MIAMI BUSINESS LITIGATION: JURY TRIAL WAIVERS ARE ENFORCEABLE

It may be prudent to include a jury trial waiver in some business contracts. Contractual jury trial waivers are enforceable in Florida. Amquip Crane Rental, LLC v. Vercon Constr. Mgmt., Inc., 60 So. 3d 536 (Fla. 4th DCA 2011) (stating a party “may waive its right to a jury trial if the waiver was entered knowingly, voluntarily, and intelligently.”). Waivers can be broad and include contract claims as well as various tort claims so long as the waiver is sufficiently worded. Bergeron Environment & Recycling, LLC v. LGL Recycling, LLC, 398 So. 3d 988 (Fla. 4th DCA 2025) (“Broad jury trial waivers have been construed to include tort claims as well as contract claims.”). Even non-competes can be subject to jury trial waivers. HEAD KANDY, LLC v. KAYLA MARIE McNEILL, 2025 WL 1042455 (S.D. Fla. Mar. 18, 2025) (holding that the jury trial waiver applied to the plaintiff’s claims against the defendant for breaching a non-compete agreement). “However, waiver of the right to a jury trial is to be strictly construed and not to be lightly inferred.” Amquip Crane Rental, LLC, 60 So. 3d 536. The Miami business litigation attorneys of the Mavrick Law Firm represent businesses and their owners in breach of contract litigation and related claims of fraud, non-compete agreement litigation, trade secret litigation, trademark infringement litigation, employment litigation, and other legal disputes in federal and state courts and in arbitration.

Bergeron Environment & Recycling, LLC v. LGL Recycling, LLC provides a good example of a broad jury trial waiver.In Bergeron, two businesses entered into a joint venture agreement containing a jury trial waiver covering “any litigation based hereon or arising out of under or in connection with this agreement.” Bergeron Environment & Recycling, 398 So. 3d 988. A dispute arose thereafter causing one of the businesses to sue the other business and its principals for breach of contract count, tortious interference, breach of fiduciary duty, and other claims. The defendants argued that the plaintiff waived its jury trial right based on the joint venture agreement’s jury trial waiver. The court agreed because the jury trial waiver “states that it applies to claims ‘arising out of’ or ‘concerning’ a contract . . . applies to tort claims that related to the contract.” This broad language therefore applied to the plaintiff’s contract and tort claims. Bergeron Environment & Recycling, 398 So. 3d 988. (“A cursory review of Bergeron’s complaint demonstrates that all the claims, including those for tortious interference, conspiracy, misappropriation of trade secrets, breach of fiduciary duties, and conversion, were connected to the [joint venture agreement].”).

Broad jury trial waivers like the one just examined can litigants who never signed the operative agreement. Bergeron addressed this issue too. The plaintiff in Bergeron argued that it did not waive its jury trial right with respect to its claims against the individual defendants, who included principals and employees of the business, because those persons never signed the joint venture agreement between the two businesses. The court rejected the plaintiff’s argument under an equitable estoppel and the agency theory. Although “a contractual waiver binds only the parties who sign the contract . . . an exception to this rule exists” based on equitable estoppel when (1) a signatory to the contract raises allegations of concerted conduct by both the non-signatory and the signatory, or (2) “each of the signator[ies]’s claims against a non-signatory make reference to or presume the existence of a written agreement.” In addition, agency theory applies to jury trial waivers when “the underlying proceeding concerns actions allegedly taken by the non-signatory as an agent of a signatory.” As a result, the Bergeron court found that the non-signatories could enforce the jury trial waiver because they were agents of the defendant business being sued by the plaintiff and the plaintiff was equitably estopped from prohibiting the individual defendants from enforcing the jury trial waiver.

The Miami business litigation lawyers of the Mavrick Law Firm also represent clients in Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton, and Palm Beach. This article does not serve as a substitute for legal advice tailored to a particular situation.