FORD MOTOR COMPANY, A DELAWARE CORPORATION, APPELLANT,
v.
AMANDA MEYERS, A MINOR, BY AND THROUGH HER PARENTS AND LEGAL GUARDIANS, ANDREW MEYERS AND DAWN MEYERS, APPELLEES
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Ford Motor Company appealed a $725,000 products liability jury verdict in favor of minor Amanda Meyers. The court affirmed the verdict and judgment, and also affirmed the trial court's denial of Amanda's motion for attorney's fees because her settlement proposal failed to comply with Rule 1.442(c)(3) by not specifying the amount attributable to each defendant.
The court held that Amanda's settlement proposal did not comply with Rule 1.442(c)(3) because it failed to state the specific amount attributable to each defendant. Therefore, Amanda was not entitled to recover attorney's fees. The court rejected Amanda's argument that an exception should be made because Ford had agreed to indemnify Wallace Ford, Inc.
[1] A proposal for settlement made jointly to multiple defendants must state the amount and terms attributable to each party to comply with Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.…
[2] A joint proposal for settlement that fails to allocate specific amounts to each defendant lacks the particularity required by Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.442(c)(3).
Previewing 2 of 5 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“Rule 1.442(c)(3), Florida Rules of Civil Procedure, states that a 'joint proposal [for settlement] shall state the amount and terms attributable to each party.'”
Establishes the plain language requirement that settlement proposals must specify amounts for each defendant
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAmanda Meyers, a minor, brought a products liability action against Ford Motor Company and Wallace Ford, Inc. During the litigation, Amanda's parents …
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SHAHOOD, J.
This products liability action resulted in a jury verdict in favor of the plaintiff, Amanda Meyers (“Amanda”), a minor, and against Ford Motor Company- (“Ford”). Ford appealed the final judgment and the trial court’s denial of Ford’s post-judgment motions for directed verdict, new trial and/or remittitur. Amanda filed a separate appeal of the order denying her motion for attorney’s fees. The appeals were consolidated.
We find that none of the issues raised by Ford on appeal constitutes reversible error and, therefore, affirm the verdict and judgment in favor of Amanda without further discussion. We also affirm the denial of Amanda’s request for attorney’s fees based on her failure to comply with rule 1.442(c)(8), Florida Rules of Civil Procedure. This opinion addresses only the attorney’s fee issue.
In the early stages of this action Amanda and her parents were the plaintiffs, and Ford Motor Company (“Ford”), and Wallace Ford, Inc. were the defendants. Ultimately, Amanda’s parents voluntarily dismissed their claims, and Amanda voluntarily dismissed her claim against Wallace Ford, Inc. At a time when all parties were still participants, however, Amanda’s parents filed a Proposal for Settlement, which stated the following:
Plaintiffs, AMANDA MEYERS, a minor, by and through her parents and legal guardians, ANDREW MEYERS and DAWN MEYERS, individually, serve this Proposal for Settlement, pursuant to' Florida Statute 768.79, and Rule 1.442 of the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure, and Demand the total sum of Three Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars ($350,000.00), from Defendants, FORD MOTOR COMPANY, and WALLACE FORD, INC., for settlement of this case, including attorney’s fees and costs. Upon acceptance of the Proposal of Settlement, the parties shall enter into a Stipulation dismissing all pending claims or allow judgment to be entered in accordance with the Proposal For Settlement.
Both Ford and Wallace Ford, Inc. rejected the proposal.
Following entry of the $725,000 plaintiffs verdict and final judgment, Amanda moved for attorney’s fees and costs pursuant to-section 768,79, Florida Statutes, and Rule 1.442, Florida Rules of Civil Procedure. Following a hearing, the trial court entered an order . denying Amanda’s request based on failure to comply with rule 1.442(c)(3). Specifically, the court found that Amanda’s proposal for settlement was deficient in that it failed to state the amount attributable to each party.
Rule 1.442(c)(3), Florida Rules of Civil Procedure, states that a “joint proposal [for settlement] shall state the amount and terms attributable to each party.” The committee notes which accompany the rule state that “[t]he provision which requires that a joint proposal state the amount and terms attributable to each party is in order to conform with Fabre v. Marin, 623 So. 2d 1182 (Fla.1993).”
In McFarland & Son, Inc. v. Basel, 727 So. 2d 266, 269-70 (Fla. 5th DCA 1999), the court stated that:
Because an offer of judgment is made before anyone knows the result of the case, the efficacy of the offer must be analyzed as it would be at the time it was made....
In order to give effect to rule 1.442(e)(3), a general offer to a group of defendants without assigning each defendant a specific amount must be held to lack the particularity required by the rule.... While obviously a plaintiff making an offer of judgment cannot know the percentage of fault to assign each defendant to whom it proposes settlement, the rule requires that a specific amount be set forth as to each defendant, thus eliminating the possibility of a joint and several-type settlement which leaves the defendants in limbo and opens the door to continued litigation between the defendants.
Id. at 270.
On appeal, Amanda argues that the rule should not be applied so literally in this case because this is not a situation in which the defendants have competing interests or where fault must be apportioned, as in Fabre. Because Ford had agreed to indemnify its dealer, Wallace Ford, Inc., and had, in fact, provided a defense for Wallace Ford, Inc., Amanda contends that the two parties should be treated as one entity for purposes of considering her proposal for settlement. We are unable, however, to ignore the plain language of the rule. While Amanda’s position may be persuasive, she has provided no authority which would support making an exception in this case.
At the time the Proposal for Settlement was made, both Ford and Wallace Ford, Inc., were named defendants. Any indemnification agreement between the two defendants would not have affected Amanda’s right to recover from Wallace Ford, Inc., if judgment had been entered against that defendant alone. Therefore, the facts in this case do not justify carving an exception to the rule 1.
All issues raised by both parties in their respective appeals are affirmed.
GUNTHER and GROSS, JJ„ concur. . We distinguish this court’s recent case of Safelite Glass Corp. v. Samuel, 771 So. 2d 44 (Fla. 4th DCA 2000). In Safelite, one defendant was vicariously liable for the tortious conduct of its employee. This case is not a case of vicarious liability.
PER CURIAM.
We deny the motion for rehearing. We agree with Ford Motor Company that at the time the offer of settlement was made, it was still possible that Wallace Ford could have been found to be independently liable to the plaintiff. If such independent liability had been established, Ford Motor Company would not have been obligated to indemnify its dealer. Liability would have been apportioned between the defendants consistent with Fabre v. Marin, 623 So. 2d 1182 (Fla.1993). This further distinguishes this case from Safelite Glass Corp. v. Samuel, 771 So. 2d 44 (Fla. 4th DCA 2000).
GUNTHER, SHAHOOD and GROSS, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
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Dudley v. McCORMICK, 799 So. 2d 436 (Fla. 1st DCA 2001)…njuries, or vice versa. The proposal sought to settle the claims of two distinct offerees by payment of a single, undivided sum.5 Compare [*441] Safelite Glass Corp. v. Samuel, 771 So. 2d 44, 45-46 (Fla. 4th DCA 2000), with Ford Motor Co. v. Meyers, 771 So. 2d 1202, 1204 & n. 1 (Fla. 4th DCA 2000). Importantly, the present case differs from a wrongful death case, where the personal representative, who is a statutory party (albeit acting on behalf of the decedent’s survivors and the decedent’s estate) may sett…
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Thompson v. Andrew K. Hodson, M.D., 825 So. 2d 941 (Fla. 1st DCA 2002)…dio, 780 So. 2d 155, 155 (Fla. 2d DCA 2001) (holding that an offer was invalid because it failed to state the amount attributable to each of multiple plaintiff offerees as required by Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.442); Ford Motor Co. v. Meyers, 771 So. 2d 1202, 1204 (Fla. 4th DCA 2000) (holding that an offer was invalid because it failed to state the amount attributable to each of multiple defendant offerees as required by Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.442); McFarland & Son, Inc., 727 So. 2d at 269 (s…
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Hilyer SOD, Inc. v. Willis Shaw Express, Inc., 817 So. 2d 1050 (Fla. 1st DCA 2002)…. Basel, 727 So. 2d 266, 270 (Fla. 5th DCA 1999) (“[A] general offer to a group of defendants without assigning each defendant a specific amount must be held to lack the particularity required by the rule.”); Ford Motor Co. v. Meyers ex rel. Meyers, 771 So. 2d 1202, 1204 (Fla. 4th DCA 2000) (holding that a general offer made to two defendants was deficient even though there was an indemnification agreement between the two defendants); but see Safelite Glass Corp. v. Samuel, 771 So. 2d 44, 45-46 (Fla. 4th DCA 2…
Previewing 3 of 4 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Fabre v. Marin, 623 So. 2d 1182 (Fla. 1993)
- Cooper v. State, 727 So. 2d 266 (Fla. 3d DCA 1998)
- Gusmane Glieye v. State, 727 So. 2d 266 (Fla. 3d DCA 1998)
- Safelite Glass Corp. v. Samuel, 771 So. 2d 44 (Fla. 4th DCA 2000)