Bittner v. Superior Court (Galati)

In Bittner v. Superior Court (Galati), 182 Ariz. 434, 436, 897 P.2d 736, 738 (App. 1995), the mislabeling of an award was analyzed in the context of whether an appeal from an arbitrator's award was untimely. Bittner, 182 Ariz. at 435, 897 P.2d at 737. An arbitrator first filed an "Arbitration Award" with the court but the award failed to provide for costs to the prevailing party. Id. at 436, 897 P.2d at 738. On the same day, the prevailing party was instructed to submit an affidavit in support of attorney fees and costs. Id. After the submittal, the arbitrator filed an "Amended Arbitration Award," which included costs. Id. The non-prevailing party appealed after the "Amended Arbitration Award." Id. The court held that the mislabeling of the awards was not fatal to the appeal because the "Arbitration Award" was not intended to be the final award from which a party could appeal and given the absence of costs in that award, it would have been impossible to treat it as final. Id.