Judge: Daniel M. Crowley, Case: 22STCV04984, Date: 2023-01-25 Tentative Ruling
Case Number: 22STCV04984 Hearing Date: January 25, 2023 Dept: 28
Defendants Amir Michail and Amira Gabra’s Motion to Enforce Settlement and Dismiss Plaintiff’s Action
Having considered the moving, opposing and reply papers, the Court rules as follows.
BACKGROUND
On February 8, 2022, Plaintiff Sammy Kravette (“Plaintiff”) filed this action against Defendants Amir Michail (“Michail”) and Amira Gabra (“Gabra”) for motor vehicle negligence, general negligence and negligence per se.
On September 19, 2022, Defendants filed an answer.
On October 10, 2022, Defendants filed a Motion for Order Enforcing Settlement and Dismissing Plaintiff’s Action to be heard on November 17, 2022. On November 3, 2022, Plaintiff filed an opposition. On November 8, 2022, Defendants filed a reply. The Court continued the hearing on the motion to January 25, 2023.
Trial is currently scheduled for August 8, 2023.
PARTY’S REQUESTS
Defendants request the Court enforce the settlement agreement and dismiss the complaint.
Plaintiff requests the Court deny the motion.
LEGAL STANDARD
“If parties to pending litigation stipulate, in a writing signed by the parties outside the presence of the court or orally before the court, for settlement of the case, or part thereof, the court, upon motion, may enter judgment pursuant to the terms of the settlement. If requested by the parties, the court may retain jurisdiction over the parties to enforce the settlement until performance in full of the terms of the settlement.” CCP § 664.6.
Courts are empowered to enter judgments pursuant to oral settlements made before the court or written settlements signed by the parties. (Elyaoudayan v. Hoffman (2003) 104 Cal.App.4th 1421, 1428; CCP § 664.6; Weil & Brown, Civ. Pro. Before Trial (The Rutter Group 2011) ¶12:952.) In deciding motions made under Section 664.6, judges “must determine whether the parties entered into a valid and binding settlement.” Kohn v. Jaymar-Ruby (1994) 23 Cal. App. 4th 1530, 1533. In deciding whether to enforce a settlement, courts have the power to decide disputed facts, and to interpret the agreement. Fiore v. Alvord (1985) 182 Cal.App.3d 561, 566; Weil & Brown, Civ. Pro. Before Trial (The Rutter Group 2011) ¶¶12:977 – 12:978.5. Judges may receive evidence, determine disputed facts including the terms the parties previously agreed upon, and enter the terms of a settlement agreement as a judgment, but may not newly create material terms. (Osumi v. Sutton (2007) 151 Cal.App.4th 1355, 1360.) Judges also cannot address ambiguities in material terms by filling in the gaps, or adjudicate differences between the parties, as distinguished from just settling or interpreting the settlement provisions. (Terry v. Conlan (2005) 131 Cal.App.4th 1445, 1460.)
DISCUSSION
On November 15, 2021, Plaintiffs’ attorney sent an offer to Defendants’ insurance to settle the dispute for the maximum policy limits afforded by Defendants’ liability insurance. The offer had three requirements, and request any acceptance be made in writing and received before 5:00 p.m. on December 6, 2021. On November 29, 2021, Defendants' insurance accepted the terms of the settlement. It also sent back a written agreement to settle.
Later that day, the insurer’s representative noticed that there was an error on the subject document, which stated that the per occurrence policy limit was $15,000.00 rather than $30,000.00. Defendants claim that this did not change the key terms of the settlement, as the policy limits settlement amount of $15,000.00 was based on the per person policy limit. Defendants requested time to correct the error, which Plaintiff granted; the corrected documents were then submitted.
The insurer then requested Plaintiff sign a release; Plaintiff requested multiple revisions, all of which insurer complied with. The only remaining step prior to payment was for Plaintiff to execute the concluding documents that had been previously agreed upon. Plaintiff then refused to agree to the settlement, now believing that the policy limits settlement would not fairly compensate Plaintiff. This occurred after weeks of the parties operating under the assumption that Plaintiff’s attorney was authorized to demand the maximum policy limits.
Plaintiff argues that Plaintiff’s settlement offer was simply an invitation to make an offer, which Plaintiff ultimately did not agree to. There was no release signed to bind both Plaintiff and Defendants, making the settlement unenforceable. Plaintiff cites to case law that holds both parties must sign a release in order for it be an enforceable settlement under CCP § 664.6.
However, under the most current version of CCP § 664.6, an attorney who represents the party may sign the settlement agreement on behalf of a Plaintiff. The initial offer to settle clearly was an offer, not an invitation to make an offer. It is identified as an offer multiple times within the text of the offer, including the second line: “this settlement demand package...will serve as our settlement offer...” (Ex. A.) There was text specifying how and when the offer had to be accepted, as well as the existence of extraneous circumstances that would revoke said offer. Plaintiff’s attorney clearly signed an offer, to which Defendants’ insurance representative clearly accepted. Defendants provided signed declarations agreeing to the offer, all of which was done prior to the date for offer of settlement. Plaintiff did not rescind the offer prior to its acceptance by Defendants.
The Court finds the settlement was offered and accepted by appropriate parties. The Court grants the motion, enforcing the settlement.
CONCLUSION
Defendants Amir Michail and Amira Gabra’s Motion to Enforce Settlement and Dismiss Plaintiff’s Action is GRANTED. Plaintiff’s complaint against Defendants is dismissed, with prejudice.
Moving party is ordered to give notice of this ruling.
Moving Party is ordered to file the proof of service of this ruling with the Court within five days.
The parties are directed to the header of this tentative ruling for further instructions.