Murchison v. Grand Cypress Hotel Corp.
| Decision Date | 10 February 1994 |
| Docket Number | No. 92-2354,92-2354 |
| Citation | 13 F.3d 1483 |
| Parties | Thomas E. MURCHISON, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. GRAND CYPRESS HOTEL CORPORATION, a Georgia corporation, Defendant-Appellee. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit |
Frederic Stanley, Jr., Stanley & Ross, William G. Osborne, Osborne & Aikin, P.A., Orlando, FL, for plaintiff-appellant.
James A. Muench, Smith & Williams, P.A., Jeffrey A. Aman, Tampa, FL, for defendant-appellee.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida.
Before COX, Circuit Judge, MORGAN and HENDERSON, Senior Circuit Judges.
After acquiescing to a settlement agreement which was read in open court, the Appellant now contends that he did not consent to the agreement and that his attorney was not authorized to enter into the settlement agreement. The district court, without an evidentiary hearing, denied the Appellant's motion to vacate the order of dismissal and instead entered final judgment on the settlement agreement. We AFFIRM.
The appellant, Dr. Thomas E. Murchison, brought this action against Grand Cypress Hotel Corporation ("Grand Cypress") to settle a dispute over Murchison's access to his property. Local zoning ordinances allowed Murchison to subdivide his property into four lots, but in order to do this he needed access to the public highway from his two northern lots. This access was provided by means of a "Munger" plat, which created easements for ingress and egress. Grand Cypress acquired the property surrounding Murchison's property and developed a golf course, effectively cutting off Murchison's access to the public highway from his two northern lots. After a long running dispute, Murchison filed suit for enforcement of his access easements.
This action progressed to a jury trial. On the third day of trial, Murchison was informed by his attorney that the trial would be delayed because the parties had begun settlement negotiations. Murchison's attorney then left the courtroom and went into the hall to conduct negotiations with attorneys for Grand Cypress. The negotiation period lasted approximately twenty minutes, during which time Murchison and his attorney discussed the terms of the settlement during three separate conversations.
During the first conversation, Murchison's attorney came into the courtroom, gave Murchison a survey, and described a proposal from Grand Cypress for a North-South right-of-way which provided ingress and egress to Murchison's two northern lots. Murchison reviewed the survey and the proposed easements with his own expert surveyor, and then informed his attorney that "the new right-of-way was acceptable to gain access to the northern two lots." (Murchison affidavit p 14). At this point, Murchison was clearly aware of the ramifications of accepting the proposal. 1 Murchison's attorney then conveyed his acceptance of the proposal to Grand Cypress, and the parties returned to the courtroom and announced to the court bailiff that they had reached a settlement. At this point, Murchison inquired as to the details of the agreement. He admits that his attorney explained the terms of the settlement The court allowed the settlement agreement to be read into the record. 2 Murchison made no objection to the court or to his attorney, either during or after the settlement agreement was read in open court.
agreement. Murchison asked his attorney if the North-South right-of-way was the complete settlement, with no other monetary or settlement terms. After he was informed that it was, Murchison claims that he informed his attorney that "this is unacceptable." A few minutes later, the settlement was announced in open court
Based on the settlement agreement announced in court on August 16, 1991, the district court entered an order of dismissal on October 29, 1991, dismissing the action "without prejudice subject to the right of any party to re-open the action within sixty (60) days, upon good cause shown, or to submit a stipulated form of final order or judgment." Sometime thereafter, Murchison determined that he was unhappy with the settlement, and on December 11, 1991, he filed a motion to vacate the order of dismissal on the grounds that his attorney was not authorized to enter into the settlement agreement. The district court denied Murchison's motion and granted Grand Cypress' motion to enter final judgement pursuant to the settlement agreement. Murchison thereafter filed this timely appeal.
Murchison seeks to vacate the district court's order of final judgment and to reopen the settlement agreement. We review the district court's denial of Murchison's motion for an abuse of discretion. See Carter v. United States, 780 F.2d 925, 927 (11th Cir.1986). Murchison also alleges as error the district court's failure to hold an evidentiary hearing before summarily enforcing the settlement agreement. We review the district court's decision to enforce a settlement agreement without an evidentiary hearing for an abuse of discretion. Callie v. Near, 829 F.2d 888, 890 (9th Cir.1987).
Murchison challenges the settlement agreement on the grounds that his attorney did not have authority to enter into the settlement agreement and that he did so without Murchison's consent. In the Eleventh Circuit, state law governs the scope of an attorney's authority to enter into a settlement agreement. Ford v. Citizens and Southern National Bank, 928 F.2d 1118, 1120 (11th Cir.1991). Under Florida law, Grand Cypress, as the party seeking to compel enforcement of a settlement agreement, must demonstrate that Murchison's attorney had clear and unequivocal authority to enter into the settlement agreement. Weitzman v. Bergman, 555 So.2d 448, 449-50 (Fla. 4th DCA 1990); Vantage Broadcasting Company v. WINT Radio, Inc., 476 So.2d 796, 798 (Fla. 1st DCA 1985).
Murchison's attorney clearly had authority to conduct settlement negotiations.
By Murchison's own testimony, he knew that his lawyer was in the process of negotiating a settlement. In fact, Murchison testified that "I was relying upon him [trial attorney] to include my concerns and conditions in any settlement negotiations." It is further undisputed that during the settlement negotiations, Murchison met with his attorney on at least three occasions to discuss the progress of the negotiations. However, Murchison asserts that his attorney did not have authority to settle the case unless all of his concerns were addressed
Immediately following Murchison's third conversation, where he allegedly told his lawyer that the settlement was unacceptable, the settlement agreement was announced in open court and read into the record. The attorneys recited the proposed redelineation of the easement and then asked "with the court's permission we'd like thirty days to submit an order and a survey with a legal description so there [sic] it could be recorded and that would resolve the case." (emphasis added). At no time did Murchison object in any way, either to his attorney or to the court.
Murchison argues that it was inappropriate for the district court to assume that his silence indicated approval. We disagree. Murchison discussed the terms of the settlement agreement with his attorney. The record shows that the district court made clear that the parties were entering into a settlement agreement and that the terms of the agreement would be entered into the record. Only the redelineated North-South easement was announced to the court and put in the record. Further, it was stated that this redelineation would "resolve the case." However, he did not object when the agreement was announced in open court.
Dr. Murchison is an educated man who understood the terms of the settlement agreement. If he was unhappy with the settlement agreement, then he should have objected at the time that it was read into open court. Unlike the situation in Vantage, Murchison knew that his attorney was attempting to negotiate a settlement and in fact took an active role in directing his attorney during the negotiations. Further, Murchison was present when the agreement was announced in open court and read into the record.
We favor and encourage settlements in order to conserve judicial resources. Although Murchison claims now that he did not consent to the agreement, the only reasonable conclusion to be drawn from Murchison's silence is that he agreed with...
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