Calculating the Judgment Obtained in Determining Proposals for Settlement

There are numerous prior postings discussing proposals for settlement / offers of judgment. As discussed, they create an argument to recover attorney’s fees from the date of the proposal on forward. A recent case discusses the thorny issues of determining whether the “judgment obtained” by the plaintiff meets the threshold to recover attorney’s fees when serving a proposal for settlement under Florida Statute s. 768.79. In this case, the plaintiff served a proposal for settlement on March 21, 2019. The defendant did not accept the proposal. The case proceeded to trial and the jury returned a verdict in favor of the...

17 November

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How to Factor a Postoffer Settlement into a Proposal for Settlement Analysis

Posted by David Adelstein

in Trial Perspectives

A plaintiff may serve a proposal for settlement (a/k/a offer of judgment) to create a mechanism to recover attorney's fees as the prevailing party. When it comes to proposals for settlement served by the plaintiff on the defendant, Florida Statute s. 768.79 provides: (b) If a plaintiff serves an offer which is not accepted by the defendant, and if the judgment obtained by the plaintiff is at least 25 percent more than the amount of the offer, the plaintiff shall be awarded reasonable costs, including investigative expenses, and attorney's fees, calculated in accordance with the guidelines promulgated by the Supreme Court, incurred...

17 February

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Considerations when Multiple Proposals for Settlement are Served on Separate Defendants

Posted by David Adelstein

in Trial Perspectives

I have previously discussed proposals for settlement / offers of judgment (“proposals for settlement”). A proposal for settlement is a statutory vehicle pursuant to both Florida Statute s. 768.79 and Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.442 to create an argument to recover attorney’s fees based on the judgment amount. (See this article for more on proposals for settlement). For a plaintiff (party seeking affirmative relief), the plaintiff must obtain a judgment 25% greater than the proposal for settlement amount. When there are multiple defendants, the plaintiff needs to serve a proposal for settlement on each defendant. In Cassedy, Jr. v. Wood,44 Fla.L.Weekly...

29 March

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Considerations Involving Proposals for Settlement / Offers for Judgment

Posted by David Adelstein

in Trial Perspectives

There needs to be a contractual or statutory basis in order to be entitled to recover your reasonable attorneys' fees at trial. See Cadenhead v. Gaetz, 677 So.2d 96, 97 (Fla. 1st DCA 1996). This means either the contract needs to support a basis for the party to recover attorney’s fees (such as a prevailing party attorneys’ fees provision or a contractual indemnification provision that authorizes attorneys’ fees) or there needs to be a statute that authorizes you to recover reasonable attorneys' fees. Absent these bases, there is generally no basis to recover attorneys' fees. However, there is a vehicle under...