Here's the latest in our series of cases which in effect say "when you settle, you're done."
In State ex rel. Gideon v. Page, No. 2024-0573 (Oct. 10, 2024), the Ohio Supreme Court made short work of an argument that the trial judge in an eminent domain case lacked jurisdiction to enforce a settlement agreement after she vacated an earlier entry of dismissal. The objecting party asserted that the court's earlier dismissal deprived it of jurisdiction to vacate the dismissal itself, and enforce the settlement agreement.
Although the party which asked the court to vacate the dismissal did not cite Rule 60(b), the court held that was a mere technical defect, and "a trial court may, upon motion, vacate a final judgment, order, or proceeding for multiple reasons ..." Slip op. at 5. In short, the Supreme Court wasn't too bothered by the details. See slip op. at 7 ("The motion did not explicitly cite the basis for the relief Worthington was seeking, but Gideon cites no authority requiring that a motion explicitly state what authority it is being filed under before a court has jurisdiction to consider it.").
We post this case as a reminder: when ya settle, ya settle. Courts are not likely to view it as another opportunity to litigate.
State ex rel. Gideon v. Page, No. 2024-0573 (Ohio Oct. 10, 2024)
