Are agreements arrived at through the services of a neutral enforceable in court?
Yes. The neutral must ensure that the agreement be reduced to writing and signed by the attorneys and their clients. The agreement must be specific enough to be enforceable in accord with the principles of the equitable doctrine of specific performance. The neutral should memorialize the agreement immediately before “buyer’s remorse” set in. C.C.P. section 664.6, applies to those agreements so reduced to writing emanating from lawsuits already in the court system. Arbitrator’s awards are enforced by a Petition to enforce it.
