A lawsuit from a former partner at Florida law firm Shutts & Bowen accusing the firm and two attorneys of civil conspiracy and defamation came before Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Valerie Manno Schurr on Thursday, who heard arguments for and against unsealing the complaint and sending the case to arbitration.

Jared Beck of Beck & Lee in Miami represents plaintiff Christopher Prusaski, who sued in March, claiming he was defamed and deprived of a raise after reporting that a colleague was neglecting a client's case. His complaint also alleged Shutts & Bowen has a history of overbilling clients.

Shutts & Bowen has called those allegations meritless and moved to arbitrate confidentially. Defense attorney Robert M. Klein of Klein Glasser Park & Lowe in Miami pointed to Prusaski's employment agreement with the firm, in which he agreed to do just that.

But Beck alleged that his client had felt pressured to sign the agreement, arguing it had been sprung on him 10 years into his employment with performance and compensation reviews on the horizon, and that he had believed his job was at risk if he hadn't.

Related story: Former Partner Accuses Shutts & Bowen and 2 Colleagues of Defamation, Civil Conspiracy

Beck disputed a delegation provision within the contract, which said an arbitrator must decide whether a dispute is fit for arbitration. He said the claims fall under the Federal Arbitration Act because they involve matters of interstate commerce via out-of-state clients. That, Beck argued, means Prusaski can invoke Section 4 of the act to demand a jury trial over whether he was fraudulently induced into signing the contract.

Klein argued the case doesn't involve interstate commerce, remarking, "Clearly, this is an employment contract within Florida with a Florida law firm," but said that didn't matter either way.

Klein pointed to a recent opinion from U.S. District Judge Federico Moreno in the Southern District of Florida, who rejected attempts from Miami Heat's former general counsel to avoid arbitrating allegations that she was fired for requesting parental leave. In that case, Moreno found an arbitrator was the proper decision-maker, even though there was no delegation clause.

Related story: Fired Miami Heat Associate GC Ordered to Arbitrate Parental Bias Claim

Klein also stressed that claims from Prusaski that he could have lost his job if he didn't sign, and that an employment attorney still employed at Shutts & Bowen told him, "I'm not signing that thing" because of concerns about its restrictions, was nothing more than speculation.

But Beck countered that his firm has sought discovery 60 days ago on that issue and has received nothing.

Shutts & Bowen has asked to keep the entire complaint out of public view because it contains trade secrets and references clients, but Beck argued a redacted version would suffice.

"I don't believe information about the billing practices of a firm, I don't believe information about the conduct of attorneys with respect to litigation on the eve of trial represent trade secrets," Beck said.

Manno Schurr has yet to rule but indicated she would grant Shutts & Bowen's motion to compel arbitration unless case law swayed her otherwise.

The judge also said that in more than 14 years on the bench, she's only ordered a record sealed a handful of times.

"This may be one of the times that I should do it," she said. "I'm not sure."

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