PC Scale, Inc. v. Roll Off Servs. Inc
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Cite as 2010 Ark. App. 745
ARKANSAS COURT OF APPEALS
DIVISION I
CA09-1150
No.
Opinion Delivered
PC SCALE, INC. and TRANSCOMP
SYSTEMS, INC.
APPELLANTS
NOVEMBER 3, 2010
APPEAL FROM THE BENTON
COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT
[NO. CIV-08-1841-2]
V.
HONORABLE DAVID CLINGER,
JUDGE
ROLL OFF SERVICES, INC.
APPELLEE
AFFIRMED
KAREN R. BAKER, Judge
Appellants PC Scale, Inc., and Transcomp Systems, Inc. (collectively, “Transcomp”)
appeal from an order denying their motion to compel arbitration. We affirm.
Transcomp is a California company that develops and sells computer software. In 2004,
it presented appellee Roll Off Services, Inc. (Roll Off) with a proposal to buy a software
package. The proposal set forth the price and payment terms for the software and the license,
support, and implementation services. Roll Off’s president, Tom Smith, accepted the proposal
on September 5, 2004. Shortly thereafter, on September 27, 2004, Smith signed three more
documents in connection with the purchase: a Support Agreement that described the various
levels of Transcomp’s support packages; a License Agreement that granted licensure to twenty
Cite as 2010 Ark. App. 745
Roll Off computers and protected the software’s confidentiality; and a Professional Services
Agreement that contained the terms of Transcomp’s installation, configuration, development,
and training services. The License Agreement contained a clause that provided, in pertinent
part:
Arbitration. This Agreement is made and executed with the intention that the
construction, interpretation, validity, and enforcement hereof shall be determined in
accordance with, and governed by, the laws of the State of California, exclusive of its
choice of law provisions. Any dispute arising between the parties under this Agreement
shall be submitted to and finally settled by arbitration in Orange County, California,
in accordance with the then pertaining rules for commercial arbitration of the
American Arbitration Association.
The Professional Services Agreement also provided that it would be governed by California
law and that “any dispute arising between the parties under this Agreement” would be
submitted to arbitration. The proposal and the Support Agreement did not contain
governing-law or arbitration clauses.
On July 23, 2008, Roll Off sued Transcomp in Benton County Circuit Court, alleging
that Transcomp’s software suffered from numerous bugs and deficiencies and did not perform
as promised, despite Transcomp’s attempted repairs. Roll Off also alleged that Transcomp
failed to provide proper instructional materials. The complaint sought rescission based on
fraud and damages for breach of contract, breach of the implied covenant of good faith and
fair dealing, negligence, and breach of warranty. Copies of the proposal, the Support
Agreement, the License Agreement, and the Professional Services Agreement were attached
to the complaint.
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In response, Transcomp moved for a stay and to compel arbitration pursuant to the
arbitration clauses in the License Agreement and the Professional Services Agreement. At
hearings on the motion, Transcomp argued that the proposal and the Support Agreement,
License Agreement, and Professional Services Agreement signed by Smith in September 2004
constituted a single transaction under California law and that, consequently, the parties’ entire
dispute was subject to arbitration. Transcomp also asserted that Roll Off’s complaint invoked
the License and Professional Services Agreements, triggering the arbitration clauses therein.
Roll Off opposed arbitration. It argued, among other things, that Transcomp had not met its
burden of proof under California law that the four documents constituted a single transaction
and that, in any event, its lawsuit was not based on a breach of the License Agreement and
the Professional Services Agreement, which contained the arbitration clauses. The court
decided that a question of fact was presented and held an additional hearing to receive
testimony.
David Navarro, who designed the software for Transcomp, testified that his company
drafted the proposal and the three Agreements. He said that the services listed in the
Agreements were a package and that Transcomp would not start a project for a customer
unless the customer had signed all three Agreements. Navarro also said that he understood that
the dispute between Transcomp and Roll Off had nothing to do with software licenses or any
engagement authorizations signed by Roll Off, as required under the Professional Services
Agreement. Tom Smith testified that a representative of Transcomp told him that the three
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Agreements he signed on September 27, 2004, were “separate agreements for the divisions”
within the company. Smith also stated that he had no complaints about the Professional
Services Agreement or the License Agreement; rather, his complaint was that “the software
does not work” and that he did not get what he bargained for when he signed the proposal.
He stated further that Transcomp’s support was “horrendously bad” and that the software did
not have a system manual.
Following the hearing, the court denied Transcomp’s motion to compel arbitration.
The court ruled that the documents signed by Roll Off were unambiguous and that they
made no attempt to apply the arbitration clauses in the License Agreement and the
Professional Services Agreement to any and all disputes. The court declared, however, that
if it found, as the case developed, that Roll Off’s basic cause of action fell under the License
Agreement or the Professional Services Agreement, the court would “stop this case in its
tracks” and send it to arbitration. Accordingly, the court denied Transcomp’s motion without
prejudice and gave Transcomp leave to renew its motion if the situation warranted.
Transcomp filed this appeal.1
Public policy favors arbitration as a less expensive and more expeditious means of
settling litigation and relieving docket congestion; accordingly, courts should resolve any
doubts and ambiguities in favor of arbitration. Gruma Corp. v. Morrison, 2010 Ark. 151, ___
S.W.3d ___; Gravillis v. Coldwell Banker Res. Brokerage Co., 49 Cal. Rptr. 3d 531 (Cal. Ct.
1
An order denying a motion to compel arbitration is immediately appealable. CEI
Eng’g Assocs., Inc. v. Elder Constr. Co., 2009 Ark. App. 259, 306 S.W.3d 447.
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App. 2006).2 On appeal, we review the denial of a motion to compel arbitration de novo,
without deference to the circuit court’s rulings. See Terminix Int’l Co., LLC v. Trivitt, 104
Ark. App. 122, 289 S.W.3d 485 (2008).3
The same rules of construction and interpretation apply to arbitration agreements as
apply to agreements generally. See id.; Toal v. Tardiff, 101 Cal. Rptr. 3d 397 (Cal. Ct. App.
2009). The language of the contract governs, and the parties’ intent should be ascertained
from the agreement itself. Hot Spring County Med. Ctr. v. Ark. Radiology Affiliates, P.A., 103
Ark. App. 252, 288 S.W.3d 676 (2008); Cal. Civ. Code §§ 1636, 1638, and 1639 (Deering
2005). Where the contract is unambiguous, its construction and legal effect are questions of
law. See A.G. Edwards & Sons, Inc. v. Myrick, 88 Ark. App. 125, 195 S.W.3d 388 (2004);
Williams Constr. Co. v. Standard-Pac. Corp., 61 Cal. Rptr. 912 (Cal. Ct. App. 1967). In
interpreting a contract, the court may consider the circumstances under which the contract
was made. See Stokes v. Roberts, 289 Ark. 319, 711 S.W.2d 757 (1986); Cal. Civ. Code § 1647
(Deering 2005).
Additionally, Arkansas and California apply a similar rule of construction when parties
sign multiple agreements in the course of a transaction. Under Arkansas law, when two
2
Both sides rely heavily on California law in their appellate briefs, as they did at the
trial level. We therefore cite to California law as well as Arkansas law.
3
The standard of review on appeal is governed by Arkansas law, regardless of
whether foreign law was applied in circuit court. See generally Schlessinger v. Holland Am.,
16 Cal. Rptr. 3d 5 (Cal. Ct. App. 2004); River Mgmt. Corp. v. Lodge Props., Inc., 829 P.2d
398 (Colo. Ct. App. 1991); CSX Transp., Inc. v. Franklin Indus., Inc., 445 S.E.2d 861 (Ga.
Ct. App. 1994); State v. Holden, 964 P.2d 318 (Utah Ct. App. 1998).
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instruments are executed contemporaneously by the same parties in the course of the same
transaction, they should be considered as one contract for the purpose of interpretation, in the
absence of a contrary intention. Stokes, supra. Under California law, several contracts relating
to the same matters, between the same parties, and made as part of substantially one
transaction are to be taken together. Cal. Civ. Code § 1642 (Deering 2005). However, it does
not necessarily follow that, for all purposes, the several instruments constitute one contract.
Malmstedt v. Stillwell, 294 P. 41 (Cal. Ct. App. 1930).
With these authorities in mind, we turn to Transcomp’s arguments on appeal.
Transcomp first contends that the proposal, Support Agreement, License Agreement, and
Professional Services Agreement constitute “one single transaction that calls for arbitration to
decide any dispute between the parties.” We agree that the instruments signed by the parties
are interrelated, but we do not agree that they constitute a single contract for all purposes. The
License Agreement, for example, states that it covers “only the rights to use the Software and
rights and obligations of the parties specifically set forth herein.” It also recites that, to the
extent that the customer requires related services “not specifically addressed in this
Agreement,” the customer must procure those services by “separate contract.” Particularly
with regard to arbitration, the documents reveal deliberate and studied distinctions among the
proposal, Support Agreement, License Agreement, and Professional Services Agreement. Two
of the documents contain arbitration and California choice-of-law clauses; two of the
documents do not. The arbitration clauses in the License Agreement and the Professional
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Services Agreement, by their terms, apply to disputes “arising between the parties under this
Agreement.” Moreover, the License Agreement defines “Agreement” narrowly to mean “the
combination of terms and conditions set forth in this Software License Agreement together with
the terms of each Supplemental Schedules made a part hereof.” (Emphasis added.)
Based on this contractual language, we conclude that the proposal and the three
Agreements should not be regarded as a single contract for the purpose of arbitration. Their
language evidences an intent to arbitrate only those disputes arising under the License
Agreement and the Professional Services Agreement.
Transcomp cites Brookwood v. Bank of America, 53 Cal. Rptr. 2d 515 (Cal. Ct. App.
1996), and several other cases for the proposition that an arbitration clause found in one
contract must apply to another, related contract. Those cases, however, were decided on the
particular circumstances and contractual language contained in those agreements. Likewise,
our holding rests on the precise language contained in the documents executed by the parties
in this case, which, as explained in the preceding paragraph, demonstrates an intent to
arbitrate only certain disputes. Transcomp argues further that the circuit court acted
inconsistently in declaring the parties’ instruments unambiguous, then applying rules of
construction and hearing extrinsic evidence on the parties’ intent. See Myrick, supra; Williams
Constr. Co., supra (holding that, where the contract is unambiguous, its construction and legal
effect are questions of law). Regardless of the manner in which the circuit court reached its
decision, we conclude, in our de novo review, that its decision was correct and that the
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arbitration clauses were intended to apply only to disputes arising under the License
Agreement or the Professional Services Agreement.
Transcomp argues next that, in any event, the arbitration clauses in the License
Agreement and the Professional Services Agreement should apply because Roll Off based its
lawsuit on those Agreements. Roll Off’s complaint does refer to and attach the License and
Professional Services Agreements, and the complaint requests that those Agreements, along
with the proposal and the Support Agreement, be rescinded. However, Tom Smith testified
at the hearing that he had no problem with the License Agreement or the Professional
Services Agreement and that his complaint was instead based on a claim that “the software
does not work.” Upon hearing Smith’s testimony the circuit court denied Transcomp’s
motion to compel arbitration; but the court did so without prejudice and stated that the
motion was subject to renewal if Roll Off’s basic cause of action was later determined to fall
within the License or Professional Services Agreement. That is the ruling from which
Transcomp appeals.
Given the particular facts of this case, we uphold the circuit court’s very limited ruling.
The court obviously decided that, in light of Smith’s narrowing and defining the scope of his
lawsuit, the case did not require arbitration at that point. The court did not, however,
foreclose the possibility of arbitration in the future if developments in the case should show
that Roll Off has broadened its causes of action beyond the parameters claimed by Smith. In
fact, the court expressed an unequivocal intention to stop the lawsuit and submit it to
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arbitration should that occur. We therefore conclude that the court’s denial without prejudice
stands.
Roll Off raises certain arguments in its brief regarding the enforceability of the
arbitration clauses and the applicability of those clauses to its tort claims. We decline to reach
those arguments at this time because Roll Off’s claims have not yet been submitted to
arbitration. Any ruling on our part would be purely advisory, and our appellate courts do not
issue advisory opinions. Riceland Foods, Inc. v. Pearson, 2009 Ark. 520, ___ S.W.3d ___.
Affirmed.
V AUGHT, C.J., and G LOVER, J., agree.
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