Increasingly, commercial contracts contain enforceable arbitration clauses that require the parties to resolve disputes arising from their contractual relationship through arbitration as an alternative to litigation. Arbitration can take several forms and requires of the lawyers practicing in this specialized area all of the resourcefulness and skills of the experienced trial lawyer.

AWARD: Commodities Fraud. In Dallas Black et al. v. Diversified Investment Advisors, Scott Sheftall successfully represented two families from rural California in an American Arbitration Association proceeding held in Miami. At first, Mr. Sheftall took immediate action to seek and obtain an injunction from the United States District Court "freezing" the defendants' assets and accounts. Then, in arbitration, Mr. Sheftall established that a North Miami "boiler room" operation had fraudulently induced from the two families their entire lives' savings and had misappropriated most of the funds. The arbitration panel awarded Mr. Sheftall's clients the full amount of their losses, plus attorneys' fees and costs, totaling over $500,000.

AWARD: Breach of Insurance Statutes/Class Action. In Magnetic Imaging Sys. I, Ltd. v. Fortune Insurance Co., Scott Sheftall and Brian Torres were lead counsel in a complex state court class action, which was ultimately referred to arbitration before class certification proceedings could be completed. During multi-phase arbitration proceedings before a panel of retired judges, the firm succeeded in obtaining certification of the class claims in arbitration. In the final phase of the arbitration, the firm obtained an award finding the defendant insurer liable to the class for compensatory damages approximately $2.8 million, plus sanctions, attorneys' fees and costs. The circuit court before which the action had originally been filed then confirmed the arbitration award under the Florida Arbitration Act.

SETTLEMENT: Recovery for Deep Tunnel Excavator in Peruvian Dam Project. In Mine, Shaft & Tunnel, S.A.C. v. Association Skanska-Cosapi-Chizaki, Scott Sheftall prosecuted claims in international arbitration on behalf of an American subcontractor for work it had done preparing to excavate deep shafts in the Andes as part of a major hydroelectric project in Peru. The general contractor, the Association Skanska, countered that the claimant, Mine Shaft & Tunnel, had failed to substantiate its claim for damages. Mr. Sheftall reached a confidential settlement with Skanska's counsel in London for an undisclosed sum.