What happens when two parties settle at a mediation but leave the exact terms of the agreement until a later date: Do they have a binding deal? It’s a question examined by Mack Sperling of Brooks Pierce in a recent post.
Sperling says that based on a case out of the North Carolina Business Court, they probably do have a deal set in stone. In that case, the parties had mediated and signed a document with the title “Essential Terms of Mediated Settlement Agreement with Formal Agreement to Be Prepared Later.” The mediator also had told the business court the parties settled and the upcoming court date wasn’t necessary.
