Francis v. Chavis., 345 Ga. App. 641

Sabrina Francis was rear-ended while driving a sheriff’s vehicle; Chavis admitted liability and Francis sued for past and anticipated future medical expenses.
On July 29, 2016, a State Farm claims associate, Donna Madison, claims Francis agreed by phone to settle for $3,433 (medical bills plus $1,000 for pain and suffering) and asked that a release be mailed.
Madison mailed a cover letter and a release the same day; the call was not recorded.
Francis admitted the call occurred but denied agreeing to settle and attested she discarded the mailed release because she did not agree to its terms.
Chavis moved to enforce the alleged settlement; the trial court granted the motion without an evidentiary hearing and found the affidavit and correspondence established an enforceable oral settlement.
On appeal the Court of Appeals reversed, concluding that, under the summary-judgment-like standard applicable when no evidentiary hearing is held, genuine issues of material fact existed about whether a meeting of the minds occurred.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether an enforceable oral settlement was reached during the unrecorded call	Francis denies agreeing to the settlement terms; there was no mutual meeting of the minds	Madison’s affidavit and the mailed letter memorialize the parties’ oral agreement	Reversed: disputed, genuine factual issue exists; trial court erred in enforcing without an evidentiary hearing
Whether documentary writing requirement for disputed settlements was satisfied	Francis contends the mailed letter was an offer, not a written memorial of an agreement	Chavis contends the letter memorialized the oral settlement and satisfies the writing requirement	Reversed: material fact exists whether letter was a memorialization or merely an offer; writing requirement not established as a matter of law

Tillman v. Mejabi, 331 Ga. App. 415 (discusses summary-judgment standard for motions to enforce settlements)
Brooks v. Ironstone Bank, 314 Ga. App. 879 (same standard; review of motion-to-enforce treated as summary judgment absent evidentiary hearing)
Johnson v. DeKalb County, 314 Ga. App. 790 (Georgia favors enforcement of definite settlement agreements)
Pourreza v. Teel Appraisals & Advisory, Inc., 273 Ga. App. 880 (writing requirement to prove disputed settlement existence)
S. Medial Corp. v. Liberty Mut. Ins. Co., 216 Ga. App. 289 (settlement agreements require same contract formation requisites)
City of Albany v. Freeney, 313 Ga. App. 24 (reversal where genuine issue exists about whether settlement was reached)
DeRossett Enters. v. GE Capital Corp., 275 Ga. App. 728 (procedural posture note on evidentiary hearings and review standard)