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You Settled Your Case at Mediation…But Did You?
Trial is coming up and you’ve just spent hours at mediation. After hours of contentious negotiations, you have reached an agreement! You have all agreed on the terms of the settlement, prepared the settlement agreement, and the attorneys have signed it. However, the Plaintiff did not sign the agreement, and later decides Plaintiff is no longer in agreement with the settlement. Do you have an enforceable settlement? The second district court of appeals in Florida says no. In the case of Parkland Condo Ass’n, Inc., v. Henderson, 350 So. 3d 484 (Fla. 2nd DCA 2022), the court ruled that any settlement agreement is unenforceable because it resulted from mediation yet lacked the parties’ signature. The court cited the following caselaw in its reasoning:
When parties reach a settlement agreement after mediation, Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.730(b) expressly provides: "If a partial or final agreement is reached, it shall be reduced to writing and signed by the parties and their counsel, if any." Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.730(b) (2021) (emphases supplied). Thus, "a supposed settlement agreement resulting from mediation cannot be enforced absent the signatures of all parties." Dean v. Rutherford Mulhall, P.A., 16 So. 3d 284, 286 (Fla. 4th DCA 2009); see Gardner v. Wolfe & Goldstein, P.A., 168 So. 3d 1281 (Fla. 4th DCA 2015) (reversing order enforcing settlement agreement where one of the parties did not sign it and claimed that he had never agreed to it); Mastec, Inc. v. Cue, 994 So. 2d 494, 495 (Fla. 3d DCA 2008) ("[W]e conclude that the lack of a written agreement signed by both parties was more than a mere technical deficiency, and that the alleged mediation settlement is unenforceable."); see also § 44.404(1)(a), Fla. Stat. (2021) ("A court-ordered mediation begins when an order is issued by the court and ends when . . . [a] partial or complete settlement agreement, intended to resolve the dispute and end the mediation, is signed by the parties and, if required by law, approved by the court . . . .").
It is interesting to note that the court stated had the purported settlement agreement been reached between the parties outside of a court ordered mediation, then the court would have likely concluded the agreement binding and enforceable, but in light of rule 1.730(b) they were unable to enforce the settlement.
Based on The Parkland Condominium Association case and rule 1.730(b) we urge all parties, their attorneys, and mediators to follow the below guidelines:
1. Any settlement agreement reached in connection with mediation, and even after mediation if there was no impasse declared by the mediator, must be in writing and signed by all parties and their counsel. Otherwise, the settlement agreement will simply not be enforceable under Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.730(b).
2. Parties, their counsel and the mediator should avoid ever leaving a mediation with a settlement agreement agreed in principle, or with a settlement documented by email agreement of the parties, with the idea that the formal settlement agreement can be prepared and signed the next day or thereafter. This is because after a long day of mediation the parties may agree to settlement terms, but then the next day or thereafter a party may have buyer’s remorse and refuse to sign the settlement on the terms previously agreed to at mediation. Under Rule 1.730(b) and the Parkland Condominium case, the settlement reached at mediation would not be enforceable. Therefore, at minimum, if a settlement is reached a mediation, a simple written agreement with all of the essential terms should always be signed by all parties and their counsel before leaving the mediation to ensure the agreement reached at mediation will be enforceable.
3. If mediation does not result in a settlement, the parties should request the mediator to declare an impasse so that the mediation is concluded. That way, future settlement discussions will not be considered part of the mediation, and the requirements of Rule 1.370(b) should not apply.
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