DAILA CANO, APPELLANT,
v.
HYUNDAI MOTOR AMERICA, INC., AND GUILLERMO CANO, APPELLEES

Fla. 4th DCA | 2009-03-18
No. 4D08-2108
POLEN and CIKLIN, JJ., concur., HAZOURI, J., concurs specially with opinion.
8 So. 3d 408 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fourth District (2009) Positive Treatment
Cited by 10 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

Daila Cano appeals an award of attorney's fees and costs to Hyundai Motor America, arguing that Hyundai's joint settlement proposal failed to comply with Florida's strict apportionment requirement for multi-party settlement offers. The court agrees and reverses, holding that Rule 1.442 requires joint proposals to specify the amount and terms attributable to each party without exception.


Holding

A joint settlement proposal must strictly comply with Rule 1.442(c)(3) by specifying the amount and terms attributable to each party. The trial court's award of attorney's fees to Hyundai was improper because Hyundai's proposal failed to meet this strict requirement, and this rule applies without exception even when the claims of multiple parties are indistinguishable.


Headnotes

[1] A joint settlement offer made to or from two or more parties must specify the amount and terms attributable to each party to be valid under Florida Rule of Civil Procedur…

[2] Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.442 and section 768.79, Florida Statutes, are strictly construed as they are in derogation of the common law.

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

Key Quotes

“[r]ule 1.442 of the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure requires particularity in the contents of the proposal and strict compliance with the rule.”

Establishes that Rule 1.442 requires strict compliance with its particularity requirements

Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Facts & Procedural History

Daila Cano and Guillermo Cano purchased a 2000 Hyundai Accent that developed various operating defects. The Canos sued Hyundai for breach of express a…

The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.


Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM.

*410PER CURIAM.

This is an appeal from a final judgment awarding attorney’s fees and costs to the Appellee, Hyundai Motor America, Inc., pursuant to section 768.79, Florida Statutes and Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.442.The Appellant, Daila Cano, contends that the award was improper because Hyundai’s joint settlement offer failed to satisfy section 768.79 and rule 1.442’s apportionment requirement. We agree and reverse.

Daila Cano and Guillermo Cano purchased from Hyundai a 2000 Hyundai Accent. After taking possession of the car, the Canos experienced various operating defects. Due to these defects, the Canos brought a claim against Hyundai for breach of express and implied warranty, as well as for revocation of acceptance.

Before trial, Hyundai, pursuant to section 768.79 and rule 1.442, offered the Ca-nos a joint proposal for settlement. The proposed settlement failed to specify the amount and terms attributable to each party. The Canos did not accept the proposed settlement. The case proceeded to trial, at which time Guillermo Cano was dropped as a Plaintiff. The jury found in favor of Hyundai. Hyundai subsequently filed a motion for an award of attorney’s fees pursuant to section 768.79 and rule 1.442.The trial court granted this motion. Daila responded by filing a motion for rehearing and reconsideration of the order granting Hyundai attorney’s fees and costs. Daila alleged that the proposed settlement failed to meet the requirements of section 768.79 and rule 1.442 and, as such, could not serve as a basis for the award of attorney’s fees and costs. The trial court denied the motion, stating that although the proposal failed to specify the amount and terms attributable to each plaintiff, the proposal was nevertheless valid because the Canos’ claims were indistinguishable. Thereafter, the trial court entered a final judgment awarding attorney’s fees and costs to Hyundai.

Section 768.79 and rule 1.442 are strictly construed because they are “in derogation of the common law rule that each party pay their own fees.” Brower-Eger v. Noon, 994 So.2d 1239, 1241 (Fla. 4th DCA 2008). In determining “whether an offer of settlement comports with rule 1.442 and section 768.79,” an appellate court uses the de novo standard of review “because a proposal for settlement is in the nature of a contract.” Id. at 1240-41.

Section 768.79, in governing “offers of and demands for judgment .... authorizes an award of attorney’s fees as a sanction against a party who unreasonably rejects a reasonable offer made in good faith.” Id. at 1241. Working in conjunction with section 768.79, “[r]ule 1.442 of the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure requires particularity in the contents of the proposal and strict compliance with the rule.” Id. If a proposed settlement does not comport with the strict requirements of rule 1.442,an award of attorney’s fees and costs pursuant to 768.79 is improper. See id.

One of the particularity requirements of rule 1.442 is found in subsection (c)(3), which provides that “[a] proposal may be made by or to any party or parties and by or to any combination of parties properly identified in the proposal. A joint proposal shall state the amount and terms attributable to each party.” Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.442(c)(3). Because “[o]ur supreme court has rejected any deviation from the strict requirements of [section 768.79] and rule [1.442],” a settlement “offer [ ] made to or from two or more parties ... must specify the amount attributable to each of them.” Brower-Eger, 994 So.2d at 1241 (citing Lamb v. Matetzschk, 906 So.2d 1037, 1040-41 (Fla.2005)). Rule *4111.442(c)(3) is also a “bright line rule” and, “applies in all proposal for settlement cases, without exception.” Graham v. Yeskel, 928 So.2d 371, 373 (Fla. 4th DCA 2006).

In this case, at the time the Hyundai proposal was given, there were two plaintiffs, Daila Cano and Guillermo Cano. The proposal, however, failed to specify the amount attributable to each party. Given the bright line application of rule 1.442, we reverse the award of attorney’s fees and costs against Daila because the joint proposal failed to meet rule 1.442’s strict requirement of specifying the amount attributable to each party. Although the claims of the Canos were indistinguishable, it does not change the outcome. This is because the rule requiring apportionment between multiple parties applies “without exception” in “ ‘all proposals for settlement authorized by Florida law.’ ” Graham, 928 So.2d at 373 (quoting Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.442(a)).

Reversed.

POLEN and CIKLIN, JJ., concur.

HAZOURI, J., concurs specially with opinion.

HAZOURI, J.,

concurring specially.

I concur but write to echo the First District Court’s call for the Florida Supreme Court to consider whether rule 1.442 should be amended to align with the legislative intent that offers of judgments (also labeled by rule 1.442 as proposals for settlements) are meant to encourage settlements. Lamb constrains this goal when proposals for settlement are made to offer-ees whose claims are one and the same. See Heymann v. Free, 913 So.2d 11 (Fla. 1st DCA 2005).

Concurrence
HAZOURI, J.,

HAZOURI, J.,

concurring specially.

I concur but write to echo the First District Court’s call for the Florida Supreme Court to consider whether rule 1.442 should be amended to align with the legislative intent that offers of judgments (also labeled by rule 1.442 as proposals for settlements) are meant to encourage settlements. Lamb constrains this goal when proposals for settlement are made to offer-ees whose claims are one and the same. See Heymann v. Free, 913 So. 2d 11 (Fla. 1st DCA 2005).


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By

  • Ancel Pratt, Jr. v. Michael C. Weiss, D.O., 161 So. 3d 1268 (Fla. 2015)
    …llstate Ins. Co. v. Materiale, 787 So. 2d 173, 175 (Fla. 2d DCA 2001)). On more than one occasion, the Fourth District has referred to the requirement as a “bright line rule,” to be applied without exception. See Cano v. Hyundai Motor America, Inc., 8 So. 3d 408, 411 (Fla. 4th DCA 2009); Graham v. Yeskel, 928 So. 2d 371, 373 (Fla. 4th DCA 2006). Strict application of the requirement has resulted in the invalidation of offers of judgment where two plaintiffs presented an unapportioned settlement offer to one…
  • Matte v. Caplan, 140 So. 3d 686 (Fla. 4th DCA 2014)
    …ettlement under Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.442, allowing for attorney’s fees, which is also strictly construed and requires strict compliance with the provisions of the rule. See Montgomery, at 1072-73 (citing Cano v. Hyundai Motor Am., Inc., 8 So. 3d 408 (Fla. 4th DCA 2009) (holding that “[sjection 768.79 and rule 1.442 are strictly construed because they are ‘in derogation of the common law rule that each party pay their own fees’ ”) (quoting Brower-Eger v. Noon, 994 So. 2d 1239, 1241 (Fla. 4th DCA…
  • Montgomery v. Larmoyeux, 14 So. 3d 1067 (Fla. 4th DCA 2009)
    …008) (stating that “ ‘[a]ny statute that deviates from the common law approach must be strictly construed’” (quoting Hilyer Sod, Inc. v. Willis Shaw Exp., Inc., 817 So. 2d 1050, 1054 (Fla. 1st DCA 2002))); see, e.g., Cano v. Hyundai Motor Am., Inc., 8 So. 3d 408 (Fla. 4th DCA 2009) (holding that “[s]ection 768.79 and rule 1.442 are strictly construed because they are ‘in derogation of the common law rule that each party pay their own fees’ ” (quoting Brower-Eger v. Noon, 994 So. 2d 1239, 1241 (Fla. 4th DCA…

Previewing 3 of 5 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Authorities Cited

Full citator, related cases, and AI research tools

Open in FLexlaw