Johnson v. Johnson

David Johnson (defendant) and Molly Johnson (plaintiff), divorced parents with joint legal custody of two children, agreed to resolve ongoing physical-custody scheduling disputes through arbitration under a detailed agreement specifying that no formal verbatim transcript would be kept and that the arbitrator's own detailed written decision would constitute the complete record. The arbitrator produced thorough recapitulations of each interview and observation along with a detailed final decision, but Molly disagreed with the outcome and petitioned to have the arbitrator removed; the trial court upheld the arbitrator's decision, but the appellate court reversed, reasoning the lack of a verbatim transcript left insufficient evidence for judicial review and ordering a plenary hearing, prompting David's appeal.