SAS DANIELS WARN: IN A DISPUTE? THINK CAREFULLY ABOUT SETTLEMENT TERMS

In cases of a dispute many people work hard to reach an out-of-court settlement, either over the telephone, via correspondence or even in a face to face meeting.

But while the headline issues may have been resolved, there is a risk of missing the finer details which, in themselves, could still be significant. For example, not including confidentiality within the terms of the settlement could have very dire consequences for you or your business.

In fact this very issue occurred in a recent case:

AB v CD Ltd [2013] EWHC 1376

In short, the parties were able to agree a settlement on the headline issues following mediation but crucially not during the mediation. CD Ltd made an offer which was accepted by AB. After a draft settlement agreement had been sent by AB to CD Ltd, CD Ltd sought to include various terms into the settlement agreement including provision for confidentiality. AB refused to include the additional terms arguing that the deal had already been done.

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