Oscar Recio and Maria Recio
v.
Frederick M. Fridley, D.L. Peterson Trust, Securitas Security Services USA, Inc. and Doe Corporation
Appellant
Oscar Recio and Maria Recio
Appellee
Frederick M. Fridley, D.L. Peterson Trust, Securitas Security Services USA, Inc. and Doe Corporation
Attorney for the Appellant
Christopher P. Welsh
Attorneys for the Appellee
Daniel R. Sarther (pro hac vice)
Spencer S. Cady
Court of Appeals
Court of Appeals Opinion
Opinion Number:
Date Published:
Summary
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Warren County, Thomas P. Murphy, Judge. AFFIRMED. Considered by Badding, P.J., Langholz, J., and Potterfield, S.J. Opinion by Langholz, J. (13 pages)
Oscar and Maria Recio appeal the district court’s order enforcing a settlement agreement and dismissing their suit against Frederick Fridley, D.L. Peterson Trust, Securitas Security Services USA, Inc., and Doe Corporation. They argue that the district court improperly granted summary judgment on the defendants’ motion to enforce a settlement agreement when a genuine issue of material fact existed as to whether their attorney had authority to settle their claims. OPINION HOLDS: The ruling that the Recios appeal is not a summary-judgment ruling. Without objection from the Recios, the court decided this preliminary factual issue—finding based on the evidence before it that the parties reached a settlement agreement. So any error in this procedure is not preserved. And reviewing for corrections of errors at law, we hold that the court’s finding is supported by substantial evidence. Given the other evidence and the presumption of attorney authority, we cannot say as a matter of law that the court was required to believe a single affidavit. We thus affirm the district court’s order enforcing the settlement agreement and dismissing the Recios’ suit.
