Walter L. Keller & Associates, P.A. v. Health Management Foundation, 83-2041
| Decision Date | 19 October 1983 |
| Docket Number | No. 83-2041,83-2041 |
| Citation | 438 So.2d 1076 |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
| Parties | WALTER L. KELLER & ASSOCIATES, P.A., Petitioner, v. HEALTH MANAGEMENT FOUNDATION, Respondent. |
Michael R.N. McDonnell, Naples, for petitioner.
Walter L. Keller and Associates, P.A. (Keller), seeks a writ of certiorari to set aside the trial court's order staying proceedings pending arbitration and requiring the trial court to determine whether there is in fact a controversy to submit to arbitration. We decline to issue the writ.
J.L.I. de Bruyn filed a complaint to foreclose a mortgage against Keller, Health Management Foundation, and another defendant. Keller, an architectural firm, cross-claimed against Health Management and the other defendant. The cross-claim alleged that Keller had entered into a contract with Health Management for architectural services. Keller alleged that its work to date had a total value of $328,263.68, but that Health Management had refused to pay the balance due. Keller also noted that it had filed a claim of lien for this amount against Health Management under Florida's Mechanic's Lien Law.
Health Management then filed a motion to dismiss the cross-claim or alternatively to stay all proceedings pending arbitration. In support of its motion, Health Management attached its contract with Keller which provided that "[a]ll claims, disputes and other matters in question between the parties ... shall be decided by arbitration." Keller then sought an order staying arbitration on the grounds that the parties had not agreed to arbitration as to the subject matter of the cross-claim.
After a hearing the trial court granted a stay of the proceedings on the cross-claim and ordered that the issues of the cross-claim should proceed to arbitration.
In its petition for writ of certiorari, Keller relies solely on Mills v. Robert W. Gottfried, Inc., 272 So.2d 837 (Fla. 4th DCA 1973), as being directly on point with its contentions. In Mills the Fourth District dealt with a nearly identical arbitration clause to the one here. When the motion to dismiss was filed in Mills, our sister court held there was no controversy to submit to arbitration since the defendants had not yet filed an answer to the complaint. Thus, the court concluded that all the trial judge had before him was an uncontroverted claim for payment and a demand for a lien to enforce the payment. The court then affirmed the trial judge's denial of the defendant's motion for arbitration.
Although the facts in Mills are nearly identical with this case, we cannot agree with the Fourth District's holding that there is no controversy to submit to arbitration until after defensive pleadings are filed. This court has on several occasions compelled arbitration where a motion to dismiss was filed instead of any defensive pleadings. See Balboa Insurance Co. v. W.G. Mills, Inc., 403 So.2d 1149 (...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Sabates v. International Medical Centers, Inc., 83-1949
...see Laquer v. Smith, Barney, Harris, Upham & Co., 446 So.2d 1119 (Fla. 3d DCA 1984); Walter L. Keller & Associates, P.A. v. Health Management Foundation, 438 So.2d 1076 (Fla. 2d DCA 1983); Marthame Sanders & Co. v. 400 West Madison Corp., 401 So.2d 1145 (Fla. 4th DCA 1981); King v. Thompson......
-
Adams v. Nelsen, 833DC359
...of jurisdiction in actions concerning contracts with arbitration clauses were improper); but cf. Walter L. Keller & Associates v. Health Management Foundation, 438 So.2d 1076 (Fla.App.1983). Although defendants in this case waived their arbitration rights as a matter of law, we note that ha......
-
Larry Kent Homes, Inc. v. Empire of America FSA
...(Fla.1973). Arbitration clauses have been enforced in cases similar to the present one. See, e.g., Walter L. Keller & Assoc. v. Health Management Foundation, 438 So.2d 1076 (Fla. 2d DCA 1983); Post Tensioned Engineering v. Fairways Plaza, 412 So.2d 871 (Fla. 3d DCA For example, in the Post ......
-
Ram Electronics Corp. v. Westley
...trial court was obligated to submit the matter to arbitration. § 682.03(1), Fla.Stat. (1987); Walter L. Keller & Assoc., P.A. v. Health Management Foundation, 438 So.2d 1076 (Fla. 2d DCA 1983). We, accordingly, reverse the trial court's nonfinal order and remand for further REVERSED AND REM......