From Casetext: Smarter Legal Research

Hales v. Advanced Sys. Design

District Court of Appeal of Florida, First District
Oct 13, 2003
855 So. 2d 1232 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2003)

Summary

finding invalid a "release of any claim that might arise in the future"

Summary of this case from Fonseca v. Wal-Mart Stores E.

Opinion

Case No. 1D02-5260.

Opinion filed October 13, 2003.

An appeal from the Circuit Court for Leon County. L. Ralph Smith, Judge.

Jack A. Harnett, Quincy, for Appellant.

David P. Healy of the Law Offices of David P. Healy, PL, Tallahassee, for Appellee.


Appellant, William Hales, appeals an order awarding attorney's fees to appellee, Advanced Systems Design, Inc. (ASD), contending that ASD's settlement proposal was invalid and thus did not provide a basis for the award under either section 768.79, Florida Statutes (2001), or Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.442, and that he did not stipulate to the value of services. We agree and reverse, concluding that ASD's settlement proposal contained an invalid condition, and therefore do not reach the second issue regarding the stipulated value.

During litigation between the parties, ASD served a Proposal for Settlement on Hales for $14,169.46, conditioned upon the following:

Plaintiff shall execute and deliver to ASD a general release, in a form satisfactory to ASD's counsel, that releases ASD and its present and former officers (including without limitation Dr. John DuBard), directors, employees, agents, servants, contractors, attorneys, corporate affiliates, successors and assigns of any and all claims at law or in equity, that plaintiff may have against any of those parties, whether known or unknown, liquidated or not liquidated, accrued or not accrued, including without limitation all claims that plaintiff asserted or could have asserted against ASD or Dr. John DuBard in this proceeding[.]

Hales did not respond to the proposal, and it was therefore considered rejected. After obtaining final summary judgment, ASD filed a motion for attorney's fees pursuant to section 768.79 and rule 1.442, which the trial court granted.

The above-quoted global release of any claim that might arise in the future, against any entity remotely related to appellee, fails to comport with the statute and rule, which require proposals for settlement to state relevant conditions and non-monetary terms with particularity. Hales could not reasonably evaluate whether the offer to settle for $14,169.46 was sufficient to cover any claim that might ever arise in the future against ASD or any affiliated persons. See Zalis v. M.E.J. Rich Corp., 797 So.2d 1289 (Fla. 4th DCA 2001) (holding that a condition in the settlement offer that the plaintiff relinquish all rights to sue about anything at any time, failed to satisfy the statute's requirement of particularity). Cf. Bd. of Trs. of Fla. Atl. Univ. v. Bowman, 853 So.2d 507 (Fla. 4th DCA 2003) (distinguishing Zalis, because the terms of the release did not apply to future causes of action that might arise, but only to claims by plaintiffs as of the date of execution of the settlement proposal).

For example, rule 1.442 (c)(2)(C) states that an offer shall "state with particularity any relevant conditions."

REVERSED and REMANDED for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

ALLEN and LEWIS, JJ, CONCUR.

NOT FINAL UNTIL TIME EXPIRES TO FILE MOTION FOR REHEARING AND DISPOSITION THEREOF IF FILED


Summaries of

Hales v. Advanced Sys. Design

District Court of Appeal of Florida, First District
Oct 13, 2003
855 So. 2d 1232 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2003)

finding invalid a "release of any claim that might arise in the future"

Summary of this case from Fonseca v. Wal-Mart Stores E.
Case details for

Hales v. Advanced Sys. Design

Case Details

Full title:WILLIAM HALES, Appellant, v. ADVANCED SYSTEMS DESIGN, INC., Appellee

Court:District Court of Appeal of Florida, First District

Date published: Oct 13, 2003

Citations

855 So. 2d 1232 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2003)

Citing Cases

Espinoza v. Target Corp.

The court held that, “[t]he nonmonetary condition in paragraph 2 of the offer of judgment is not stated with…

Stone v. Geico General Insurance Company

However, upon consideration of the offer of judgment pertaining to Plaintiff's FWA claims, the Court…