Fighting your opponent on every issue is tempting during litigation. A disagreement resulted in the lawsuit. And it is natural for the dispute to expand to discovery and trial.
But this approach can be a mistake that prevents you from reaching the ultimate goal – negotiating a reasonable settlement or winning money at trial.
Often, you can increase the likelihood of a favorable outcome through agreements.
A stipulation is a term for voluntary agreements between opposing parties in litigation. And courts permit stipulations of fact, expected witness testimony, procedural rules, and the admissibility of evidence.
This article explains how and when to use stipulations to your advantage in litigation. And what to do when the opposing party suggests its stipulations.
You do not want to enter into stipulations without analyzing how the proposed stipulation could help or hurt your case. Once you enter into the voluntary agreement, the court may consider it a binding contract you cannot revoke.
And feel free to contact us if you have questions about your motor vehicle accident or workers compensation case. You will find out why other attorneys and past clients named me one of Virginia’s best personal injury lawyers.
Contents hideA stipulation in a civil case in state or federal court is a voluntary agreement between opposing parties about a specific matter relevant to the litigation.
Entering stipulations has several benefits for courts and the parties to a lawsuit.
General benefits of stipulations include:
In addition, a party may use stipulations for tactical reasons during litigation.
Multiple courts and tribunals have praised the benefits of stipulations.
You may stipulate a variety of issues during litigation.
Typically a trial judge will accept the parties’ stipulations of fact.
If the judge accepts the stipulations of fact, the party with the burden of proving the stipulated fact has satisfied its burden. The opposing party concedes the alleged point, and the court will not hear controverting evidence related to the stipulation.
The parties may stipulate a witness’s expected testimony if that witness cannot attend the trial.
However, the court does not have to accept the admissibility or accuracy of the testimony. A party may still raise objections (relevance, hearsay, prejudicial).
In addition, the parties may stipulate the contents of documents that neither side will present at trial.
The trial court may also accept stipulations concerning:
The legal system distinguishes issues of law from fact.
So though litigants typically have broad discretion to stipulate facts, the parties may not stipulate to legal conclusions. Only the court has authority to do so, and it is not bound to accept, as controlling, stipulations on questions of law.
In addition, the parties cannot stipulate the constitutionality of a statute.
But the best option is to put the stipulation in writing. Or put it on the record in open court with a court reporter transcribing the statement (an oral stipulation).
Still, the court may require the parties to write stipulations to prevent disputes in the future.
Stipulations are voluntary. Therefore, a court cannot require you (or your opponent) to stipulate a specific item. Especially when the fact is not within your personal knowledge.
However, you should not reject a proposed stipulation without considering if you will look unreasonable. Judges and juries may side with the more credible attorney on close calls involving other issues. And you lose credibility if you fight about bad facts (or refuse to accept they exist).
Further, you can use the opposing party’s request that you stipulate a fact as an opening to seek stipulations of your own. Indeed, I recommend asking for a stipulation favorable to your client in exchange.
Yes, but only if the stipulation is valid, meaning it addresses a matter that litigants can stipulate to, and the court accepts it.
Usually courts will accept and enforce valid stipulations. However, stipulations are not absolute.
For example, a federal court has stated:
“Allowing parties easily to set aside or modify stipulations would defeat this purpose, wasting judicial resources and undermining future confidence in such agreements. Thus, ‘[i]t is a well-recognized rule of law that valid stipulations entered into freely and fairly, and approved by the court, should not be lightly set aside’. However, in spite of the severe limitations placed on withdrawing stipulations, they are not absolute, and courts can grant parties relief from them.”
The trial court might allow you to withdraw from the stipulation if there was a mistake of fact or law, mutual mistake, fraud, misrepresentation, a change in circumstance, or some other occurrence resulting in injustice if the stipulation stands.
Further, the court may interpret the stipulation narrowly if a dispute arises and it is unclear what the parties meant.
In addition, the Industrial Commission has held that parties are bound to stipulations of fact and compensability made at the workers comp hearing.
Therefore, you should not enter stipulations without considering all the potential consequences. The court may not permit you to back out of it, costing you the case.
If you were hurt at work or by someone’s negligence, you might be entitled to workers compensation benefits (including a cash settlement) or other monetary awards.
Contact us today for help pursuing your insurance claim or litigating your injury case to a successful resolution.
We help accident victims and injured workers in Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, and throughout the Mid-Atlantic.
Managing Partner at Corey Pollard LawCorey Pollard is a top-rated personal injury attorney focused on recovering monetary damages for injured workers and accident victims. He has secured over $50 million for clients in Virginia workers' compensation, Social Security disability, traumatic brain injury (TBI), spinal cord injury (SCI), product liability, and construction accident cases.
Latest posts by Corey Pollard (see all)