Williams Industries and Earth Development Systems Corp. disputed whether their subcontract disputes should go to arbitration or court. The Texas Court of Appeals ruled that Williams met its burden by showing an arbitration agreement existed and covered the claims. The court found that EDS failed to prove it had waived arbitration rights, since merely filing a lawsuit and incurring costs doesn't count as waiver. The decision reinforces that arbitration clauses should be enforced unless clearly inapplicable.
If your subcontract has an arbitration clause, you have a strong legal position to force disputes into arbitration rather than court—the other party must prove waiver with clear evidence of substantial court involvement and actual harm