Settling Personal Injury Cases Can Be Complicated By a Breach

Settling Personal Injury Cases

Brien Roche

Settling personal injury cases typically goes without incident. Sometimes however there may be glitches. That is, sometimes you reach a settlement and the other party then won’t comply with the terms of the settlement.

If that happens, you have a couple of options. One option is to file Motion to Enforce the Settlement. The other option is to file a separate lawsuit to enforce the settlement.

Obviously the easier way to proceed is the first one.

Burden of Proof When Settling Personal Injury Cases

The party seeking to enforce the settlement has the burden of proving that there is an agreement and then proving what the terms of the agreement are. Baldwin v. Baldwin, 44 Va. App. 93 (2004)

The task then of the court is to determine whether or not there was a settlement.

Some issues that may arise are that the defendant may claim that there were some false statements made that induced the settlement i.e., fraud. If that is the case, then that may be a basis for voiding the settlement.

The defendant may claim that you have to file a separate lawsuit to enforce the settlement. That typically is not true. The court has the general equitable power to enforce a settlement and to bring the matter to a conclusion. Virginia favors the resolution of cases through settlement and therefore it’s in the court’s interest to determine whether or not there is a settlement and if so, to enforce it in order to bring the litigation to a close.

A Writing When Settling Personal Injury Cases

The other party may also claim that if the agreement was not reduced to writing, there in effect is no agreement. That is not so. There needn’t be a written agreement in order for the settlement to be enforceable. In some cases the parties may agree that they will memorialize their written settlement with a formal document. If the parties expressly agreed that was a condition to the settlement, then it is not a condition of the settlement. Agostini v. Consolvo, 154 Va. 203 (1930) As long as there was a meeting of the minds as to what the terms are, then the settlement is indeed enforceable. Bralley v. Carey, 2010 WL 4668936 (E.D. Va.)