Judge rules that Bosshardt must pay $1.3 million arbitration award
BY JENNIFER CABRERA
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Judge Donna Keim has ruled that Bosshardt Realty Services, LLC, must pay $1.3 million to Daniel Drotos and Michael Ryals, an amount awarded to them by an arbitrator in June.
Bosshardt had filed a motion in the case to vacate the arbitration award (or, alternatively, modify and correct it), and Drotos and Ryals had filed a competing motion to confirm the award.
The case began with a complaint from Drotos and Ryals in 2019 that Bosshardt had breached their contract by failing to pay them agreed-upon real estate commissions. After prolonged litigation, the parties finally agreed to participate in arbitration in January of 2022, and the final award was entered on June 8, 2022. The arbitrator found in favor of Drotos and Ryals on their breach of contract claim and awarded them $732,312.28 in unpaid commissions plus interest that amounted to $77,997.73 in June and will continue to accrue until paid. The arbitrator also held that Drotos and Ryals were the prevailing parties in the arbitration proceeding and were thus entitled to $522,841.38 in attorneys’ fees and $46,091.57 in fees related to the arbitration.
Bosshardt wanted Judge Keim to vacate the arbitration award because they said six emails were improperly withheld by Drotos and Ryals during discovery. They also objected to the interest payment and some fees awarded by the arbitrator that they said were outside their contract with Drotos and Ryals. However, Judge Keim ruled that Bosshardt had plenty of opportunity to question Drotos and Ryals about the emails at the hearing on the competing motions, that the arbitrator had thoroughly reviewed the fees in question, and that it is standard in Florida to award prejudgment interest.
Judge Keim further ruled that courts do not review findings of fact in arbitration awards or attempt to substitute their judgment for that of the arbitrator and that Bosshardt had failed to prove any statutory grounds for vacating the award.
Judge Keim’s order denied Bosshardt’s motion to vacate the arbitration award and also granted the motion by Drotos and Ryals to confirm the arbitration award. She also reserved jurisdiction to order Bosshardt to pay additional attorneys’ fees and costs associated with their motion to vacate the award.
522,841 dollars in attorneys fees?
And we wonder, yes wonder why things have gotten so out of hand.
Yep, look at all the busses and billboards.
Greed is rampant
Law offices have a lot of employees and other expenses. It’s not like the attorney just keeps all the money himself. Bosshardt started the whole thing, apparently in half-witted fashion, and it will likely cost a lot more than this by the time it’s all settled. I am referring to the SWAT raid, possible wrongful arrest lawsuits, etc.
Mr. Peabody, your lack of information is simply astonishing. You are referring to the wrong lawsuit. This article refers to a commission dispute, which was not started by Bosshardt. This suit was filed by Dan and Mike themselves. In addition, this lawsuit has nothing to do with the SWAT raid. The SWAT raid was a result of intellectual property theft. Might I add, the parties being awarded are receiving what they were owed in the first place. So yes, attorneys fees and time are the only real loss here. Oh and the loss of pride in those going around embarrassing themselves with misinformation.
Mark Mywerd (clever, but not really), it’s actually your lack of information that is really astonishing here. Or, is it cronyism? Have you ever read the complaint? I’m guessing not. True, Drotos and Ryals sued Bosshardt, but that suit wouldn’t have been necessary if Bosshardt hadn’t welched on the deal in the first place. Bosshardt’s counterclaims and defenses revolve around made up, non-existent trade secrets, theft of intellectual property that wasn’t actually theirs, and the completely fabricated for news school board issue. Strikingly (and hold on kids, this is where it gets good) those defenses were the same things put forth as “facts” and used to support the bogus, completely unconscionable SWAT raid. Mark MY word, this is just the beginning of Bosshardt’s shenanigans unraveling; and yes, the attorneys who are working to undo the damage the Bosshardts’ greed and abuse of process have caused, have to get paid. I’m glad they’re finally being exposed for the greedy, malevolent sociopaths they are.
Yes indeed, Bosshardt started the whole thing by failing to pay what they owed these two guys. And then there is the matter of the malicious prosecution, which is yet to come $$$$$$$. Thank you to Citizen X for having the patience to explain it to you more thoroughly. Maybe Bosshardt should include an IQ test as part of their job application process, based on my impressions of the people I’ve dealt with.
Good old boy system seems to have ended in Alachua County thank goodness.
As a retired law enforcement officer, I found the use of the GPD swat team use in a white collar search warrant suspicious at best and over use of authority.
It’s appalling.