JEFF ROSE, Chief Justice.
Jeremie Gordon and Amber Arnold-Gordon appeal from a final judgment in favor of James B. Nickerson and Julia A. Nickerson, Trustees of the Nickerson Revocable Living Trust, in the Nickersons' suit to confirm an arbitration award. The Nickersons' suit began as a contract action and request for injunctive relief regarding a water well on the Gordons' property, but shifted to an action for confirmation of an arbitration award after the parties disagreed about certain terms of their mediated settlement agreement (MSA). The Gordons challenge the trial court's judgment in five issues, asserting that the judgment (1) enforces an MSA that is void for illegality; (2) improperly modifies the arbitration award; and (3) awards attorney fees that are not properly segregated. In their two remaining issues, the Gordons challenge the injunctions granted by the trial court, asserting that (4) the temporary injunction did not comply with Rule 683;
The underlying dispute arose in connection with a water well located on property owned by the Gordons. The Nickersons, who own and live on the property adjacent to the Gordons, obtain their water from the Gordon-owned water well under a "Well Use Easement Agreement" entered into in 1995 by the previous owners of the Gordon and Nickerson properties. In January 2015, shortly after purchasing the property with the water well, the Gordons told the Nickersons that the easement agreement did not allow the Nickerson property access to the water and that, unless the Nickersons started paying an annual fee, the Gordons would disconnect the well piping to cut off the Nickersons' water supply.
In response to the Gordons' notice, the Nickersons filed suit for breach of the well-use agreement and trespass and sought injunctive relief. The Gordons answered and filed counterclaims for breach of contract and trespass and sought declaratory and injunctive relief.
During this litigation, the parties mediated and reached a settlement agreement (the MSA), in which the parties agreed, relevant here, that:
Finally, the parties agreed that binding arbitration would be used to resolve any disputes arising from the parties' MSA.
The MSA spawned two disputes. The first, not relevant here, involved the placement of the conveyance property's boundary line. The second dispute, which is implicated here, involved whether the property had to be replatted before it was conveyed to the Nickersons. The arbitrator addressed the second dispute by ordering that the MSA should be enforced, but instead of replatting the Gordons' property, the Nickersons would agree and acknowledge that they were taking the fractional tract "without any expectation or understanding" that "the property being purchased by metes and bounds will ever be able to qualify for governmental services." The arbitrator awarded the Nickersons $3,000 in attorney fees and ordered that amount be offset against the purchase price—i.e., changing the purchase price to $29,500.
Soon thereafter, the Gordons refused to allow the Nickersons' surveyor to enter their property, began clearing trees from the conveyance property, installed barbed wire around the well, and posted no-trespassing signs. In response, the Nickersons amended their pleadings in the underlying case to request confirmation of the arbitration agreement. The Nickersons also sought, and were granted, a temporary injunction enjoining the Gordons from, stated generally, using the water well, denying the Nickersons access to the water well, and removing any vegetation from the conveyance property.
After a bench trial on the merits, the district court issued a final judgment that, relevant here, confirmed the MSA and two arbitration awards and ordered—
The district court's final judgment also awarded the Nickersons $9,563.48 in attorney fees and a permanent injunction enjoining the Gordons from, stated very generally, interfering with the water well, water-well pipes, or the conveyance property. It is from the district court's final judgment that the Gordons now appeal.
The Gordons challenge the trial court's judgment in five issues, asserting that the trial court erred by (1) enforcing a contract that violates the law; (2) modifying the second arbitration award on its own motion; (3) awarding nonsegregated attorney fees; (4) granting a temporary injunction that did not comply with [Rule] 683; and (5) granting injunctions (temporary and permanent) that prevent the Gordons from exercising their legal rights.
The Gordons' first issue on appeal is an assertion that the MSA is void for illegality because it violates state law and local ordinances requiring that the property be replatted before it is sold.
We overrule the Gordons' first issue.
In their second issue, the Gordons assert that the trial court improperly modified the merits of the second arbitration award by "adding new provisions, reducing a set sale price, and additionally award[ing] new attorneys fees without authority, proper notice, or proper pleading." The Gordons specifically challenge the following provisions of the trial court's final judgment:
These modifications to the second arbitration award are improper, the Gordons complain, because the statutes governing arbitration allow an arbitration award to be modified only when the award has an evident material miscalculation or mistake or there is a defect in form that does not affect the merits.
Regarding the award of tree-replacement expenses, we disagree with the Gordons' assertion that the trial court's award was a modification of the arbitration award. Although the trial court directed in its final judgment that the purchase price for the conveyance property be reduced by the amount awarded as tree-replacement expenses, the tree-replacement expenses themselves were awarded to the Nickersons as damages under their claim for breach of contract, which the Nickersons urged in their amended petition seeking confirmation of the arbitration award and injunctive relief. Specifically, the Nickersons alleged in their amended petition that the Gordons' destruction of several trees on the conveyance property had decreased the value of the conveyance property. At trial, the Nickersons presented testimonial evidence showing that the destruction of the trees was a breach of the MSA that caused damages of $14,000.
We do agree, however, with the Gordons' contention that the trial court's award of $9,563.48 in attorney fees was an improper modification of the arbitration award. In the second arbitration award the arbitrator awarded attorney fees to the Nickersons. Under well-established case law, if an arbitration award includes an award of attorney fees, a trial court may not award additional provision titled "Modifying or Correcting Award"). attorney fees for enforcing or appealing the confirmation of the award unless the arbitration agreement provides otherwise.
The Nickersons respond on appeal that the attorney fees are allowable here because the Gordons' challenge to the arbitration award was "without justification."
The Nickersons assert additionally that the trial court's award of attorney fees is allowed under Civil Practice & Remedies Code Section 38.001(8), which authorizes attorney fees for contract claims.
Having determined that the trial court's award of attorney fees was error, we need not address the Gordons' third issue on appeal regarding the failure to segregate the attorney fees.
In their fourth and fifth issues, the Gordons assert challenges to the trial court's grant of a temporary injunction. However, because the temporary injunction expired upon entry of final judgment, any issues regarding its validity are moot.
The Gordons also challenge in their fifth issue the validity of the trial court's permanent injunction, complaining that it prevents them from exercising their legal rights. The reporter's record in this appeal, however, shows that the parties reached an agreement regarding the permanent injunction:
The trial court's final judgment reflects this agreement: "The parties have agreed and it is therefore ordered that [the Nickersons'] request for permanent injunctive relief should be and is hereby in all things granted."
We overrule the Gordons' fourth and fifth issues.
Because it was error for the trial court to award attorney fees, we modify the final judgment by striking paragraph 8. We affirm the judgment as modified.