Crossmark purchased a brokerage company from the Hazars and signed non-competition agreements with an arbitration clause. When Crossmark stopped making payments, the Hazars won an arbitration award. The court confirmed the award, rejecting Crossmark's arguments that it was unfair or violated public policy. The court did remove some attorney fee awards but upheld the core decision. This case shows courts strongly favor arbitration awards and won't overturn them easily.
Arbitration awards get strong court protection—judges rarely overturn them even if you think the decision was wrong, so arbitration clauses are binding and final
Non-compete agreements with acceleration clauses (where full payment becomes due immediately upon breach) are enforceable and not automatically considered unfair penalties
If you sign an arbitration clause, you cannot later ask a court to join other parties or expand the dispute—arbitration stays limited to the original parties and claims