Smith et al v. Auto-Owners Insurance Company
Filing
187
ORDER by Magistrate Judge Stephan M. Vidmar TO SUBMIT Supplemental Authority no later than 12:00 p.m., noon, on May 21, 2018. (am)
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEW MEXICO
MELVIN SMITH and STAN FOWLER,
Plaintiffs,1
v.
No. 15-cv-1153 SMV/GBW
AUTO-OWNERS INSURANCE COMPANY,
Defendant.
ORDER FOR SUPPLEMENTAL AUTHORITY
THIS MATTER is before the Court on the competing motions regarding the settlement
agreement allegedly reached between the parties in February of 2018. [Docs. 176, 180]. The
motions are fully briefed, [Docs. 179, 181, 182, 183], and oral argument is set for May 23, 2018,
[Doc. 186]. In advance of the hearing, the Court invites the parties to file certain supplemental
authority on the record no later than 12:00 p.m., noon, on May 21, 2018. Each side’s filing is
limited to seven pages; no responses or replies are permitted.
The parties seem to dispute whether Plaintiff agreed to sign a settlement agreement and
release (“release”) as part of the agreement to settle the case. Further, assuming that Plaintiff
agreed to sign a release (or is willing now to sign one), the parties cannot agree on the language
of the release.2
“[A] party can be considered bound by a settlement even if certain details are not worked
out, if such details are not essential to the proposal or cause a change in the terms or purpose to
1
Judgment was entered in favor of Plaintiff Stan Fowler on November 2, 2016, after he accepted Defendant’s offer
of judgment. [Doc. 84]. Melvin Smith is the sole remaining Plaintiff in this case.
2
Defendant also requires that a W-9 be completed for Plaintiff’s counsel’s law office, Sherman and Sherman, before
it tenders any settlement funds. [Doc. 180] at 5; [Doc. 183] at 7.
be accomplished by the settlement.” Jones v. United Minerals Corp., 1979-NMSC-103, ¶ 13, 93
N.M. 706 (emphases added); see also Carter v. New Mexico, Dep’t of Homeland Sec. &
Emergency. Mgmt., No. A-1-CA-35143, mem. op. at ¶¶ 29, 30, 37 (N.M. Ct. App. Dec. 7, 2017)
(non-precedential), 2017 N.M. App. Unpub. LEXIS 443, at *19–20, 25–26 (affirming the district
court’s order enforcing a settlement agreement). In other words, a settlement agreement can be
enforced as long as the material terms have been agreed to.
Thus, the Court invites the parties to file supplemental authority addressing whether the
terms in dispute here—the signing of a release and a W-9 for Sherman and Sherman—are
material to the settlement agreement. If the disputed terms are material, then the supplemental
authority should address whether there is any enforceable settlement agreement at all. If the
disputed terms are not material, then the supplemental authority should address whether the
settlement agreement should be enforced without the disputed terms.
IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED, ADJUDGED, AND DECREED that each side
submit its supplemental authority no later than 12:00 p.m., noon, on May 21, 2018. Each
side’s filing is limited to seven pages; no responses or replies are permitted.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
_____________________________
STEPHAN M. VIDMAR
United States Magistrate Judge
Presiding by Consent
2
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