HERALD-TRIBUNE ARCHIVE--Chad Roffers and auctioneer Daniel DeCaro joined forces for a series of high-profile auctions of luxury homes events.

Chad Roffers made a brief appearance in Sarasota County civil court today, his first since Sotheby's severed its relationship with him and his troubled Sky Sotheby's International Realty last week.

Roffers wants a judge to rule that he should be removed from an arbitration claim filed by Daniel DeCaro Auctions, which alleges that DeCaro is owed more than $800,000 from a series of auctions conducted in Sarasota and elsewhere in Florida.

DeCaro alleges that funds from escrow accounts associated with the auctions were improperly disbursed to Roffers and Sky, when the money was in fact owed to him.

Roffers has denied the charges.

At issue in court Monday was whether Roffers personally, not just Sky or its subsidiary companies, could be pursued by DeCaro in his arbitration claim.

Roffers' lawyer argued that it was Sky as a company, not Roffers individually, that agreed to arbitration in the event of a dispute -- and therefore Roffers should not be held personally liable.

"This is not Mr. Roffers' fight," said Michael A. France, Roffers' Sarasota attorney. "Mr. Roffers does not belong in arbitration according to the law."

But DeCaro's legal argument is that Roffers, by signing the marketing agreement between DeCaro and Sky Real Estate Event Marketing Services, caused harm to DeCaro when Sky did not pay DeCaro his share of the profits from the auction.

James S. Haliczer, DeCaro's Fort Lauderdale attorney, said Roffers and Sky were so intertwined that he should be personally held responsible for what transpired.

"Mr. Roffers is a shareholder, owner, officer and employee of both of these companies," Haliczer said.

France said Roffers signed the agreement only as a manager for the company, which should not make him responsible personally to participate in any arbitration.

The judge asked for some additional materials in writing from both parties, and is likely to rule by the end of next week.

Meanwhile, the arbitration case itself will see its first hearing this week. The preliminary hearing will be held by phone on Wednesday.

On Nov. 3, Sotheby's International Realty officially severed ties with the four-year-old Sky.

Replacing Sky in the Sarasota market is Signature Sotheby's, led by veteran Southwest Florida Realtor Judy Green, who once directed a large portion of Coldwell Banker's Florida operations. Signature has opened an office on Orange Avenue in downtown Sarasota, with 37 former Sky agents joining the business.