FLORIDA IMMIGRATION BUILDING FUNDING LLC v. CHUN LIU (2020)

The Petition for Writs of Certiorari and Mandamus is granted in part and denied in part. The trial court should not have conducted the show cause proceedings at issue after the filing of the motion to compel arbitration prior to, at a minimum, first issuing an order staying proceedings “on just terms” as required by statute. See § 682.03(6), Fla. Stat. (“If a party makes a motion to the court to order arbitration, the court on just terms shall stay any judicial proceeding that involves a claim alleged to be subject to the arbitration until the court renders a final decision under this section.”). The trial court was placed on notice of the motion to compel arbitration and chose to conduct proceedings on the discovery issues first, and then stay later. This was procedurally improper and constitutes a departure from the essential requirements of the statute. The trial court also issued an order on November 10, 2020, purporting to discharge the show cause order, after this Court issued a stay of proceedings. Accordingly, all orders entered after the motion to compel arbitration was filed on November 2, 2020, are vacated. The trial court shall stay all proceedings, in their entirety, until such time as it conducts a hearing and issues a ruling on the petitioner's motion to compel arbitration. However, to the extent Petitioner seeks additional relief related to the discovery now produced, the Court finds no irreparable harm in the production of such documents in response to the court's October 27, 2020, order and existing discovery requests. Petition granted in part and denied in part and remanded to trial court for proceedings consistent herewith.

Respondents' Motion for Entitlement of Attorneys' Fees and Costs is hereby denied.

EMAS, C.J., and GORDO and BOKOR, JJ., concur.