Cooper

In the underlying arbitration proceeding, the arbitrator initially issued a final award denying a request for an award of attorney fees by respondent Lavely & Singer Professional Corporation (L & S). The arbitrator later modified the final award to include a fee award, and issued a revised final award. Appellant Jeffrey Cooper challenges the trial court’s confirmation of the revised final award. We conclude that the arbitrator exceeded his powers in modifying the final award and in issuing the revised final award. We therefore reverse the judgment and remand the matter with instructions to the trial court to correct the revised final award by striking the attorney fee award and confirm the award, as corrected.

RELEVANT FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

A. Prior Proceedings

In 2003, Cooper met Larry Solomon and Adam Linter, who described certain entertainment-related projects they were pursuing through a production company called Hopeful Monster, Inc. (HMI). In September 2003, Cooper entered into a revenue sharing agreement with HMI, which obliged Cooper to invest $250,000 in HMI.

In 2009, after coming to suspect that HMI was a sham, Cooper retained L & S. Cooper’s…