Florida Bar Re: Amendment to Rules of Civil Procedure, Rule 1.442

In 1988, this Court requested the Civil Procedure Rules Committee (the “Committee”) to examine any possible conflict between sections 768.79 and 45.061, Florida Statutes (1987), and Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.442, governing offers of judgment. In response, the Committee petitions for adoption of a rule. We have jurisdiction. Art. V, § 2(a), Fla. Const.

In its pertinent part, the rule change proposed by a majority of the Committee (by a vote of twenty to four) would alter the present procedure by which parties are sanctioned for failure to accept bona fide offers of settlement prior to…