Donna Koppel v. Laura Ochoa
Donna Koppel v. Laura Ochoa
Opinion
We have for review the decision of the Second District Court of Appeal in
Ochoa v. Koppel
,
FACTS
The Second District set forth the following facts:
On December 9, 2011, Ms. Ochoa was injured in a crash with a car driven by Ms. Koppel. In April 2013, she sued Ms. Koppel, alleging negligence and seeking damages to compensate her for her injuries.
On September 3, 2013, Ms. Ochoa served Ms. Koppel with a proposal for settlement pursuant to section 768.79 and rule 1.442. The proposal offered to dismiss the action with prejudice in exchange for a lump-sum payment by Ms. Koppel of $100,000. Rule 1.442(f)(1) provides that a proposal for settlement is "deemed rejected" if not accepted within thirty days after service of the proposal, and Ms. Ochoa's proposal stated that it would be withdrawn if not accepted within that time. On the same day she served the proposal, Ms. Ochoa filed a notice that the case was ready for trial.
On October 2, 2013-one day before the thirty-day period to accept the settlement proposal expired-Ms. Koppel filed a motion seeking to enlarge the time in which to respond to the proposal. The motion cited Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.090, which governs enlargements of time, and alleged that Ms. Koppel had not had sufficient time to evaluate the proposal because (1) she had recently received through discovery a new MRI report bearing on Ms. Ochoa's alleged injuries and (2) the case remained "in its infancy" and Ms. Ochoa's deposition had not been taken. Ms. Ochoa later filed a notice setting a hearing on the motion for December 2, 2013.
Although we do not have a transcript of the hearing, the parties agree that the court did not render a decision on December 2 and that it instead requested that the parties submit additional authorities on or before December 5. The day after the hearing, on December 3, 2013, Ms. Koppel served a notice purporting to accept the proposal for settlement. Two days later, on December 5, 2013, she provided the court with the authorities it had requested. Later that day, the court entered an order denying Ms. Koppel's request to enlarge the time in which to accept the proposal for settlement.
Ms. Ochoa next filed a motion to strike Ms. Koppel's notice accepting the proposal for settlement on grounds that it was untimely. Ms. Koppel opposed the motion and argued that under the Fifth District's decision in Goldy [ v. Corbett Cranes Services, Inc. ,692 So.2d 225 (Fla. 5th DCA 1997) ], her filing of a motion to enlarge time under rule 1.090 tolled the thirty-day period in which she was authorized to accept the proposal. According to Ms. Koppel, the period remained tolled until the trial court denied her motion for enlargement of time on December 5, 2013. Ms. Koppel coupled her response to the motion to strike with a motion to enforce the settlement that she asserted was created by her acceptance of Ms. Ochoa's proposal for settlement.
After a hearing, the trial court agreed that Ms. Koppel's filing of a motion to enlarge time tolled the time she had to accept the settlement proposal, denied the motion to strike the notice of acceptance, and granted the motion to enforce settlement. The trial court then entered a final judgment dismissing Ms. Ochoa's *889 case with prejudice based upon the proposal and acceptance. Ms. Ochoa timely appealed.
Ochoa
,
On appeal, the district court reversed the trial court, finding that the texts of rules 1.090 and 1.442 were "unambiguous in that neither contains language that could in any way be construed as providing that the time to accept a proposal for settlement is tolled when a motion to enlarge the time to do so is filed."
ANALYSIS
The conflict issue presented is whether the filing of a motion under Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.090 to enlarge the time to accept a proposal for settlement automatically tolls the 30-day deadline for accepting the proposal until the motion is decided. The standard of review in determining whether an offer of settlement and purported acceptance comport with Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.442 and section 768.79, Florida Statutes (2013), is de novo.
Pratt v. Weiss
,
Relevant Provisions
Section 768.79, Florida Statutes (2013), governs offers of judgment, and "provides a sanction against a party who unreasonably rejects a settlement offer."
Willis Shaw Exp., Inc. v. Hilyer Sod, Inc.
,
(1) In any civil action for damages filed in the courts of this state, if a defendant files an offer of judgment which is not accepted by the plaintiff within 30 days, the defendant shall be entitled to recover reasonable costs and attorney's fees incurred by her or him or on the defendant's behalf pursuant to a policy of liability insurance or other contract from the date of filing of the offer if the judgment is one of no liability or the judgment obtained by the plaintiff is at least 25 percent less than such offer, and the court shall set off such costs and attorney's fees against the award ....If a plaintiff files a demand for judgment which is not accepted by the defendant within 30 days and the plaintiff recovers a judgment in an amount at least 25 percent greater than the offer, she or he shall be entitled to recover reasonable costs and attorney's fees incurred from the date of the filing of the demand.
Rule 1.442 outlines the procedures that must be followed when implementing section 786.79. The rule provides, in relevant part:
(f) Acceptance and Rejection.
(1) A proposal shall be deemed rejected unless accepted by delivery of a written notice of acceptance within 30 days after service of the proposal. The provisions of Florida Rule of Judicial Administration 2.514(b) do not apply to this subdivision. No oral communications shall constitute an acceptance, rejection, or counteroffer under the provisions of this rule.
Rule 1.090(b) governs the enlargement of time periods established by the civil rules. It provides, in relevant part:
(b) Enlargement. When an act is required or allowed to be done at or within a specified time by order of court, by these rules, or by notice given thereunder, for cause shown the court at any *890 time in its discretion (1) with or without notice, may order the period enlarged if request therefor is made before the expiration of the period originally prescribed or as extended by a previous order, or (2) upon motion made and notice after the expiration of the specified period, may permit the act to be done when failure to act was the result of excusable neglect, but it may not extend the time for making a motion for new trial, for rehearing, or to alter or amend a judgment; making a motion for relief from a judgment under rule 1.540(b); taking an appeal or filing a petition for certiorari; or making a motion for a directed verdict.
Certified Conflict
In
Goldy
, the conflict case, the plaintiff submitted an offer of judgment to the defendant.
The jury verdict exceeded the plaintiff's settlement offer by 125%.
In support of its conclusion, the district court in
Goldy
quoted with approval the trial court's order, which relied on
Morales v. Sperry Rand Corp.
,
Judge Griffin concurred in part and dissented in part in
Goldy
.
In this case, the plaintiff submitted an offer of judgment to the defendant. The offer was set to expire on October 3.
The trial court heard the motion on December 2 and ordered additional authorities from the parties.
In reversing the trial court's order to enforce the settlement, the district court found that the texts of rules 1.090 and 1.442 were unambiguous and could not be construed in any way to provide for tolling once a motion to enlarge had been filed.
Interpretation
"It is well settled that the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure are construed in accordance with the principles of statutory construction."
Saia Motor Freight Line, Inc., v. Reid
,
Neither party argues that rules 1.090 and 1.442 are ambiguous. Despite this, Petitioner contends that this Court should look to rule 1.010 to construe the provisions. Rule 1.010 provides that the "rules shall be construed to secure the just, speedy, and inexpensive determination of every action." However, this is the direction *892 only if a rule needs interpretation. Here, the language is clear and unambiguous. Accordingly, there is no need to resort to the rules of statutory interpretation, which would require us to consider the purpose of the rules as outlined in rule 1.010.
Instead, it is clear from the plain language that neither rule contains language that would provide for tolling once a motion to enlarge is filed. Rule 1.442 does not address the computation of time. In regards to accepting an offer for settlement, the rule states that (1) delivery of a written notice within 30 days is required, (2) Florida Rule of Judicial Administration 2.154(b) does not apply, and (3) oral communication cannot serve as an acceptance, rejection, or counteroffer. Rule 1.090 allows for the time period set forth in rule 1.442 to be enlarged, but this enlargement is at the trial court's discretion if the motion was filed before expiration of the time period and cause has been shown. After the time period has expired, the trial court still has discretion to enlarge the time period if the moving party can demonstrate excusable neglect in addition to cause. Nowhere does the rule allow additional time to accept by simply filing the motion to enlarge. This seems consistent with the rule, which provides for additional time only after cause has been shown.
Petitioner argues that this Court should agree with the Fifth District's reasoning because it is consistent with the goals behind the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure and the public policy in favor of settlements. Petitioner contends that if rule 1.090 does not allow for automatic tolling upon filing, offerors will be able to surprise offerees with new discovery that offerees may not have time to consider before the 30-day window for acceptance closes. Additionally, if the motion must be heard before the offer expires, Petitioner worries that offerees in busier circuits will be disadvantaged if they are unable to secure a hearing on the motion to enlarge before the period to accept ends.
While these are valid concerns, it is apparent from the text of the rule that motions to enlarge are not granted without a showing of cause before the trial judge. As noted by Judge Griffin, and repeated by the Second District in Ochoa , allowing the time to accept an offer of settlement to toll once a motion to enlarge has been filed would appear to provide an automatic period of enlargement and seems to undermine the rule as it is currently written. Without a showing of cause, an offeree could extend the offer indefinitely, all while the offering party continues to incur costs related to the case. In this case, the offeree did not extend the period indefinitely, but instead filed the motion to enlarge a day before it was set to expire. The court did not hear the motion until two months later, at which point the offeree accepted a day before the court denied the motion. Ultimately, the offeree accepted the offer 90 days after it was made without permission from the offeror or the trial court. The rules do not support this outcome.
Petitioner also argues that this Court should allow
Goldy
to stand because it has been the controlling law in Florida for the past 19 years. However, district courts have not agreed that rule 1.090 provides for tolling once a motion has been filed. The Second District first addressed this issue in
Donohoe v. Starmed Staffing, Inc.
,
The Third District Court of Appeal came to a similar conclusion more recently in
Three Lions Construction, Inc. v. Namm Group, Inc.
,
The Second District was correct in its conclusion that the filing of a motion to enlarge pursuant to rule 1.090 does not toll the time to accept an offer of settlement made under section 768.79. Accordingly, we approve the Second District's decision in Ochoa and disapprove the Fifth District's decision in Goldy .
Prospective Application
Petitioner argues that if we approve the Second District, this decision should be applied prospectively and not retroactively. In support of this position, Petitioner relies on
Florida Forest & Park Service v. Strickland
,
Judicial decisions in the area of civil litigation have retrospective as well as prospective application.
Lockwood
,
[R]elate back to the enactment of the statute, much as though the overruling decision had been originally embodied therein. To this rule, however, there is a certain well-recognized exception that where a statute has received a given construction by a court of supreme jurisdiction and property or contract rights have been acquired under and in accordance with such construction, such rights should not be destroyed by giving to a subsequent overruling decision a retrospective operation.
In this case, the "court of last resort" is this Court, to which the Second District certified its conflict with
Goldy
.
See
Nat'l Ins. Underwriters v. Cessna Aircraft Corp.
,
Petitioner's reliance on
Green Tree
is misplaced. In that case, the Second District receded from an earlier decision and had to determine whether "application of the rule that we adopt today to the facts of this case would be fundamentally unfair to Green Tree."
Green Tree
,
Rules 1.090 and 1.442 do not, and did not, provide for tolling of the time periods by the filing of a motion for extension and are applicable to this and all other cases.
CONCLUSION
The Second District correctly ruled that the filing of a motion to enlarge the time to accept a proposal for settlement does not automatically toll the 30-day period for accepting the proposal. Thus, it correctly held that the trial court erred in ruling that Respondent's proposal for settlement had been validly accepted by Petitioner. Accordingly, we approve the Second District, disapprove the Fifth District, and remand the case to the trial court for reinstatement of Respondent's negligence action.
It is so ordered.
LABARGA, C.J., and PARIENTE, LEWIS, CANADY, POLSTON, and LAWSON, JJ., concur.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Donna KOPPEL, Petitioner, v. Laura OCHOA, Et Al., Respondents.
- Cited By
- 5 cases
- Status
- Published