Most people who have participated in mediation, whether as a party, advocate, or neutral, at least have a general understanding that settlements reached in mediation should be reduced to a writing.  Notwithstanding this generally accepted concept, many mediations end with a settlement that either isn’t documented before the medication concludes, or is only documented as to “key points.”

Recent cases have grappled with the enforceability of mediation settlement agreements and other issues related to unwritten and partially written mediation settlement agreements, with a wide variety of results and analysis.  Similarly, statutes and rules take varying approaches to enforceability and other questions involving unwritten and partially written mediation settlement agreements.  At least superficially, these variations among applicable cases, statutes and rules suggest a possible fundamental policy disagreement over whether oral mediation agreements should be enforced.