Settlement Agreements are Favored under North Carolina Law... or So We Thought: Problems with the Court of Appeals\u27 New Approach Allowing County Governments to Invalidate an Otherwise Binding Settlement Agreement Using North Carolina General Statute Section 159-28

Abstract

This comment first examines the established law of settlement agreements in North Carolina, specifically relating to how such agreements are favored under the law, general enforcement of these agreements, and special rules concerning counties and municipalities. Second, it focuses on the requirements for a pre-audit certification under North Carolina General Statute section 159-28(a), the perplexing judicial interpretation of this statute by the North Carolina Court of Appeals, and the resulting inequitable status of the law that treats settlement agreements with county and municipal governments on a different playing field than those with a private entity. Finally, a proposal is offered to remedy the one-sided state of the law that now allows a county or municipal government to back out of a settlement agreement to which it would otherwise be bound