Opinion ID: 549851
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Directed Verdict on the Third Party Beneficiary Count

Text: 5 Relying on Seaboard Sur. Co. v. Garrison, Webb & Stanaland, 823 F.2d 434 (11th Cir.1987), Blu-J argues that the district court erred when it directed a verdict for Kemper on the third party beneficiary count. In Seaboard Surety, which involved a surety's attempt to recover for financial loss allegedly caused by its reliance on a faulty audit prepared for the principal, we affirmed a jury verdict finding that, although the surety was a third party beneficiary, no breach of contract had occurred. Blu-J essentially contends that because that case was allowed to go to the jury, the district court should not have precluded jury consideration in the instant case. 6 Seaboard Surety does not stand for the proposition that the elements of a Florida third party beneficiary claim may be ignored in a professional liability case. In Florida ex rel. Westinghouse Elec. Supply Co. v. Wesley Constr. Co., 316 F.Supp. 490, 495 (S.D.Fla.1970), aff'd, 453 F.2d 1366 (5th Cir.1972) (citing American Sur. Co. of New York v. Smith, 100 Fla. 1012, 130 So. 440 (1930)), the court explained that: 7 In order for one to qualify as a third party beneficiary under a contract, it must be shown that the intent and purpose of the contracting parties was to confer a direct and substantial benefit upon the third party. In the absence of a clear intent to benefit the third person, he cannot sue on the contract. Where the contract is designed solely for the benefit of the formal parties thereto, a third person cannot maintain an action thereon, even though such third person might derive some incidental or consequential benefit from its enforcement. 8 The record in the instant case is devoid of evidence showing intent, much less clear intent, on the part of the parties to the contract, Kemper and World Class, to benefit Blu-J or other third parties. In the face of this dearth of evidence, the district court was correct in directing a verdict for Kemper on Blu-J's third party beneficiary claim. 9