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A federal court in West Virginia refused to enforce a mediated settlement agreement where there was no document memorializing the settlement because under a local rule requiring mediation confidentiality, the Court could not conduct the inquiry necessary to resolve the dispute over the agreement's terms.
In Meyer v. Alpine Lake Property Owners' Ass'n, No. 2:06 CV 59, 2007 WL 709304 (N.D. W. Va. Mar. 5, 2007), Meyer asked the court to enforce a settlement agreement reached at mediation but not memorialized.
The parties were unable to finalize the settlement agreement because, according to Meyer, Alpine Lake was attempting to add a term that was not discussed during mediation. In light of this dispute, the Court held there was no meeting of the minds and, accordingly, no settlement agreement.
Additionally, as the Court noted, the dispute could not be resolved without inquiry into the details of the mediation, and this inquiry was not permissible because it would violate a local rule requiring mediation confidentiality.
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