by Adrian Thomas When can a mediated settlement agreement be set aside? The First District Court of Appeal recently decided Pierce v. Pierce (In re Estate of Pierce), 2013 Fla. App. LEXIS 19597, 2013 WL 6438955 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1st Dist. Dec. 10, 2013), which succinctly addressed the issue of when a mediated settlement agreement may be set aside or vacated. Pierce involved a will dispute between two sisters, Linda and Tamra Pierce. After contentious litigation, the parties went to mediation. The morning after mediation, Linda had second thoughts about the settlement agreement and sought to set it aside (vacate) it. The lower court judge held that he could not find that Linda had “freely, knowingly and intelligently entered into the agreement.” The First DCA reversed, not only because the lower court’s finding was unsupported by competent substantial evidence, but also because the lower court applied the wrong standard. […]