I am excited to be the featured speaker at the Noon Leads Group meeting on October 28, 2014 at the Greater Hollywood Chamber of Commerce.  My presentation will focus on tips for hiring a contractor to work at your home or business.

The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce has three Leads Groups that are dedicated to developing strong business relationships among chamber members; the groups are comprised of only one representative from a specific business category, thereby ensuring that no competition exists for business leads within the groups.

The Noon Leads Group meets every Tuesday at noon and most meetings feature a guest speaker whom provides lunch for the group.  Visit our Facebook for information on future meetings.

https://www.facebook.com/NoonLeadsGroup

Arbitration is a common method of dispute resolution in the construction industry. Most construction industry professionals know that an arbitration clause must be in writing in order for it to be enforceable. However, the recent case of Bari Builders, Inc. v. Hovstone Props. Fla., LLC 39 Fla. L. Weekly D 1648 (August 6, 2014 Fla. 4th DCA) demonstrates how the wording of the remaining portions of the contract can affect an arbitration clause.

This case involved a construction defect lawsuit wherein Hovstone Properties filed a third party complaint against Bari Builders, Inc. and all of the subcontractors that worked on the project. In response, Bari Builders, Inc. filed a motion to compel arbitration based on the following provision in the subcontract:

The parties hereto agree to binding Arbitration of any controversy or claim arising out of or relating to this contract, or the breach thereof, shall be settled by arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association under its Construction Industry Arbitration Rules, and judgment on the award rendered by the arbitrator(s) may be entered in any court having jurisdiction thereof. The Arbitration panel will adhere to the requirements and terms contained in this Agreement.

Hovstone Properties opposed arbitration based on another clause in the subcontract that stated “IN ALL ACTIONS THE PARTIES WAIVE THE RIGHT TO JURY AND AGREE TO DETERMINATION OF ALL FACTS BY THE COURT.” Hovstone Properties argued the waiver jury waiver language made the scope of the arbitration provision ambiguous and unenforceable. The trial court agreed and denied Bari Builders’ motion to compel on arbitration.

The Fourth District Court of Appeal reversed the trial court’s ruling. The Court ruled that the jury waiver language in the subcontract did not render the arbitration provision ambiguous. The Court found “the provisions provide that the parties agree to submit any controversy or claim to arbitration and, thereafter, any award may be reduced to judgment in court without right to a jury trial.” The Court also found that if the parties choose to waive arbitration the subcontractor provided that any “action” in court would be held in a bench trial.

The Bari Builders case demonstrates how important it is to carefully draft the dispute resolution clause of a construction contract. The jury waiver language may not have been necessary where the parties agreed to resolve all claims through arbitration. Regardless, this litigation could have been avoided had the arbitration clause included a disclaimer that in the event the parties waived their right to arbitration any litigation would be conducted through a bench trial without any right to jury trial.

I am excited to announce that I am serving as Co-Chair on the Committee that is organizing the Beachtown Hop scheduled for November 1, 2014. All proceeds from the Beachtown Hop will again be donated to the Joseph Meyerhoff Senior Center in Hollywood. The event will once again include trolley transportation between the participating venues in Downtown Hollywood and Hollywood Beach. The first Beachtown Hop was a huge success with over 350 tickets sold. We were able to raise over $8,000 for the Meyerhoff Center from ticket sales and corporate sponsorships.

Tickets are $20 online and $25 at the door on the night of the event. Visit our Facebook page for the link to purchase your tickets at Eventbrite and for updated information on vendors and sponsorship opportunities.

https://www.facebook.com/events/772023899520760/

If you are a party to a lawsuit the odds are at some point your deposition will be taken. A deposition involves answering questions from an attorney while a court reporter records your answers. Depositions are taken under oath which means they have the same legal affect as testimony at trial. For a witness who has never been deposed before the process can be very intimidating especially since the odds are you have a vested interest in the outcome of the litigation if you are being deposed.

The following tips are what I consider to be the most important things for a witness preparing for deposition:

• You should always have a meeting with your attorney prior to deposition. You should discuss the anticipated subjects of the deposition and highlight the primary concepts and issues in the case. During deposition you may be asked whether you met with your lawyer prior to deposition. This question is permitted and you should say “yes” because you are allowed to speak with your attorney about the deposition. However you cannot be asked what you discussed with your attorney because that is protected by attorney-client privilege.

• After preparation, the most important tip is to always tell the truth. Depositions are sworn testimony which may be used at trial for impeachment purposes if you provide misleading or inconsistent testimony.

• You should listen carefully to every word in the question. The lawyer has the right to choose the wording of his or her questions. However, if the lawyer misstates something it is not your job to correct the attorney or answer the correct question. Your job is solely to truthfully answer the question that was asked.

• Always wait until the question is finished before you begin your response. You should also always give your attorney a moment to object to an improper question before beginning your response. However, in most instances you will be asked to answer the question even if your attorney objects. You should always wait instruction from your attorney before responding.

• If you don’t understand a question you should ask the attorney to rephrase the question. You should never state “did you mean 1 or 2” because you may inadvertently open another line of questions which the attorney did not have in mind. You should simply ask the attorney to rephrase the question because you do not understand it.

• The appropriate response to most questions should be “yes” or “no”. If this short answer is clearly not appropriate you may give a brief explanation of your answer. In this case, you should choose the words in your answer very carefully and try to avoid terms like “always” or “never” because those absolutes are rare.

• If you refer to a document or notes to answer a question, the attorney has the right to view and mark the document as an exhibit to the deposition. Therefore, if you think you cannot a question without looking at your records, the appropriate response should be that you do not recall. You have the right to look at your records after the deposition and have the answer at a later date.

• If the attorney asks you a question about a specific document you should not answer the question unless the attorney hands you the document identified in the question. You should never assume you know what document the attorney is asking about.

• Finally, it is permitted and sometimes advisable to ask for a break. Some depositions can take several hours and you should feel free to ask for a breaks if you are tired, hungry, or need to use the restroom. Breaks can also be used when you feel yourself becoming upset about the way the deposition is going.

On June 20, 2014 we celebrated our Graduation from Leadership Hollywood Class XXXVIII at the Westin Diplomat on Hollywood Beach. Leadership Hollywood was a terrific program that I would highly recommend to anyone that lives or works in Hollywood. One of the highlights for me was the community service project. At one of first meetings last year, the class was divided into four groups and each group was tasked with implementing their assigned project.

Our group was tasked with raising funds for the Joseph Meyerhoff Senior Center in Hollywood. The Meyerhoff Center offers activities and social services to seniors of all ages and abilities including those with Alzheimer’s disease. Last year over 2,000 seniors benefited from Meyerhoff’s programs. For many seniors, Meyerhoff is a place to socialize, rejuvenate, learn and have a nutritious meal. Over $100,000 in Federal funding and the meal program have been cut in the past two years. This center needs community support and donations from individual donors, corporations, and foundations as government funds dwindle.

We used the concept of a restaurant and bar hop and created the Hollywood Beachtown Hop to raise funds for the Meyerhoff Center. We had trolleys that ran along the route of ten participating business in downtown Hollywood and Hollywood Beach on the night of the event. The event was a huge success with over 350 tickets sold. We were able to raise over $8,000 for the Meyerhoff Center from ticket sales and corporate sponsorships.

On Graduation night, each of the four groups had to prepare a live presentation about their community service project to be judged by a panel of former Leadership Hollywood graduates. Our team continued our hard work and prepared a live presentation that included a power point presentation, speaking parts from each member of the group, a music video with photos from the night of the event, and a presentation of the charity check to officials from the Meyerhoff Center. We were all very excited when our group was recognized as the top project.

Photos from Graduation night courtesy of Courtney Ortiz Photography can be viewed at http://courtneyortizphotography.zenfolio.com/p325972680