Dale v. Schaub And State Farm Automobile Insurance Company

301 So.3d 1000 (2020)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

P sued Schaub (D) for a motor vehicle collision. P also sued his own uninsured/underinsured motorist (UM) carrier for breach of contract. Schaub carried bodily injury insurance with limits in the amount of $100,000. P carried UM insurance limits in the amount of $10,000. P decided to send a proposal for settlement (PFS). The attorney directed his paralegal to send one to each insurance company for their insurance policy limits. the paralegal misconstrued the instructions and sent one to P for $10,000 when the policy limit was $100,000. P immediately filed a notice of acceptance and issued a check for $10,000. On the following business day, P filed a motion to withdraw the proposal because of the inadvertent error in preparing the offer. Attached to the motion was an email chain between the attorney and paralegal, as well as the paralegal's affidavit in which she admitted drafting the PFS for $10,000 instead of $100,000. The motion also pointed out that $10,000 was an obvious error because P's medical bills were in excess of $58,000 already, and D had already made offers to settle in excess of $10,000. The court denied the motion. P then filed a motion for rehearing, that P had never authorized his attorney to make a $10,000 offer. The trial court summarily denied the motion. P appealed.