Legal Question in Appeals and Writs in California
i settled an accounting negligence case with prejudice in january of 2009. in august of 2009 i found out the defendant misled the court, and lied on their interogatories. What is the wording i need to 'negate the dismissal with cause?"
1 Answer from Attorneys
Merely lying to the court and opposing counsel are insufficient to void a settlement. Nor, unfortunately, do many judges do much as to attorney' s who do lie except to not favor them in future matters. I do not know how serious the misstatements were. You need to calculate how much less you settled for because of the falsehoods and then speak to an attorney to see if the statements went so far as to cause you damage, justify a voiding of the settlement agreement, and is worthwhile paying attorney fees to pursue. You probably can not handle the case yourself because you are too biased to be really objective.