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Contract — Settlement Agreement – Enforcement – Attorneys’ Fees
Stark Law Group, PLLC v. Newton (Lawyers Weekly No. 15-16-0386, 16 pp.) (Mark Davis, J.) Appealed from Durham County Superior Court (W. Osmond Smith III, J.) N.C. App. Unpub. Holding: Although the parties’ settlement agreement said that, if defendants failed to pay, plaintiff “shall have the right” to continue to prosecute the underlying lawsuit, plaintiff […]
Contract – Settlement Agreement – Indemnity Contract – Laches & Equitable Estoppel
John Wm. Brown Co. v. State Employees’ Credit Union A contractor’s surety let the contractor’s lawsuit against the project owner go on for a year before the surety stepped in to unilaterally accept the owner’s year-old settlement offer (as the surety’s indemnity contract allowed it to do); nonetheless, laches does not bar the owner from enforcing the settlement agreement.
Contract – Settlement Agreement – Partial Performance – Alleged Breach – Medical Billing & Records
BOSS Urgent Care, PLLC v. Urgent Care Works, LLC Even though plaintiffs characterize the parties’ letter agreement as an “agreement to agree”, the parties’ subsequent references to the letter agreement and their partial performance thereunder shows that the letter agreement was an enforceable settlement contract.
Labor & Employment – Public Employees — Settlement Agreement – Breach of Contract Claim – Damages – Job Reclassification
Pickney v. Department of Transportation Even though the parties’ settlement agreement provided that plaintiff could “request a job reallocation or pay grade increase” and that defendant would “cooperate with such a request,” the settlement agreement did not provide plaintiff with any guarantee that he would actually receive a job reallocation or pay grade increase upon request. [...]
Workers’ Compensation – Contract – Settlement Agreement – Medicare Set-Aside – Higher Requirement
Justice v. Variety Wholesalers The parties’ settlement agreement called for defendant to fund a Medicare set-aside for plaintiff in the amount of $104,717.88 with specific dates set for the initial $37,427 deposit and annual payments of $2,403.22; however, the agreement also required defendant to fund the Medicare set-aside at whatever amount required by CMS. When CMS required a Medicar[...]
Contract – Settlement Agreement – Dependent & Independent Clauses – Payment & Dismissal – Employment & Wages
Williams v. Habul The parties’ settlement agreement required plaintiff to dismiss his lawsuit once defendants made the settlement payment. The agreement also required defendants to employ and pay a third party; however, that clause was independent of the payment/dismissal requirements.
Tort/Negligence – Fraud – Settlement Agreement – Management Fee – Failure to Disclose
Spanish Moss, LLC v. Wachovia In a January 2008 settlement agreement, defendants transferred a development project – Isla Del Rio, LLC – to plaintiffs. Plaintiffs have stated a claim for fraud based on their allegations that defendants failed to disclose that they had just accepted $60,000 in fees to manage Isla Del Rio for the first three months of 2008.
Workers’ Compensation – Settlement Agreement – Asbestosis – Death Benefits – Statutory Time Limitations
Coffey v. Weyerhaeuser Where a worker reached a settlement agreement with his employer regarding compensation and weekly lifetime benefits for full and permanent disability due to occupational disease, the worker’s heirs are still held to the statutory standard - and barred from seeking death benefits when worker died more than two years after the agreement was signed, or six years afte[...]
Contract – Settlement Agreement – Advertising Practices – Ambiguity – Civil Practice – Summary Judgment
Hatteras Realty, Inc. v. Petty When the parties settled a prior dispute about defendants’ advertising practices, defendants agreed that they would not (1) use data obtained from plaintiff’s web site to make comparisons to defendants’ businesses and (2) use plaintiff’s name in advertising materials. Defendants contend their use of data from plaintiff’s website did not breach the [...]
Tort/Negligence – Unfair Trade Practices Counterclaim – Objectively Reasonable Lawsuit – Contract – Settlement Agreement – Intellectual Property – Trademark
Lorillard Tobacco Co. v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. Where plaintiffs’ claims that defendant breached the parties’ settlement agreement are objectively reasonable, plaintiffs’ subjective intent in bringing the lawsuit is irrelevant. Defendant’s counterclaim that plaintiffs filed the lawsuit in order to stifle competition does not state a claim for unfair trade practices. The cour[...]
Tort/Negligence – Medical Malpractice — Piercing the Corporate Veil – Insurance – Contribution – Settlement Agreement
Health Management Associates, Inc. v. Yerby Where plaintiff HMA was judicially estopped from asserting that the corporate veil should be pierced between HMA and Louisburg HMA, HMA was not licensed as an insurance carrier in North Carolina, and Louisburg HMA paid no monies to settle the patient’s lawsuit, the trial court did not err in finding that neither HMA nor Louisburg HMA had stand[...]
Workers’ Compensation – Settlement Agreement – Medicare Set-Aside – Funding Level
Trivette v. Union Regional Medical Center Even though the Center for Medicare Services recommended a lower seed money and annual payment level than the parties agreed to, this does not prevent the parties’ Medicare set-aside from being funded at the higher levels agreed to by the parties in their compromise settlement agreement. Defendants’ request to set aside the approved settlem[...]
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