Court Opinion

ID: 9794228
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-31 03:01:38.8386+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:13:08.743076
License: Public Domain

DAVIDSON, Judge
(concurring):
I concur in the main opinion but I write separately to express a concern about the rules contained in the Code of Judicial Administration. As pointed out in the dissent, rule 4-504(8) of the Code of Judicial Administration states:
No orders, judgments or decrees based upon stipulation shall be signed or entered unless the stipulation is in writing, signed by the attorneys of record for the respective parties and filed with the clerk or the stipulation was made on the record.
This rule was formerly a rule of practice in the courts and was therefore not afforded the full enforcement of a rule of civil procedure. Since the rule has now been elevated into the Code of Judicial Administration, it is now entitled to enforcement equal to that given other rules. However, if this rule is strictly followed and enforced, the way the law is applied will be dramatically changed and in this case, at least, other existing law is ignored. I am unwilling to slavishly follow the rule at issue in the face of evidence showing a stipulation entered into by the parties but not agreed to in writing. Other oral agreements are enforceable when the evidence establishes their existence. So too should oral stipulations be enforced when the evidence shows their existence.