Copy of Campbell v. Safeco Decision Secured (Standard of Review of Appeal from Private UM Arbitration)

Monroe County Judge Williamson's Opinion in the case of Campbell v. Safeco on the issue of the standard of review from a privately agreed upon arbitration of an uninsured (UM) motorist claim was recently summarized here.

Judge Williamson held that, in the absence of a formal arbitration agreement, the case should be considered as if the parties submitted the matter to common law arbitration under 42 Pa. C.S.A. §7341.  Under that statute, an arbitrator’s decision could only be set aside if there was “clear, precise, and convincing evidence" that the parties were denied a hearing or that there was fraud, misconduct, corruption, or some other irregularity which caused the rendering of an unjust, inequitable award.  

Attorney Gerard J. Geiger of the Stroudsburg, PA law firm of Newman, Williams, Mishkin, Corveleyn, Wolfe & Fareri was kind enough to send me a copy of the Campbell v. Safeco decision and I thank him for that.  Anyone wishing to review the decision may click this LINK.

Commentary: Given how UIM and UM issues are typically handled in a similar fashion by the courts, one can anticipate a similar result in the context of an attempt to appeal from a privately agreed upon UIM arbitration as well.