Bearden v. McGill

*446¶ 1 Mandatory arbitration provides an efficient and inexpensive procedure to resolve low dollar amount disputes. Parties to mandatory arbitration may request a trial de novo after the arbitration award is issued. If the party that requests a trial de novo after mandatory arbitration "fails to improve" his or her position at the trial, then the opposing party may move for the requesting party to pay the reasonable attorney fees incurred as a result of the trial de novo. Mandatory Arbitration Rule (MAR) 7.3. In this case, we are asked to determine whether to include statutory costs when…