Case Name: WALKER v. LEWIS
Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
Jurisdiction: Georgia
Decision Date: 2004-06-14
Citations: 267 Ga. App. 831
Docket Number: A04A1122
Parties: WALKER v. LEWIS.
Judges: Miller and Ellington, JJ., concur.
Reporter: Georgia Appeals Reports
Volume: 267
Pages: 831–831

Head Matter:
A04A1122.
WALKER v. LEWIS.
(600 SE2d 773)
Decided June 14, 2004.
Walter D. Adams, for appellant.
Newell M. Hamilton, Jr., for appellee.

Opinion:
Andrews, Presiding Judge.
Aaron Walker appeals from the trial court's order granting Chuck Lewis's motion to enforce a settlement agreement. Because the alleged agreement was never reduced to writing and because Walker disputes that there was a settlement agreement, the trial court erred in granting the motion.
"Oral settlement agreements are enforceable if their existence is established without dispute, but where the very existence of the agreement is disputed, it may only be established by a writing." (Citations and punctuation omitted.) Reichard v. Reichard, 262 Ga. 561, 564 (423 SE2d 241) (1992). See also Grossman v. Smith, Barney Real Estate Fund, 211 Ga. App. 243 (438 SE2d 700) (1993); LeCroy v. Massey, 185 Ga. App. 828 (366 SE2d 215) (1988).
In this case there is no written evidence of a settlement agreement. The only evidence of a settlement was argument by Lewis's counsel at the motion hearing. Contrary to the statement in the trial court's order that "Plaintiff did not deny the settlement agreement existed," Walker's counsel clearly and consistently contended at the hearing that no settlement was ever reached.
Accordingly, the trial court erred in finding there was a settlement agreement and erred in granting Lewis's motion to enforce it.
Judgment reversed.
Miller and Ellington, JJ., concur.