The Florida Third District Court of Appeals recently vacated a judgment handed down by a trial judge in the case of Motors, Pumps & Accessories, Inc. v. Miami Medley Bus due to violations of Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.720(f), which mandates that both parties to a mediation be present, defines what “present” means, and defines penalties to be assessed when parties are found in violation.  In the case of Motors, Pumps & Accessories, Inc. v. Miami Medley Bus, the District Court of Appeals found that neither party was present for the mediation, and thus the judgment was vacated.

What’s tricky about being present for mediation is that it does not necessarily mean that no one showed up for the process.  The language of the rule is vague:

“The party or a party representative having full settlement authority; AND the party’s lawyer, if any; AND an insurance company representative, other than counsel, for any insured party.”

While that
seems fairly straightforward, there are many examples of unintentional violation: Something as simple and seemingly innocuous as an attorney appearing as both counsel to the insurance company and as the insurance representative is technically a violation of the appearance rule and would result in sanctions, which can vary but ultimately can result in the complete dismissal of a trial judgment or the mediation outcome itself.

Most non-appearances are not noticed and go unreported.  However, as in the case of Motors, Pumps & Accessories, Inc. v. Miami Medley Bus, they expose the offending party to further action in spite of mediated solutions or trail judgments, as it gives opponents the possibility of appealing any outcome they don’t like – the non-appearance can be ignored right up until it is useful to notice it.