Florida partners, Chad Dunigan and Katie Klapsa, secured an Order from the 4th District Court of Appeals in favor of one of the firm’s national builder clients, affirming the client’s contractual right to compel arbitration of its dispute.

In the underlying multi-party lawsuit, our client was forced to compel the binding arbitration of a subcontractor’s third-party claims after the subcontractor refused to honor the arbitration provision within its written subcontract agreement. The trial court ruled the subcontractor’s third-party claims against our client (and its affiliates) were subject to the arbitration provision within the applicable subcontract agreement.  In response, the subcontractor appealed the trial court’s decision.  After a full briefing on the issues, the 4th District Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court’s ruling in favor of our client’s contractual arbitration rights.  The appellate court also granted our client’s motion for attorney’s fees conditioned on the trial court’s determination that our client is the prevailing party for the appellate case.