Wilson v. Greyhound Bus Lines, Inc.

Decision Date05 September 2002
Docket NumberNo. 2001-CP-00124-SCT.,2001-CP-00124-SCT.
Citation830 So.2d 1151
PartiesRomain Powell WILSON v. GREYHOUND BUS LINES, INC.
CourtMississippi Supreme Court

Romain Powell Wilson, Pro se attorney for appellant.

John Benton Clark, Jackson, attorney for appellee.

Before SMITH, P.J., CARLSON and GRAVES, JJ.

CARLSON, J., for the court.

¶ 1. Feeling aggrieved by the circuit court's entry of its Judgment Confirming Arbitration Award and Compelling Settlement, Romain Powell Wilson (Wilson) has appealed to this Court, pro se. Greyhound Bus Lines, Inc. (Greyhound) has crossappealed, requesting attorneys' fees and costs based on Wilson's actions. We find no error on the direct appeal or the crossappeal. We affirm the judgment and the circuit court's refusal to award attorneys' fees and costs to Greyhound. However, we enforce the mandatory 15% statutory penalty required by Miss.Code Ann. § 11-3-23 (2002), on the already satisfied judgment by granting judgment here to Greyhound against Wilson for $6,975.

FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS BELOW

¶ 2. On May 3, 1995, Wilson was involved in a lane-changing collision with a Greyhound bus on U.S. Highway 90 in Ocean Springs. She consulted an attorney, who referred her to a second attorney, who in fact filed the subject lawsuit. The second attorney recommended a $5,000.00 settlement, which evidently so upset Wilson that she fired the second attorney and filed a bar complaint against him. Wilson then discussed her case with a third attorney who referred her to a fourth attorney, Walter L. Nixon, Jr., who became her attorney of record for the litigation. Wilson, through counsel, filed her Complaint for Damages in the Circuit Court of Jackson County, Mississippi, on March 4, 1996. Supposedly by agreement of the parties and counsel, this case went to binding arbitration and a hearing was conducted before the arbitrator, Wynn E. Clark, on June 29, 2000. The arbitrator subsequently entered his 13 page "Arbitration Award", dated September 19, 2000, which awarded Wilson $46,500 in damages. After Wilson refused to accept the award and sign the necessary release documents, Greyhound interpled its check for $46,500 into the registry of the circuit court and filed a motion to confirm arbitration award and compel settlement, which motion was heard by the circuit court on November 2, 2000. Although she disputes understanding the effect of her actions, Wilson admits that she signed a letter dated February 18, 1999, addressed to Nixon. The letter, which was received into evidence at the circuit court evidentiary hearing, stated:

You are hereby authorized to enter into binding arbitration of the above-captioned claim with an arbitrator to be agreed upon between you and a representative of Greyhound Lines. I do not desire that a counter offer be made to Greyhound at this time.

¶ 3. Likewise received into evidence at the circuit court hearing of November 2, 2000, was a letter dated June 23, 2000, from one of Greyhound's attorneys to Nixon. The letter discussed the proposed procedures at the upcoming arbitration hearing and also discussed a "high/low" settlement agreement which would not be revealed to the arbitrator. According to the letter, in the event that the arbitrator's award was less than $30,000, Greyhound would pay $30,000; if the arbitrator's award was over $100,000, Greyhound would pay $100,000; if the arbitrator's award was between $30,000 and $100,000, Greyhound would pay the amount of the award. Again, although disputed by Wilson, Nixon, who was allowed by the trial court to withdraw as Wilson's counsel prior to the circuit court hearing, testified at the hearing that Wilson approved of the terms of the binding arbitration hearing and the "high/low settlement agreement." At the circuit court evidentiary hearing, the arbitrator testified that prior to commencing the arbitration hearing on June 29, 2000, he explained to Wilson and all present that binding arbitration meant that the parties were "foregoing their right to a jury trial," and that he would probably end up making a decision that "may not please everybody."

¶ 4. Also at the evidentiary hearing before the circuit court, a sworn affidavit signed by Virginia S. Myers James, also known as Jenny Myers (Myers), was received into evidence. Myers had worked as a paralegal with several Gulf Coast attorneys, including Nixon, but by the time of the evidentiary hearing of November 2, 2000, Myers had moved to Colorado. Wilson stated that Myers was someone whom she (Wilson) liked and trusted. The sworn affidavit of Myers stated in pertinent part:

That she [Myers] performed certain paralegal services for Attorney Walter L. Nixon, Jr., and worked on a matter involving his client, Romain Wilson. That during the process of reviewing and organizing that case file, Affiant [Myers] distinctly remembers seeing the contingency fee contract for 40% which was signed by Mrs. Wilson.
That in February, 1999, Affiant attended a meeting between Attorney Nixon and his client, Romain Wilson, to review Mrs. Wilson's pending lawsuit.
That during that meeting in his office, Mr. Nixon explained to Mrs. Wilson the entire process of binding arbitration, all its ramifications and her rights. He further explained in detail the fact that the decision of the arbitrator would be final and binding and that once a decision was reached there would be no appeal and no subsequent court trial.
Affiant distinctly recalls that Mrs. Wilson stated that she didn't think she could go to trial because of her health problems and that such a trial would be too stressful. At the conclusion of the meeting Mrs. Wilson agreed to binding arbitration and signed a statement in Affiant's presence to that effect.

¶ 5. At the conclusion of the evidentiary hearing, the trial court took the matter under advisement, and on January 9, 2001, the trial court entered its Judgment Confirming Arbitration Award and Compelling Settlement. Also as revealed in the 13 page Arbitration Award which memorialized the arbitration hearing, and as revealed at the circuit court evidentiary hearing, Wilson had numerous pre-existing injuries and conditions dating back to the early 1980's, and she had numerous surgical procedures. Although Greyhound initially denied liability in the lawsuit, it admitted liability for the purposes of the arbitration hearing; therefore, there was no issue as to liability or contributory negligence. However, the record clearly reveals that Wilson's numerous pre-existing injuries/conditions and surgical procedures affected the award of the arbitrator. The trial court's judgment confirmed the arbitration award, enforced the settlement agreement, directed Wilson to execute the release documents and satisfaction of judgment, directed the net proceeds to be distributed to Wilson, after which the case would be dismissed, with prejudice, and denied Greyhound's request for attorneys' fees and costs. The judgment further directed the Circuit Clerk of Jackson County to take the necessary action to effectuate the judgment in the event that Wilson did not take action in accordance with the provisions of the judgment. Indeed, based on Wilson's inaction, the Circuit Clerk was eventually required to sign the release and satisfaction of judgment and to disburse the settlement proceeds. After deduction for attorney's fees (for Wilson's attorney), medical liens and court costs, Wilson received approximately $23,000.

¶ 6. It is from the trial court's entry of the Judgment Confirming Arbitration Award and Compelling Settlement that Wilson appeals to us because of her dissatisfaction with the case being submitted to binding arbitration and with the amount of the arbitration award. Wilson maintains that she did not understand arbitration and that she was dissatisfied with the whole arbitration procedure, including the amount of the award. Greyhound crossappeals from the trial court's failure to award it attorneys' fees and costs.

DISCUSSION

¶ 7. Wilson's pro se brief raises several issues which can be summarized as follows (1) The circuit court should be reversed; (2) an attorney not of her choosing or under contract took four years to bring any legal action in her case; (3) the circuit court was unconcerned about the length of time required for arbitration, which was done against her wishes; (4) the circuit court denied her proposed record corrections for appeal purposes; (5) the binding arbitration was the first legal action taken by the attorneys and was done without her consent; and, (6) the circuit court erred in that Greyhound was never shown to be responsible for the accident.

¶ 8. Notwithstanding Wilson's claims, which are without merit based on the record before us, we determine the primary issue on Wilson's direct appeal to be as follows:

I. WHETHER THERE WAS ANY ERROR REACHING THE ABUSE OF DISCRETION STANDARD IN THE TRIAL COURT AND WHETHER THE ARBITRATION WAS BINDING ON WILSON.

¶ 9. In Illinois Cent. R.R. v. Travis, 808 So.2d 928, 931 (Miss.2002), we stated: "A circuit court judge sitting without a jury is accorded the same deference with regard to his findings as a chancellor," and his findings are safe on appeal where they are supported by substantial, credible, and reasonable evidence, see City of Jackson v. Perry, 764 So.2d 373, 376 (Miss.2000)

; Puckett v. Stuckey, 633 So.2d 978, 982 (Miss.1993); Sweet Home Water & Sewer Ass'n v. Lexington Estates, Ltd., 613 So.2d 864, 872 (Miss.1993); Allied Steel Corp. v. Cooper, 607 So.2d 113, 119 (Miss.1992). "This Court will not disturb those findings unless they are manifestly wrong, clearly erroneous or an erroneous legal standard was applied." Bell v. City of Bay St. Louis, 467 So.2d 657, 661 (Miss. 1985). Additionally, in arbitration cases, we have held that the scope of review is extremely limited. "The scope of judicial review of an arbitration award is quite narrow, and `every reasonable presumption will be indulged...

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