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'Standard' Terms Won't Be Read Into Dykstra Settlement With Ghost Writer

By Thomas E.L. Dewey
September 02, 2017

Under certain circumstances, an oral agreement may constitute an enforceable settlement agreement. In a case brought against former baseball player Lenny Dykstra by a social media ghost writer, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York has offered the additional lesson that a writing other than a formal settlement agreement may constitute an enforceable agreement — even if one of the parties expects that additional “standard” provisions will be added to the agreement. Put another way, a party's expectation that “standard” provisions, such as a general release, will be included in a settlement agreement will not necessarily prohibit enforcement of a settlement if they aren't; such provisions will not be “implied” in the agreement if they are not contemplated by the parties' writing.

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