Johnson v. Department of Corrections

At the time of the proceedings at issue in this appeal, Code of Civil Procedure section 664.6 provided; “If parties to pending litigation stipulate, in writing or orally before the court, for settlement of the case, or part thereof, the court, upon motion, may enter judgment pursuant to the terms of the settlement.” (Stats. 1981, ch. 904, § 2, p. 3437.) (All subsequent statutory references are to the Code of Civil Procedure unless otherwise indicated, and all further references to section 664.6 are to this version of the statute.) In the recent case of Levy v. Superior Court (1995) 10 Cal.4th 578 [ 41 Cal.Rptr.2d 878 , 896 P.2d 171 ] (Levy), a case involving a written settlement agreement, the California Supreme Court held that the term “parties” as used in section 664.6 means the litigants personally and not their attorneys of record. We conclude the same definition must be applied in cases involving oral settlement agreements. In this case, the plaintiff did not personally agree to the oral settlement of his case by his attorney. Accordingly, we shall reverse the judgment entered pursuant to section 664.6.

Factual and Procedural Background

Plaintiff William Johnson,…