JOHN A. CROWLEY, ET AL., APPELLANTS,
v.
SUNNY'S PLANTS, INC., APPELLEE

Fla. 3d DCA | 1998-05-06
No. 97-2791
Before JORGENSON, GODERICH and SHEVIN, JJ.
710 So. 2d 219 Florida District Court of Appeal, Third District (1998) Caution
Cited by 9 cases

AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.

Synopsis

The Crowleys appealed the trial court's denial of attorney's fees and costs under Florida's offer of judgment statute after their settlement offers to Sunny's Plants were rejected and the case proceeded to trial, resulting in a judgment exceeding their offers. The appellate court reversed, holding that joint offers of judgment to multiple defendants are valid and that the Crowleys were entitled to recover attorney's fees and costs.


Holding

The court held that joint offers of judgment to multiple defendants are valid even if they do not individually name each defendant, particularly when the defendants are represented by the same counsel with no conflict of interest. The court also held that offers not accepted within 30 days are deemed rejected by operation of law, and any purported withdrawal after the 30-day period is a legal nullity under section 768.79.


Headnotes

[1] Joint offers of judgment by, or to, two or more defendants are valid.

[2] Offers of judgment that do not name defendants individually are valid when the defendants are represented by the same attorney and have no conflict of interest.

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Key Quotes

“Offers of judgment are intended to resolve cases early and avoid substantial amounts of court costs and attorney's fees.”

Establishes the policy purpose of offer of judgment statutes to encourage settlement and penalize unreasonable rejection of settlement offers.

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Facts & Procedural History

The Crowleys sued Sunny's Plants and Luis Perez (Sunny's employee) for injuries to their minor son sustained when a Sunny's vehicle struck him on a di…

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Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM.

PER CURIAM.

•The Crowleys appeal the trial court’s order denying their motion for attorney’s fees and costs pursuant to section 768.79, Florida Statutes (1995). For the following reasons, we reverse.

The Crowleys, on behalf of their minor son John, sued Sunny’s Plants, Inc. (“Sunny’s”) and Luis Perez for injuries their son sustained in February 1994 when an automobile owned by Sunny’s collided with John, who was riding a dirt bike. Perez, an employee of Sunny’s, was operating the automobile when it collided with John. Both Sunny’s and Perez were insured by the same insurance company and were represented by the same defense counsel in this ease.

In September 1994, the Crowleys served the defendants with an Offer of Judgment on all claims for $60,000 pursuant to section 768.79, Florida Statutes (1995). The defendants did not respond.

In May 1995, the defendants jointly served an Offer of Judgment for $39,000 which the Crowleys did not accept. In June 1995, the Crowleys served the defendants with a second offer, identical to the defendants’ offer, but asking for $39,999. Despite numerous discussions between opposing counsel, the defendants did not respond to this offer either. Defense counsel stipulated prior to trial that the insurance company would be responsible for payment of a judgment entered against either defendant. In June 1995, Perez was dismissed without prejudice. At trial, the jury was instructed, as a matter of law, that Sunny’s was vicariously liable for Perez’s negligence. The jury assessed damages in the amount of $300,000, and found plaintiff 70% comparatively negligent. A judgment of $90,000 was entered against Sunny’s.

In June 1997, the Crowleys filed a Motion for Order of Entitlement to Attorney’s Fees ($284,187.50) and Costs ($10,000). In August 1997, the trial court found that the Crowleys were not entitled to their attorneys fees and costs because their offers of judgment did not specifically identify the parties to whom the offers were made. Also, the court ruled that the Crowleys withdrew their offers of judgment after the statutory time for defendants’ acceptance had expired.

Offers of judgment are intended to resolve cases early and avoid substantial amounts of court costs and attorney’s fees. See Eagleman v. Eagleman, 673 So. 2d 946, 947 (Fla. 4th DCA 1996). The Crowleys’ honest attempts to settle and avoid protracted litigation were rejected by Sunny’s. Sunny’s, not the Crowleys, will thus bear the costs associated with Sunny’s improvident rejections of bona fide offers of judgment.

Joint offers of judgment by, or to, two or more defendants are valid. See Bodek v. Gulliver Academy, Inc., 702 So. 2d 1331, 1332 (Fla. 3d DCA 1997). Even though the Crowleys’ offers of judgment did not name Sunny’s and Perez individually, the general offers made to the defendants were valid under section 768.79. See id. Both these defendants were represented by the same attorney; there was no conflict of interest between the defendants and the insurance company representing both defendants. In fact, the insurance company was paying if either defendant was held liable. Furthermore, Sunny’s and Perez were jointly and severally liable for any judgment when the offers were made; Sunny’s was vicariously liable for the fault attributable to Perez.

The trial court erred when it interpreted section 768.79 to mean that the Crow-leys had withdrawn their offers of judgment after the statutory time for defendants’ acceptance had expired. According to statute, since the offers were not accepted within 30 days they were considered rejected. See § 768.79, Fla. Stat. (1995). Because the offers were rejected and the Crowleys met the other prerequisites for this statute, they should receive their attorney’s fees and costs. See Kaufman v. Smith, 693 So. 2d 133, 134 (Fla. 4th DCA 1997). The Crowleys’ offers were open for the full 30 days and there was no written revocation delivered before the 30 days expired. Thus, any purported withdrawal of an offer after the expiration of the 30 days was a legal nullity and an event not contemplated by section 768.79.

Reversed and remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Hall v. Lexington Ins. Co., 895 So. 2d 1161 (Fla. 4th DCA 2005)
    …ow reflects that the Halls submitted one unified verdict form for the damages. Furthermore, the judgment entered against the Halls was joint and several. See Barnes v. Kellogg, 846 So. 2d 568, 572 (Fla. 2d DCA 2003); Crowley v. Sunny’s Plants, Inc., 710 So. 2d 219, 221 (Fla. 3d DCA 1998). This case is distinguishable from Hilyer Sod in that the Halls’ claims were unified, not separate and distinct. Furthermore, the cases of Crespo v. Woodland Lakes Creative Retirement Concepts, Inc., 845 So. 2d 342 (Fla. 2d D…
  • Safelite Glass Corp. v. Samuel, 771 So. 2d 44 (Fla. 4th DCA 2000)
    …e was vicariously liable for Haughton’s negligence. [*46] Both defendants had the same lawyer. The offer’s lack of apportionment between Safelite and Haughton did not prevent a meaningful evaluation of the offer. See Crowley v. Sunny’s Plants, Inc., 710 So. 2d 219, 221 (Fla. 3d DCA 1998). There was no harmful error in the proposal’s failure to allocate damages between two defendants whose interests were so unified under a theory of vicarious liability.. This case is distinguishable from United Services Automo…
  • Amisub (American Hospital) Inc. v. Hernandez, 817 So. 2d 870 (Fla. 3d DCA 2002)
    …dispositive ruling in a case. The only time-related requirement in the demand for judgment statute limits the recipient to thirty days to accept a demand to settle a dispute or the demand is considered rejected. See Crowley v. Sunny’s Plants, Inc., 710 So. 2d 219 (Fla. 3d DCA 1998). Here, following the dismissal but prior to the appeal, Hernandez served the demand for judgment, offering the hospital an opportunity to settle without an appeal or further litigation. The hospital rejected the demand within two…

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