Comments on Attorneys Signing Settlement Agreements Due 10/1

The Supreme Court of Florida has received a petition from The Florida Bar Civil Rules Committee stemming from a case reported a couple of years ago, Parkland Condominium Association, Inc. v. Henderson, 350 So. 3d 484 (Fla. 2d DCA 2022) where the court did not enforce a deal when the attorneys signed a mediated settlement agreement, but the parties never did. The proposed rule change to Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.730 will no longer require signature of counsel to the parties on mediation settlement agreements and will permit the signature of a party representative (e.g., insurer) if they have full authority to settle. Many cases we see referred to mediation have no Certificates of Authority despite the civil rules saying they must be timely filed before mediation. Mediators compromise their neutrality when they are asked by counsel and their clients to police such compliance. The Civil Rules Committee notes that in reviewing Rule 1.730, it requires, "erroneously," a lawyer's signature on a mediation agreement as Florida law does not otherwise require it. The applicable statute merely requires that a mediated settlement agreement be "signed by the parties and, if required by law, approved by the court." See § 44.404(1)(a), Fla. Stat. Attorneys signing at the end gives a certain gravity to the mediation process and evidences they have read over it and advised the parties signing. I never saw counsel complain in decades of doing this. Comments are due by October 1,2024. Find more on case number SC2024-0774 here--https://tinyurl.com/mrxuxcmj