Legal Question in Legal Ethics in Pennsylvania

Re: Settlement Accepted w/o Authorization, Now Withdrawing

You might feel comfortable going forward with an arbitration, but you shouldn't. I see that you're got plenty to worry about. For one thing, you assume that you will be entitled to back out of the settlement.

It's not clear from your message what kind of case it is, or even whether you are the defendant who is obligated to pay the settlement (or the judgment if you go to trial and lose).

That's just as well, because this website is not an appropriate place for specific legal advice, and it's impossible to comment on your attorney's conduct without seeing the file.

Let me just state some general rules about settlements. It's not unusual that courts face this situation, where it looked like a case was settled, but then one of the parties backs out, changes their mind, or contends that their attorney did not have authority to settle.

GENERALLY (and I emphasize because I'm not making any suggestion what happened in your case or whether there's an exception which might apply) an attorney is the agent of the client and the opposing party can assume that the attorney has his client's authority to settle a case. If an attorney acts like he has authority, but in fact he doesn't, there's a problem. The opponent has reasonable basis to think the case is settled. The client may be stuck with a settlement that is not acceptable. Assuming it was the attorney who was wrong,

GENERALLY the law will put the loss on the client, since one of the features of agency is the ability to bind the principal. Also, as between the client who hired the attorney, versus the opponent who had nothing to do with selecting or confiding in that attorney, courts generally will enforce a settlement if the attorney had the apparent authority.

You seem to assume that if you go to this motion hearing and tell the judge that your attorney acted against your instructions, that's enough to undo the settlement. It may not be enough. The court may very well decide to enforce the settlement and tell you that you need to bring a legal malpractice claim against your attorney if you think you could have done better at trial.

You should really find another attorney in whom you can have confidence, pay for some good advice, and take that advice.