In a rural corner of Alabama, four different mobile home manufacturers get sued for alleged defects and independently agree to accept arbitration of the lawsuits. Each of them then gets whacked by the arbitrator for an award ranging from $360,000 to $590,000, even though the plaintiff’s own expert didn’t claim damages to any of the mobile homes exceeding $5,000. After the companies learn of each other’s misfortune, they begin comparing notes. “What they found, according to court records, were startling similarities in the cases, including undisclosed connections between the arbitrator, Grove Hill lawyer Spencer Walker, and Butler lawyer Jeff Utsey, the plaintiff’s attorney in all four cases. … In a blistering affidavit cited prominently in the [Alabama] Supreme Court’s decision [a unanimous decision in February to reopen one of the cases], Birmingham lawyer Joel Williams laid out evidence to support his contention that the awards resulted from a secret deal between Walker and Utsey, and that the men received assistance from a third lawyer, David Jordan of Brewton. …’The facts strongly suggest that this general plot to “set up” manufacturers was hatched in early 1999,’ Williams stated in his affidavit.” Perhaps even more remarkable, it seems the state bar association blessed attorney Utsey’s questionable conduct beforehand in an opinion letter in that year. This one looks like it will be worth watching (Eddie Curran, “Arbitration awards raise questions”, Mobile Register, Sept. 21).

Filed under: Alabama, arbitration