New England Property Services Group, LLC v. Vermont Mutual Insurance Company

Syllabus

The plaintiff, New England Property Services Group, LLC (plaintiff), appealed from a Superior Court order denying its motion for reconsideration of a previous order denying its motion to confirm an appraisal award and granting the defendant, Vermont Mutual Insurance Company's (defendant), motion to vacate the award. The plaintiff argued, inter alia, that the Superior Court lacked jurisdiction under the Arbitration Act to vacate the award because the insurance policy did not contain language requiring the parties' appraisers to be \disinterested.\ The defendant countered that the omission of the word \disinterested\ was insufficient to take the proceeding out of the arbitration context and that plaintiff had previously attempted to invoke the jurisdiction of the Arbitration Act to confirm the award. The Supreme Court held that the Superior Court had jurisdiction to vacate the award and that plaintiff should refrain from attempting to gain an unfair advantage by arguing inconsistent positions in the same proceeding. Accordingly, the Supreme Court affirmed the order of the Superior Court.