Digital Forensics Corp., LLC v. King Machine, Inc., et al., [Ms. SC-2024-0031, Jan. 10, 2025] __ So. 3d __ (Ala. 2025). The Court (Wise, J.; Parker, C.J., and Sellers, Stewart, and Cook, JJ., concur) reverses the Jefferson Circuit Court’s order denying Digital Forensics Corporation, LLC’s (“DFC”) motion to compel arbitration of breach of contract and fraud-in-the-inducement claims filed by King Machine, Inc., and Hartford Fire Insurance Company, as subrogee of Micron Precision, LLC, d/b/a King Machine, Inc. (“the plaintiffs”) arising from DFC’s alleged failure to perform electronic-discovery services related to a discovery order entered in litigation in the Etowah Circuit Court.
The Court reiterates that “‘claims of fraud in the inducement are, themselves, subject to arbitration, unless the alleged fraud directly involves the arbitration clause itself. Jones v. Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc., 604 So. 2d 332 (Ala. 1991)….’” Ms. **13-14. Because “the plaintiffs argued that DFC induced King Machine to execute the agreement to retain DFC, and the arbitration provision included therein, by misrepresenting its ability to perform the electronic discovery services in the manner required by the discovery order in the litigation in the Etowah Circuit Court …, the plaintiffs’ fraud-in-the inducement claim is directed toward the agreement as a whole and not solely at the arbitration provision itself.” Ms. **14-15.