Legal Definitions - agreed statement

Agreed Statement

An agreed statement is a formal document signed by all parties involved in a legal dispute, such as a lawsuit or an appeal, which outlines a set of facts that everyone agrees are true and not in contention. This document is then submitted to the court.

The primary purpose of an agreed statement is to streamline the legal process. It is used in situations where the parties do not disagree about what actually happened, but rather about how the law applies to those undisputed facts. By agreeing on the facts, the court can focus solely on the legal arguments and interpretations, saving time and resources that would otherwise be spent proving facts that are not genuinely disputed.

• Example 1: Contract Interpretation

  Imagine two businesses, "Tech Solutions Inc." and "Global Innovations LLC," are in a dispute over a software development contract. They both agree on the exact wording of the contract, the timeline of the project, and the specific actions each company took. However, they disagree on whether a particular clause in the contract legally permits Tech Solutions Inc. to charge Global Innovations LLC for additional development hours. Instead of bringing witnesses and evidence to prove the contract's terms or the project's history, they can submit an agreed statement detailing all these undisputed facts. This allows the judge to focus directly on interpreting the legal meaning and application of that specific contract clause.

• Example 2: Insurance Policy Coverage

  Consider a situation where an individual files an insurance claim after their car was damaged in a parking lot. The individual and the insurance company both agree on the date, time, and location of the incident, the extent of the damage, and the exact terms of the insurance policy. Their disagreement lies solely in whether a specific "act of vandalism" exclusion in the policy legally applies to the circumstances of the damage. By presenting an agreed statement of these facts, the court can proceed directly to determining the legal interpretation of the policy's exclusion and whether it applies to this particular event, without needing to establish the basic facts of the incident.

• Example 3: Property Easement Dispute

  Suppose two neighbors, Mr. Henderson and Ms. Rodriguez, are in a dispute over a shared driveway. They both agree on the historical use of the driveway, the dimensions of their properties, and the wording of the original property deeds. Their disagreement is purely legal: whether Mr. Henderson has acquired a legal "easement by prescription" (a right to use another's land gained through long-term, open use) over a portion of Ms. Rodriguez's property based on those agreed-upon facts. They can submit an agreed statement outlining all the undisputed factual history of the driveway's use and property lines, allowing the court to concentrate on applying property law principles to determine if an easement legally exists.