Florida Law Weekly March 1, 2015

Harold vs Sanders (2d DCA): In this case, the Court addressed the issue of the timeliness of a request for a trial de novo following nonbinding arbitration. Factually, the Court noted that the arbitration was completed and thereafter, the Final Judgment was mailed to the parties in conformance with the arbitrators decisions. The Final Judgment noted that no party filed a request for trial de novo within 20 days of service of the arbitration decision. On the day the Trial Court entered its Final Judgment, an objection the arbitration decisions was filed and the demand for trial de novo was made. The Second District found that Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.090(e), extends the time for a party to request a trial de novo by five days when a Court Order regarding a nonbinding arbitration decision is served by mail. Because of the service by U.S. Mail, the plaintiff was permitted to a trial de novo as the request was made within the additional five days.

Russell Post Properties Inc. vs Leaders Bank (3d DCA): In this case, the trial court denied a request for attorneys’ fees pursuant to a rejected proposal for settlement which noted that if accepted, the plaintiff shall dismiss with prejudice any and all claims it may have against the defendant and shall execute a general release in favor of the defendant. Notably, the release was not attached to the proposal. Following trial, the plaintiff received an award that was much less than the amount offered in the proposal for settlement, prompting the defendant to seek attorneys’ fees and costs. As no release was attached to the proposal, the Trial Court found that an ambiguity existed regarding the proposal.

The Appellate Court held otherwise. It noted that pursuant to the Florida Supreme Court’s opinion in State Farm Mutual Auto Insurance Company vs Nichols, 932 So.2d 067 (Fla. 2006), the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure did not require that a release of all claims be attached to a proposal for settlement if the terms of the proposal itself provided a summary of the terms of the release. To satisfy this requirement, the proposed release must eliminate any reasonable ambiguity regarding its scope. In the case before it, the Appellate Court found that the proposal for settlement satisfied these requirements.