Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California
If opposing counsel/parties refuse to have/refuses to stipulate to a CCP 664.6 provision in the Settlement Agreement/Release, and the Plaintiff goes ahead and files and dismisses the complaint w/ prejudice, and Plaintiff afterwards (2 weeks later) files a separate document named "Request That Court Retain Jurisdiction Pursuant to CCP 664.6" , would the court have jurisdiction afterwards, assuming defendant/counsel did not pay settlement?....(If plaintiff stated in the Request For Dismissal document that the court retain jurisdiction, defendant's counsel becomes aware and might not like that and might not pay).
3 Answers from Attorneys
The requirements of Section 664.6 must be strictly followed. If not, the court will dismiss the motion to enforce settlement.
Without reviewing the papers, it is impossible to tell if you have followed all the steps. If you are trying to create a workaround procedure, however, it almost certainly will not work,
No. I answered your question before and suggested you to sign and transmit the release but not provide the request for dismissal until the check was in your hand. Wasn't that clear?
Mr. Tashjian is wrong. The settlement agreement must be in writing and signed by all the parties to be enforceable pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure section 664.6. You don't need a stipulation in the written settlement agreement as to section 664.6, to make it enforceable later on.
The request for the court to retain jurisdiction must be made on the record, either in court in front of a court reporter, or in the request for dismissal form itself submitted to the court. It is the court itself that must be notified that the court is requested to retain jurisdiction to enforce the settlement agreement.
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