Enforceable Settlement Does Not Need to be Signed and can be Agreed by Attorneys

“To be enforceable, an agreement must be sufficiently specific, and reflect assent by the parties to all essential terms. . . . Where essential terms of an agreement remain open, subject to future negotiation, there can be no enforceable contract.” Portner v. Koppel, 49 Fla.L.Weekly D599a (Fla. 4th DCA 2024) (citation and quotation omitted). This applies to settlement agreements that are governed under contract law principles. Portner, supra. “Emails between attorneys can constitute an enforceable settlement agreement.” Id. Sometimes, a party may have “buyer’s remorse” and refuse to sign a settlement agreement. This fact alone does NOT mean there is not a...

11 June

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Draft Agreements with Clarity or…

Posted by David Adelstein

in Appeal

If you ever want to know why a contract or any agreement should be clearly written, here is the reason. In a recent case, 41 Acquisition Holdings, LLC v. Haff, 48 Fla.L.Weekly D1127a (Fla. 3d DCA 2023), the settlement agreement contained the following language: The court shall retain jurisdiction to enforce this agreement and, an enforcement action or motion, if any, shall be made by the party claiming a breach against the party alleged to have committed the breach and shall not affect any party who is not alleged to have breach this agreement and the prevailing party in any enforcement...

06 June

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Enforce Settlement Agreement OR Breach of Settlement Agreement

Posted by David Adelstein

in Trial Perspectives

When you enter into a settlement agreement, the intent is for the parties to comply with their settlement obligations. Why enter into a settlement agreement that you know you are not going to comply with? That would not make sense, right? Unfortunately, it occurs. A party may not comply with a continuing obligation. And, it is always frustrating when this happens for the other party expecting that obligation to be performed. When a settlement agreement is entered, particularly if it requires obligations that will not occur immediately, a party will want to dismiss the case requesting the trial court enter an order...

30 October

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Must be a Meeting of the Minds for there to be a Settlement

Posted by David Adelstein

in Trial Perspectives

A settlement agreement is governed under the tenets of contract law – there needs to be a meeting of the minds for there to be a settlement. Ideally, you want this meeting of the minds to be memorialized in writing in a settlement agreement. However, what if it is not memorialized in a written settlement agreement? As is true of contracts generally, a settlement agreement is formed “only when one party makes an offer and another party accepts it.” An acceptance sufficient to create an enforceable agreement “must be (1) absolute and unconditional; (2) identical with the terms of the offer;...