Background
Brendan Ryan petitioned the Pasco County Circuit Court to confirm a December 23, 2024 arbitration award entered in Utah against Robert D. Eckard, The Law Office of Robert Eckard & Associates, P.A., and Drew K. Patterson. Ryan relied on sections 682.12 and 682.15, Florida Statutes, and attached the award, a retainer agreement containing an arbitration clause, and a purported amendment giving Ryan authority to determine aspects of the arbitration.
Eckard received notice of the award on December 23, 2024, but did not file a motion to vacate or dismiss until May 5, 2025. The circuit court had stayed the confirmation proceeding for thirty days after Ryan’s counsel withdrew and later directed Eckard to respond by May 5. On June 18, 2025, the court granted Eckard’s motion and dismissed Ryan’s confirmation petition without vacating the award.
The Court’s Holding
The Second District held that Eckard’s motion to vacate was untimely under section 682.13(2), which generally requires such a motion to be filed within ninety days after receipt of notice of the award. The court concluded that the relevant ninety-day period began on December 23, 2024. Even assuming the circuit court’s stay validly shifted the deadline from March 23 to April 22, 2025, Eckard’s May 5 motion was late.
Section 682.12 makes confirmation mandatory unless the award has been timely vacated, modified, or corrected under the Florida Arbitration Code. Because the civil rules do not provide a contrary deadline, the circuit court lacked authority to enlarge the statutory period. The court also stated that section 682.12 contains no exception permitting dismissal of a confirmation petition, so Eckard’s motion to dismiss should not have been entertained even if timely.
The Second District reversed and remanded for entry of an order confirming the arbitration award. It expressly declined to address the substantive merits of Eckard’s grounds for vacatur.
Key Takeaways
- A party seeking to vacate a Florida arbitration award generally must move within ninety days after receiving notice of the award.
- Once that period expires without a qualifying motion, section 682.12 requires the court to confirm the award.
- A trial court cannot use a case-management deadline or the ordinary civil rules to enlarge the Florida Arbitration Code’s statutory deadline.
- A motion to dismiss is not an alternative statutory basis for refusing to confirm an arbitration award.
Why It Matters
The decision treats the Florida Arbitration Code’s confirmation procedure as a strict limit on judicial authority. Parties opposing an award must timely pursue the statutory remedies of vacatur, modification, or correction rather than rely on extensions, later case-management orders, or a motion to dismiss.
The opinion also warns attorneys that threats of criminal prosecution made solely to gain an advantage in a civil dispute may violate Florida Bar rules and emphasizes lawyers’ duties of civility and professionalism.