Sherrod v. Kidd
Court of Appeals of Washington, Division 3, 2007 155 P.3d 976
Facts
David and Elizabeth Kidd’s dog bit Mikaila Sherrod, a child. Mikaila, through her guardian ad litem (GAL), made a claim for damages against the Kidds (defendants). On June 14, 2005, the Kidds offered to settle the claim for $31,837. On July 12, Mikaila through her GAL sued the Kidds. On July 20, the Kidds raised their settlement offer to $32,843. The suit was subject to mandatory arbitration. The parties proceeded to arbitration on April 28, 2006. On May 5, the arbitrator awarded Mikaila $25,069.47. On May 9, the GAL wrote to the Kidds and purported to accept their last offer of $32,843, made the year before. Acting on Mikaila’s behalf, the GAL moved to enforce the settlement agreement. The court concluded the offer was properly accepted because it had not been withdrawn, and it entered judgment in the amount of the first written offer.
Decision
The decision of the trial judge is reversed.
Opinion
An offer to form a contract is open only for a reasonable time, unless the offer specifically states how long it is open for acceptance. How much time is reasonable is usually a question of fact. A reasonable time is the time that a reasonable person in the exact position of the offeree would believe to be satisfactory to the offeror. A reasonable time for an offeree to accept an offer depends on the nature of the contract and the character of the business in which the parties were engaged.
Implicit in an offer (and an acceptance) to settle a personal injury suit is the party’s intent to avoid a less favorable result at the hands of a jury, a judge or, in this case, an arbitrator. The defendant runs the risk that the award might be more than the offer. The plaintiff, of course, runs the risk that the award might be less than the offer. Both want to avoid that risk. And it is those risks that settlements avoid. In this case the offer expired when the arbitrator announced the award, and thus was not subject to being accepted.
Interpretation
An offer is open for a reasonable period of time.
Sherrod v. Kidd
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