In Developers of Northlake, Inc., and Twin Cities Investors, Inc. v. Northlake Equities, Inc., 2005 Fla. App. LEXIS 14105 [Fla. 4th DCA 2005] the Fourth District Court of Appeal decided that what the parties argued was unambiguous [citing, of course, their opposite views of the world] was indeed unambiguous and that the trial judge’s order enforcing a mediation agreement was in error even though one articulated position lead to an absurd result; that’s what the arbitrator ordered [yes, arbitrator] and that the parties agreed to be bound by the arbitrator’s decision. What’s unfortunate here is an apparent lost opportunity in mediation to explore the parties’ divergent views of the meaning of the arbitrator’s words in his award.
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