Originally from World Arbitration and Mediation Review

Mediation Case Law: 2004 in Review
by
James R. Coben,
Editor Domestic Mediation, WAMR
Professor of Law and Director, Hamline University School of Law,
Dispute Resolution Institute
1. “The Enforcement of Mediated Settlements”
STATE SUPREME COURTS
Caballero v. Wikse, 92 P.3d 1076 (Idaho 2004) (affirming enforcement of
mediated settlement of wrongful discharge claim negotiated by plaintiff’s
attorney, having concluded that attorney had express authority to
compromise wholly and finally all claims, where evidence showed that:
(1) plaintiff’s attorney and mediator made representations regarding
plaintiff’s attorney’s authority; (2) plaintiff left the mediation before it
ended knowing that ground rules required someone with settlement
authority to be present; and 3) plaintiff specifically authorized attorney to
make a counterproposal in response to defendant's most recent offer).
Guthrie v. Guthrie, 594 S.E.2d 356 (Ga. 2004) (affirming that trial court
acted erroneously in granting summary judgment denying enforcement of
mediated divorce settlement agreement under rules utilized to resolve
whether to incorporate a settlement agreement into a final divorce
judgment, where husband died during pendency of divorce proceedings
but the parties’ agreement contained provisions that were to take effect
immediately or shortly after the date the agreement was executed
indicating it was not contingent upon issuance of a divorce judgment and
in such cases enforcement is evaluated under ordinary rules of contract
construction).
NOTE: The decision implicitly affirmed the additional
conclusion of the Court of Appeals that summary judgment
in favor of enforcement also was inappropriate where
allegations of capacity to contract—specifically that a party
“had suffered anxiety attacks, had consumed at least four
doses of Valium, and was bereft of energy and mental
concentration”—raised jury questions about whether there