Ferrer

INTRODUCTION

Defendant, Arnold M. Preston, appeals from an order denying his motion to compel arbitration and granting a motion by plaintiff, Alex E. Ferrer, for a preliminary injunction and a stay of the action. We affirm.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Defendant is an attorney who renders services for personnel in the motion picture-television industry. Plaintiff is a former Florida superior court judge, *443 who now works arbitrating legal disputes on the television program, Judge Alex, on the Fox television network. Defendant contends that plaintiff breached a written agreement by failing to pay defendant certain fees based on plaintiff’s earnings from his performance in Judge Alex.

On March 7, 2002, plaintiff signed a management contract with defendant, and the contract contained a standard American Arbitration Association (AAA) arbitration clause. On June 10, 2005, defendant initiated an arbitration proceeding against plaintiff, seeking to recover the fees to which he claimed he was entitled. On July 1, 2005, plaintiff filed a motion to stay the arbitration with the arbitrator. Plaintiff also filed a petition to determine controversy (Petition) with the Labor…

When a former judge and a lawyer enter a contract in which they agree that any dispute about that contract will be resolved by arbitration, I think they ought to be bound by that agreement.

A.

On March 7, 2002, Arnold M. Preston (a lawyer) and Alex E. Ferrer (a former lawyer and former Florida trial judge who now decides cases for a television series, Judge Alex) signed a six-page “Personal Management Agreement” in which Ferrer agreed to pay Preston 12 percent of his earnings from Judge Alex in consideration for Preston’s services as a personal *449 manager, and to arbitrate any dispute about the terms of the contract or its “validity or legality.” 1 Although Ferrer modified several of the contract’s provisions (by handwritten interlineations and other markings), he made no changes to the arbitration provision. He initialed every page. In 2005, Ferrer refused to pay Preston’s fees.

On June 10, 2005, Preston filed a demand for arbitration with the American Arbitration Association, seeking damages for breach of contract based on Ferrer’s failure to pay his fees. Ferrer’s lawyer appeared in the arbitration and defended the action for six months, during which he moved…

The defendant, Arnold M. Preston, appeals from an order denying his motion to compel arbitration and granting a motion by the plaintiff, Alex E. Ferrer, for a preliminary injunction and a stay of the action. We affirm.

Defendant is an attorney who renders services for personnel in the motion picture-television industry. Plaintiff is a former Florida Superior Court Judge, who now works arbitrating legal disputes on the television program, Judge Alex, on the Fox television network. Defendant contends that plaintiff breached a written agreement by failing to pay defendant certain fees based on plaintiffs earnings from his performance in Judge Alex.

On March 7, 2002, plaintiff signed a management contract with defendant, and the contract contained a standard American Arbitration Association (AAA) arbitration clause. On June 10, 2005, defendant initiated an arbitration proceeding against plaintiff, seeking to recover the fees to which he claimed he was entitled. On July 1, 2005, plaintiff filed a motion to stay the arbitration with the arbitrator. Plaintiff also filed a Petition to Determine Controversy (Petition) with the Labor Commissioner (Commissioner) and a…