Many mediations end in settlement at which point the parties draft a settlement agreement. California law provides a summary procedure by which the parties can enforce the settlement agreement if the spirit of compromise does not continue after the mediation. Code of Civil Procedure Section 664.6 provides:

664.6.  

If parties to pending litigation stipulate, in a writing signed by the parties outside the presence of the court or orally before the court, for settlement of the case, or part thereof, the court, upon motion, may enter judgment pursuant to the terms of the settlement. If requested by the parties, the court may retain jurisdiction over the parties to enforce the settlement until performance in full of the terms of the settlement.

When I am able to help the parties settle a case, and they do not happen to have a settlement agreement with them (due to their lack of optimism in resolving the matter?), I provide a simple template which contains the statement to the effect that:

Pursuant to CCP §664.6, the parties hereby agree, acknowledge, stipulate and request that the Court retain jurisdiction over the parties to enforce the settlement until performance in full of the terms of this settlement.  So that the Court retains said jurisdiction, Plaintiff agrees to and shall make this request to the Court prior to filing the request for dismissal of the action.

A recent appellate opinion in Shaunak v Sayta, issued by the First Appellate District Court of Appeal in California (Case No. A148823) (“Shaunak”) holds that the parties must actually ask the court to retain such jurisdiction; simply putting it in the settlement agreement is not sufficient.

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