In a medical negligence action arising from an infant’s diagnosis and treatment of meningococcal meningitis, the court was asked to determine whether correspondence between counsel created a binding settlement dismissing the claim against a hospital and several nurses without costs.
The plaintiffs argued the settlement was conditional on undertakings from co-defendants not to allege negligence against the hospital parties.
The court held that the October 12, 2012 letter was implicitly contingent on that condition precedent but found that the co-defendants’ later correspondence satisfied the required undertaking.
Accordingly, a binding settlement had been reached between the plaintiffs and the hospital defendants.
Because one plaintiff was a minor, the settlement remained subject to court approval under Rule 7.08 of the Rules of Civil Procedure.
