Shareholder Kansas Gooden recently had oral argument before the Florida Supreme Court and is featured in a Law360 article titled, “Trucking Co. Says Rejected Settlement Should Be Enforced,” published on March 9, 2022. The case concerns whether a proposal for settlement is accepted when a written notice of acceptance is filed or when payment is made.   The article states:

In oral arguments before the state's high court, Suarez Trucking FL Corp. said it should not have been forced to go to trial when it had accepted plaintiff Adam Souders' proposal to dismiss his claims in exchange for $500,000.

Souders rejected the check because it was made payable to himself and to Guarantee Insurance Co., which had paid out workers' compensation benefits and filed a lien in the case. Suarez Trucking's attorney Kansas Gooden told the court that her client offered to send a new check made out just to Souders with assurances from his attorney that the lien would be taken care of, but she said at that point Souders' attorney said it was too late and Souders was no longer interested in settling the case.

"The defense was in a catch-22," Gooden said. "This was a valid known lien that they just wanted to make sure was taken care of."

Gooden argued that the moment a notice of acceptance of the offer is filed, a settlement agreement exists under the plain language of the offer of judgment statute.

But Souders' attorney Joel Eaton said the language of the statute is ambiguous and could be interpreted as requiring performance of the contract — in other words, payment — for there to be acceptance of the agreement.

. . .

But Gooden said accepting Souders' interpretation of the law would frustrate its purpose of encouraging settlement of disputes.

"If you accept Souders' interpretation of this statute, parties are going to be litigating whether or not there was an acceptance, just like they did in this case," Gooden said.

Law 360 subscribers can access the full article at Law360.com.

About Kansas R. Gooden

Kansas Gooden is Board Certified in Appellate Practice by The Florida Bar and is AV® Preeminent Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell. She serves as the firm’s Appellate Practice Group Leader. Kansas is an expert in handling all types of civil appellate proceedings, including extraordinary writs and plenary appeals, in state and federal courts.

Ms. Gooden is active in the Florida Bar’s Appellate Section. Over the past decade, she has served on the Executive Council and has chaired the CLE Committee. As chair, Ms. Gooden is responsible for creating and organizing the CLE programing for the section.

Ms. Gooden is on the board of the Florida Defense Lawyers Association as the President and serves as the chair of the organization’s Amicus Committee. On behalf of the organization, she authors and co-authors amicus briefs in important cases impacting tort, litigation, and insurance issues. She also serves on the board of directors of the Third District Court of Appeal Historical Society.

Ms. Gooden is a frequent speaker on appellate topics, including preservation of error, for both attorneys and adjusters. She is licensed in Florida (2008).