Settlement Agreement and Release

A Settlement Agreement is a document between two parties to litigation, the complainant and the defendant. The complainant is the party that brings the case against the defendant. The defendant is the person or business who is defending themselves in court.

Settlement Agreements come about because, at some point in the litigation, the defendant may make a financial offer to the complainant to end the lawsuit. If the complainant thinks the amount is satisfactory, then the complainant will accept. This amount is called the settlement amount.

The parties must also agree to the terms surrounding the settlement, and the complainant must agree to dismiss the lawsuit. All of that is included within a settlement agreement.

How to use this document

This document should be filled out only when both parties have agreed to the terms of the settlement. It should not be used if settlement negotiations are still ongoing.

The document is quite simple to fill out. It will need to contain the identity of the parties and their attorneys (if any), and all the information about the litigation, such as the case name, the name of the court, and date the litigation was filed. It will also include the complainant's specific causes of action.

The final important piece of this document is the settlement amount and time limit for when it needs to be paid.

After this document is filled out, it should be signed by both parties. Each party should keep a copy. It may also need to be filed in the court where the litigation was taking place.

Applicable law

Settlement agreements will be governed by either the law of the individual state or federal law, depending on what type of litigation the original case was.

How to modify the template

You fill out a form. The document is created before your eyes as you respond to the questions.

At the end, you receive it in Word and PDF formats. You can modify it and reuse it.