Catamount Slate Products, Inc. v. Sheldon, 02-487.

Decision Date19 December 2003
Docket NumberNo. 02-487.,02-487.
PartiesCATAMOUNT SLATE PRODUCTS, INC. d/b/a Reed Family Slate Products, and Fred and Suellen Reed v. Lorene SHELDON, Lee Sheldon and The Lorene Sheldon Revocable Trust.
CourtVermont Supreme Court

845 A.2d 324

CATAMOUNT SLATE PRODUCTS, INC. d/b/a Reed Family Slate Products, and Fred and Suellen Reed
v.
Lorene SHELDON, Lee Sheldon and The Lorene Sheldon Revocable Trust

No. 02-487.

Supreme Court of Vermont.

December 19, 2003.


845 A.2d 326
David Putter, Montpelier, and Stephanie A. Lorentz of Lorentz, Lorentz and Harnett, Rutland, for Plaintiffs-Appellants

Emily J. Joselson, Kevin E. Brown and Abby C. Moskovitz of Langrock Sperry & Wool, LLP, Middlebury, for Defendants-Appellees.

Present: AMESTOY, C.J., JOHNSON and SKOGLUND, JJ., and ALLEN, C.J. (Ret.), and GIBSON, J. (Ret.), Specially Assigned.

SKOGLUND, J.

¶ 1. Catamount Slate Products, Inc. and its principals the Reed family appeal from a Rutland Superior Court ruling enforcing what appellees characterize as a binding, mediated settlement agreement. The trial court concluded that, at the end of their September 5, 2000 mediation, the parties had reached a binding settlement agreement. Because the Reeds lacked the requisite intent to be bound to the settlement agreement in the absence of a writing, we hold that no binding agreement was reached. We reverse and remand for further proceedings.

¶ 2. The Reeds own and operate Catamount Slate, a slate quarry and mill, on 122 acres in Fair Haven, Vermont. The appellees, the Sheldons, are also Fair Haven property owners and the Reeds' neighbors. Since 1997, the parties have been litigating the Reeds' right to operate their slate business and to use the access road leading to the quarry. In 2000, with several legal actions pending,1 the parties agreed to try to resolve their disputes in a state-funded mediation with retired judge Arthur O'Dea serving as mediator.

¶ 3. Prior to the mediation, Judge O'Dea sent each party a Mediation Agreement outlining the rules governing the mediation. Paragraph nine of the Mediation Agreement stated that:

[a]ll statements, admissions, confessions, acts, or exchanges . . . are acknowledged by the parties to be offers in negotiation of settlement and compromise, and as such inadmissible in evidence, and not binding upon either party unless reduced to a final agreement of settlement. Any final agreement of settlement must be in writing and signed by every party sought to be charged.

The cover letter transmitted with the Agreement asked the parties to sign and return the Agreement prior to the mediation. All parties received the Mediation Agreement, but Judge O'Dea apparently failed to collect the signed mediation forms at the outset of the mediation because he could not locate them in his files.

¶ 4. The mediation was held on September 5, 2000. Judge O'Dea began the session by reaffirming the statements made in the Mediation Agreement. After ten hours, the parties purportedly reached an agreement on all major issues. Judge O'Dea then orally summarized the terms of the resolution with the parties and counsel present. The attorneys took notes on the terms of the agreement with the understanding

845 A.2d 327
that they would prepare the necessary documents for signature in the coming days

¶ 5. The resolution required the Reeds to pay the Sheldons $250 a month for the right to use the access road, while the Sheldons agreed to be coapplicants on Catamount Slate's pending Act 250 permit. Payments were to commence on October 1, 2000. The parties also agreed to a series of terms governing the operation of the slate quarry, including, among other things, hours of operation, number of truck trips permitted on the access road, the amount and frequency of blasting, and the location of seismic measurements. These terms were to be memorialized in two distinct documents, a Lease Agreement and a Settlement Agreement.

¶ 6. On September 7, 2000, two days after the mediation, the Sheldons' attorney, Emily Joselson, drafted a letter outlining the terms of the settlement and sent copies to James Leary, the Reeds' attorney, and Judge O'Dea. Within a week, Leary responded by letter concurring in some respects and outlining the issues on which the Reeds disagreed with Joselson's characterization of the settlement.

¶ 7. The parties' actions before the environmental and superior courts were in a holding pattern pending the resolution of the mediation. In response to a court order to file quarterly status reports, Leary wrote a letter to the environmental court dated September 28, 2000 stating that "[t]he mediation was successful and we appear to have achieved a global settlement resolving all outstanding issues. We presently are in the process of working out the details of the agreement and preparing the appropriate documents." Leary went on to say that once the agreements were finalized, "I...

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