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Rule 126. Appeal

Arizona Revised Statutes AnnotatedPima County Rules for the Fast Trial and Alternative Resolution (“Fastar”) Pilot ProgramEffective: December 31, 2021

Arizona Revised Statutes Annotated
Pima County Rules for the Fast Trial and Alternative Resolution (“Fastar”) Pilot Program
Part Three: Rules for Alternative Resolution
Effective: December 31, 2021
AZ A.R.S. Fast Trial and Alt.Res.Prog. Rules, Pima County, Rule 126
Rule 126. Appeal
Currentness
(a) Filing a Notice of Appeal.
(1) Plaintiff May Not Appeal. Except as provided in Rule 103(d), the plaintiff who filed a Certificate under Rule 103(b) and chose Alternative Resolution may not file a notice of appeal of a decision, award, or judgment that was entered in an Alternative Resolution proceeding.
(2) Other Parties May Appeal. Any other party who appears and participates in an Alternative Resolution proceeding may appeal an arbitrator's award by filing a notice of appeal. However, absent good cause, a party waives the right to appeal if the party fails to appear or to participate in good faith at the Alternative Resolution hearing. A notice of appeal must be entitled “Appeal from Alternative Resolution and Motion for Trial Setting.” The notice must request that the case be set for trial in the superior court and must state whether a jury trial is demanded and the estimated length of trial.
(b) Time for Filing. To appeal an award, a party must file a notice of appeal no later than 20 days after (1) the award is filed or (2) the date on which the notice of decision becomes an award under Rule 124(c), whichever occurs first.
(c) Deposit on Appeal. At the time of filing the notice of appeal, the appellant must deposit with the clerk a sum equal to one hearing day's compensation of the arbitrator or 10 percent of the amount in controversy, whichever is less. The court may waive the deposit only on a showing that the appellant is financially unable to make such a deposit.
(d) Appeal De Novo. Although the proceeding is denominated as an “appeal,” the parties are entitled to a trial on all issues determined by the arbitrator. The arbitrator's legal rulings and factual findings are not binding on the court or the parties. If, however, the court finds that further proceedings before the arbitrator are appropriate, it may remand the action to the assigned arbitrator.
(e) Waiver of Right to Appeal. At any time before the entry of an award by the arbitrator, the parties may stipulate in writing that the award so entered is binding on the parties. If the parties enter such a stipulation, no party may appeal or collaterally attack the award except as allowed by A.R.S. § 12-1501, et seq.
(f) Discovery and Listing of Witnesses and Exhibits on Appeal.
(1) Any discovery conducted while the action was assigned to Alternative Resolution may be used on appeal.
(2) Simultaneous with the filing of the notice of appeal, the appellant may serve a “List of Witnesses and Exhibits Intended to be Used at Trial” that complies with Rule 26.1.
(3) No later than 20 days after the Notice of Appeal is served, the appellee may serve a “List of Witnesses and Exhibits Intended to be Used at Trial” that complies with Rule 26.1.
(4) If any party does not serve a timely “List of Witnesses and Exhibits Intended to be Used at Trial,” that party's trial witnesses and exhibits will be deemed to be those set forth in any such list previously filed in the action or in the prehearing statement submitted under Rule 123(b).
(5) The parties have 80 days after the filing of the notice of appeal to complete discovery under Civil Rules 26 through 37.
(6) For good cause, the court may extend the time to conduct discovery or to serve a supplemental list of witnesses and exhibits.
(g) Refund of Deposit on Appeal. The clerk must refund the deposit on appeal to the appellant if:
(1) the judgment on the trial de novo is at least 23 percent more favorable than the monetary relief or other type of relief granted by the Alternative Resolution award; or
(2) there is no order from the court for the disposition of the deposit on appeal upon the action's final disposition.
(h) Forfeiture of Deposit on Appeal; Sanctions on Appeal. If the judgment on the trial de novo is not at least 23 percent more favorable than the monetary relief or other type of relief granted by the Alternative Resolution award, the court must order that the deposit on appeal be used to pay the following costs and fees:
(1) to the county, the compensation actually paid to the arbitrator;
(2) to the appellee, those costs taxable in civil actions together with reasonable attorney's fees as determined by the trial judge for services necessitated by the appeal; and
(3) reasonable expert witness fees incurred by the appellee in connection with the appeal.
If the deposit is insufficient to pay those costs and fees, the court must order that the appellant pay them, unless the court, on motion, finds that imposing costs and fees would create a substantial economic hardship that is not in the interests of justice.
(i) Contact by Court. A court may contact an arbitrator regarding the Alternative Resolution award or other matters relating to the Alternative Resolution.

Credits

Added Oct. 26, 2017, effective Nov. 1, 2017, until Dec. 31, 2021. Rule extended Dec. 8, 2021, effective Dec. 31, 2021, until further order of the court.
A.R.S. Fast Trial and Alt.Res.Prog. Rules, Pima County, Rule 126, AZ ST PIMA FASTAR Rule 126
State Court Rules are current with amendments received through April 1, 2024. The Code of Judicial Administration is current with amendments received through April 1, 2024.
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