I was defending myself pretty well in a collections lawsuit until I agreed to settle for a small lump sum rather than pay travel expenses back to court which were about double. The settlement offer was via fax and I accepted it and faxed the court a copy with my acceptance. The Attorney said he would file a dismissal notice and the court docked read Hold For Entry until about a month later when suddenly the trial was set again. The reason for this was three days after the trial I received a mutual release of claims letter from the attorney, which was not discussed as part of the agreement which was stated as "Lump Sum of $250 and dismissal of the case" only. A few weeks after the settlement agreement got to me I told the attorney I would not agree to the release of claims, but would pay the $250 still as agreed. He filed a motion to reduced settlement to judgment, and got it for $250 + costs. I filed an opposition to the motion with all the fax correspondences, but he got a judgement anyway. It read: having been notified that a settlement had been reached by both parties and being further notified defendant failed to meet the terms of the agreement, judgment is hereby granted to plaintiff...

Irregularities abound in this case. It was a magistrate handling it but no magistrate's decision or notes entered. Also a pending request to amend answer and counterclaim was denied along with the judgment, over a month after submitting it and told that it would be ruled on at the time of trial. Also, plaintiff's attorney entered into a oral agreement before the magistrate to dismiss the case at pretrial, but they vacated it, and low and behold there is no recording of the pretrial though it states specifically in the court rules "all proceedings will be audio taped".

I know I could appeal this and win, but again... more money than it's worth, and it seems like this has been a done deal since the filing of the complaint.

Or is it? Should I try to vindicate myself. BTW, I am unemployed and suffering injury from the dentist who sued me in this case. Malpractice notice has been given to him and I am currently trying to get someone to take the case for recoverable fees. All documents are online and available for those interested.

Thanks.