Insight into Trump Stormy Settlement Agreement

This week, porn star Stormy Daniels was on CBS's 60 minutes and since her interview, the White House reportedly isn't saying much, including declining for weeks to say whether President Trump was party to a $130,000 hush-money payment his personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, made to Daniels on the eve of the 2016 election. Cohen obtained a temporary restraining order against Daniels from a private arbitrator, a retired judge, barring her from disclosing "confidential information" related to the nondisclosure agreement. A lawsuit was filed after a multiple reports alleging that Daniels and Trump had an affair beginning in July 2006 at a celebrity golf tournament and was paid money for her to keep quiet in October 2016. While Daniels initially denied the affair, her decision to file the lawsuit confirmed her part in the affair. She and her lawyer, Michael Avenatti, even included the text of the “hush agreement” as an exhibit attached to her complaint which, interestingly, uses pseudonyms for the parties and says they wish to avoid the lime, expense, and inconvenience of potential litigation, and to resolve any and all disputes and potential legal claims between them. The case was filed in L.A. Superior Court and then removed to federal court. The first controversy likely to be taken up by the judge is whether the dispute must be handled in arbitration, where Daniels is being pursued for allegedly breaching contract by making public statements about Trump. Also at issue, is who signed the agreement on behalf of whom. Although Trump hasn't formally moved yet to compel arbitration, the mere threat has prompted Avenatti to argue depositions of Trump and Cohen each are necessary in order to collect facts that bear directly on the formation of the hush agreement. See copy of initial pleadings, including agreement as exhibit linked at bottom of story here-- https://bit.ly/2GASrNK and more on federal court proceedings linked to this report-- https://bit.ly/2IdwotF

Mediated Settlement Agreement Enforced Despite Second Thoughts

When a settlement is reached, parties typically sign a binding settlement agreement before they leave-- often to prevent buyer's remorse. At the conclusion of a long mediation, litigants are sometimes physically and emotionally exhausted. Recently in Florida, a trial court let one party out of a mediated settlement agreement after she claimed coercion. In that case, the mediator allegedly denied her request to take the agreement home over the weekend. The lower court judge believed a request for additional time to review the document was warranted, due to fatigue from the extensive negotiation. After reflecting upon the settlement terms, the litigant apparently requested the agreement be rescinded, instructing her attorney to file a Motion to Vacate. When her attorney suggested he could not file such a motion, she then filed pro se. The trial court erroneously concluded she did not freely, knowingly and intelligently enter into the agreement. The district court of appeal, upon reversing, found the record devoid of evidence that the agreement was signed as a result of fraud, misrepresentation, coercion, or overreaching, and ordered the settlement agreement to be enforced. To void the agreement, the presence of fraud, misrepresentation, coercion, or overreaching is needed. Fatigue, distress, and second thoughts are not enough. The court reasoned though appellee may have been fatigued and distressed-- and later suffered second thoughts-- without more, these facts do not provide grounds for setting aside an otherwise valid agreement. See First DCA Opinion Case No. 1D13-1546 http://opinions.1dca.org/written/opinions2013/12-10-2013/13-1546.pdf