction-dispute-founded-solely-on-aaa-rules\/"},"wordCount":604,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization"},"keywords":["arbitration","Attorney Fees","Construction Contract","Construction Dispute"],"articleSection":["Arbitration","Construction Dispute"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/award-of-attorneys-fees-in-construction-dispute-founded-solely-on-aaa-rules\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/award-of-attorneys-fees-in-construction-dispute-founded-solely-on-aaa-rules\/","url":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/award-of-attorneys-fees-in-construction-dispute-founded-solely-on-aaa-rules\/","name":"Award of Attorneys\u2019 Fees in Construction Dispute Founded Solely on AAA Rules - Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2015-05-13T12:09:43+00:00","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/award-of-attorneys-fees-in-construction-dispute-founded-solely-on-aaa-rules\/"]}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/","name":"Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.","description":"Construction Expert Witnesses","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Advise & Consult","url":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/AC-Red-Logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/AC-Red-Logo.png","width":162,"height":75,"caption":"Advise & Consult"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Advise-Consult-Inc-126949043996790\/","https:\/\/x.com\/adviseconsult","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company-beta\/204526\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/MrConstructionExpert"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0a11abe008083d5fb19c2b0feefe7bd7","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b01e71b7acadd7657af782b7ad1a30cc?s=96&d=mm&r=pg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b01e71b7acadd7657af782b7ad1a30cc?s=96&d=mm&r=pg","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/www.expertwitnessinconstruction.com"]}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2ztG6-37gu","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/742914","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=742914"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/742914\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=742914"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=742914"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=742914"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}