WASHINGTON — For 10 years, Judge Alex E. Ferrer decided criminal cases in the Florida courts. Now, as "Judge Alex," he arbitrates petty disputes on his syndicated television show -- and his decisions are final.
Sometimes, though, people who agree to arbitrate disputes do not like the result. Ferrer is one of them.
This morning, the Supreme Court will hear his claim that he should not have to abide by a contract he signed six years ago with a manager in Los Angeles, calling for a 12% commission on any work the manager got him and requiring arbitration if any dispute arose.
Ferrer says that Arnold M. Preston, a lawyer, was not licensed as a talent agent, nor did he actually help him obtain his TV job. That came more than a year after an initial meeting with several television executives, Ferrer said.
The TV judge says the California Talent Agencies Act protects performers -- and he is one -- from crafty agents. It gives the state's labor commissioner the power to void unfair contracts with managers or agents.
"He didn't know anything about the entertainment industry when he got into this," said Robert M. Dudnik, a Los Angeles lawyer who represents Ferrer. "He was a criminal lawyer from Florida. This contract was faxed to him in a hotel room in Reno, and he signed it and faxed it back."
But Preston's attorney, Joseph D. Schleimer of Beverly Hills, says a deal to arbitrate is a deal that must be honored. Ferrer, he said, is "the arbitrator who refuses to arbitrate."
"If people sign an arbitration agreement, that deal is binding. Even his TV show works that way," Schleimer said.
This seemingly petty dispute over where to decide this issue -- not what to decide -- has bounced around the courts in Los Angeles for three years.
In 2005, soon after "Judge Alex" went on the air, Preston pressed for his fees to be paid. And when Ferrer refused, Preston invoked the arbitration clause in the contract.
"Arbitration is quick, easy and final," Schleimer said. (Or at least it can be. This ongoing litigation, he added, "is probably the least efficient way of resolving a dispute.")
Dudnik, Ferrer's attorney, filed a motion in Los Angeles County Superior Court to block arbitration until the California labor commissioner could rule on whether the contract should be voided. A Superior Court judge agreed with Ferrer, and said the dispute over the contract should go first to the labor commissioner.
