Chevron U.S.A. Inc. v. Frydoun Sheikhpour

MEMORANDUM

Chevron U.S.A. Inc. brought a complaint against Frydoun Sheikhpour seeking damages under the Petroleum Marketing Practices Act. The parties settled that dispute with a Settlement Agreement. Sheikhp-our now appeals the district court’s order granting Chevron’s motion to enforce the Settlement Agreement. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we affirm.

1. The district court retained ancillary jurisdiction to hear Chevron’s motion to enforce the amended Settlement Agreement. See Kokkonen v. Guardian Life Ins. Co. of Am., 511 U.S. 375, 381-82 , 114 S.Ct. 1673 , 128 L.Ed.2d 391 (1994) (“Even when ... the dismissal is [a voluntary dismissal under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(a)(1) ] (which does not by its terms empower a district court to attach conditions to the parties’ stipulation of dismissal) we think the court is authorized to ... retain jurisdiction over the settlement contractf] if the parties agree.”). The parties settled the underlying dispute on the eve of trial. While the terms of the Settlement Agreement were not memorialized at the time the court retained jurisdiction, the essence of the agreement was provided to the district court at that…