Critzer v. Enos

In Critzer v. Enos (2010) 187 Cal.App.4th 1242, the appellate court held that the trial court erred in granting a motion to enforce a settlement under section 664.6. (Id. at pp. 1246, 1260.) There, two of the parties were not present when the oral settlement agreement was recited on the record, although their attorneys were present. (Id. at pp. 1257, 1261.) The court held that the settlement was unenforceable because those two parties had not given their personal consent to the recited terms. (Id. at p. 1257.) It is generally the case "that a judgment on an order granting a motion to enforce a settlement under section 664.6 is appealable . . . ." (Critzer v. Enos, supra, 187 Cal.App.4th at p. 1251.) This notwithstanding, for the judgment to be appealable, it must finally dispose of the litigation, and it is the substance and effect of the judgment which determines whether it is appealable, not its label. (Id. at p. 1250.) When "'the intended substance and effect of the judgment is to finally dispose of the . . . action, the judgment is appealable . . . .'" (Id. at pp. 1250-1251.) In Critzer, counsel for the parties opposing enforcement of the settlement raised the issue of party consent orally at the hearing on the section 664.6 motion. The attorney "noted that not all of the parties had given their assent when the settlement was recited on the record and raised a question as to whether the matters recited in court were subject to enforcement under section 664.6." (Critzer v. Enos, supra, 187 Cal.App.4th at p. 1261.) He stated "'the record was not truly a 664.6 settlement, . . . inasmuch as the HOA's representative was not there to affirm the terms . . . .'" (Ibid.) In addressing whether to consider the issue of party consent on appeal, the Critzer court stated that "although the opposing parties could have been more expansive in their discussion of whether the absence of consent by all parties precluded enforcement of the settlement under section 664.6, we conclude that they raised the issue sufficiently below . . . to preclude its forfeiture." (Critzer v. Enos, supra, 187 Cal.App.4th at p. 1262.) The court continued: "Moreover, 'when the issue involves undisputed evidence and raises a pure question of law, we may consider it for the first time. .' ." (Ibid.)