A “Reasonable Time” Period does Exist

A reasonable time period does exist. The recent case of New Leaf Assets, LLC v. Jefrue, 50 Fla.L.Weekly D2673a (Fla. 4th DCA 2025) exemplifies this point. In this case, an investment agreement was entered – investors invested money in exchange for a percentage of membership interests. The agreement contained an option that gave the investors the option to exchange their membership interest for a refund of their investment, and the refund was backed by a personal guaranty. The investors attempted to exercise the option two years later, but the company notified them that it re-invested the money. The investors filed a...

01 January

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Quick Note: An Ambiguous Agreement will Lead to Admissibility of Parol Evidence

Posted by David Adelstein

in Trial Perspectives

In an earlier article I explained that parol evidence (extrinsic evidence) is inadmissible to determine the intent of an unambiguous agreement. The corollary is that parol evidence is admissible to determine the intent of an ambiguous agreement. Naturally, parties want their agreements to be clear—crystal clear—to avoid any argument regarding an ambiguity. For example, in a recent case, a commercial lease was deemed ambiguous regarding the tenant’s lease rate. As a result, the landlord could not ram its commercial eviction claim through the court due to what it claimed to be the tenant not paying the right lease rate. Instead, evidence needed...

26 November

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Parol Evidence Rule — A Substantive Rule of Law

Posted by David Adelstein

in Evidence

The parol evidence rule is not an evidentiary rule, but a substantive rule of law. Madsen, Sapp, Mena, Rodriguez & Co., P.A. v. Palm Beach Holdings, Inc., 899 So.2d 435, 436 (Fla. 4th DCA 2005). It is an important substantive rule of law when it comes to cases that involve the rights, liabilities, and remedies of parties pursuant to a written agreement. The parol evidence rule precludes the admissibility of extrinsic “verbal agreements [evidence] between the parties to a written contract which are made before or at the time of execution of the contract.” Pavolini v. Williams, 915 So.2d 251, 254...

latent ambiguity Tag

A “Reasonable Time” Period does Exist

Quick Note: An Ambiguous Agreement will Lead to Admissibility of Parol Evidence

Parol Evidence Rule — A Substantive Rule of Law