Court enforces deal made a Mediation, based on signed Stipulation to Dismiss

Adrienne Kennedy sued Home Depot and others as a result of suffering personal injuries that were not described in the reported case. The case went to a settlement conference, where the parties agreed on a settlement and payment terms. While they were preparing a release, Kennedy's attorney signed a "bare-bones" stipulation to dismiss the pending claim. A few weeks later, however, Kennedy's attorney fought dismissal of the claim, arguing that the settlement was unenforcible based upon a disagreement over payment terms. The Court rejected Kennedy's argument and held that her signature on the Stipulation to Dismiss was adequate to meet the requirement that a proposed settlement--to be binding--must be reduced to some form of signed writing. The Court held that the terms of the proposed settlement need not be set forth within the signed writing, if they are otherwise documented.