Matter of Eckert, 2023 NY Slip Op 03270 (3d Dept, June 15, 2023)
Parties in active litigation often reach a meeting of the minds in a hallway, on a phone call, or around a conference table. Matter of Eckert answers the question every litigant eventually asks: is that enough? The Third Department's answer: no.
The rule
Under CPLR 2104, once parties to an active litigation reach an agreement, it becomes an enforceable stipulation of settlement only if they:
- Place the material terms on the record in open court, or
- Reduce the terms to a court order that is signed and entered, or
- Contain the terms in a writing subscribed (signed) by the parties or their counsel.
An out-of-court verbal agreement — however sincere — satisfies none of these.
What the court decided
In Eckert, the question was whether email exchanges following a settlement conference formed an enforceable settlement. The majority said no. Talking through a deal at a conference and trading emails about it afterward is not the same as committing the deal to one of the three legally recognized forms.
The pattern across recent cases
Eckert sits alongside decisions like Teixeira v Woodhaven Ctr. of Care (email saying "consider it settled" insufficient where terms remained open): New York courts consistently refuse to enforce settlements that live only in conversation or informal correspondence. The courts aren't being pedantic — they're refusing to guess at terms the parties never nailed down.
What this means for you
In plain English: if you've settled a dispute, make it official immediately. Whichever side you're on:
- If the deal happens at court, ask that the terms be read into the record then and there.
- If it happens anywhere else, get a complete written agreement signed by both sides (or their lawyers) before anyone celebrates.
- Until one of those happens, either side can walk away — and courts will let them.
People lose real money every year believing a case was "settled" when, legally, nothing had happened yet. Don't let the deal you fought for evaporate on a technicality that takes twenty minutes to prevent.
This case note is attorney commentary for general information — it is not legal advice about your situation. Every case turns on its own facts.