Supreme Court Deals Another Blow to Fla. Stat. § 768.79 The Offer of Judgment / Proposal for Settlement Statute
In another serious blow to the offer of judgment/proposal of settlement statute, the Florida Supreme Court ruled that the Florida statute does not apply when the parties have agreed, presumably in a contract, to apply the law of another state. The Supreme Court, in a six to one opinion, ruled that where the parties contractually agreed to a foreign law governing the substantive claims, a proposal for settlement served under the Florida Statute and Rule of Civil Procedure is invalid and ineffective. The opinion is contrary to a series of district courts, which held the opposite. Regardless, clients should remain aware of this change in the law. See Southeast Floating Docks v. Auto-Owners Ins. Co., 82 So. 3d 73 (Fla. Feb.2, 2012)
