A Motion to Settle Journal Entry in Oklahoma
A “Motion to Settle Journal Entry” is a legal document, a written motion, made when parties to a case cannot agree on the wording or content of a journal entry that officially records the court’s decision after a hearing or trial.
A journal entry is a court order. It is a formal document typically prepared by the prevailing party in a dispute to memorialize the court’s ruling. It outlines the specific orders or decisions made by the judge. Once approved and signed by the judge, it becomes part of the official court record.
After a hearing or trial, the process for preparing a court order is:
Draft (write) the court order. The attorney writing the journal entry then emails it to the other attorney(s) in the case for review. The court order is supposed to reflect what the judge said, rather than what any particular side wished or desired the judge to say.
The other attorney(s) are then supposed to review the original draft and reply with their proposed changes.
If the parties and the attorneys cannot agree on the terms, phrases, and provisions of the order, any party may file a motion to settle the journal entry.
The court will then set a hearing, review the competing drafts, and choose the correct journal entry.
An accurate journal entry is crucial for many reasons, including:
ensuring that the court’s decision is clearly and accurately documented
providing clear direction for all parties and a basis for enforcement in the event of noncompliance
serving as the foundation for any potential appeal of the case
When there’s a disagreement between the parties about the accuracy or completeness of the proposed journal entry, a motion to settle journal entry can be prepared and filed. Disagreements arise in Oklahoma because judges typically do not prepare their own court orders reflecting their decisions. Instead, they delegate the task of writing the court order to one of the lawyers. Disagreements arise because the lawyers may disagree on the specific language used to describe the court’s ruling. There might be differences in understanding the court’s decision, leading to conflicting proposed journal entries. Some lawyers are just disagreeable and will never sign off on a court order, leading to multiple disputes and hearings.
Note: signing a court order does not mean that you agree 100% with the judge’s decision. The court order should accurately reflect the decision. A common misconception and area of dispute about court orders is when one side wishes that the judge had said or ordered something other than what they did. Approval and signature merely mean that the order accurately reflects what the judge ordered, even if it is not necessarily exactly what one side or either side requested from the judge. Once the order is approved and signed by all parties, their lawyers, and the judge, each side will still have all their rights to seek vacatur, modification, or even appellate review of the order, depending on the circumstances and type and timing of the order.
Timing and common sense are critical. It is almost always unreasonable to file a motion to settle journal entry the day after sending an order to the other side for review. The original drafting process requires time and patience. It is generally important to create a paper trail of emails and letters so that at any subsequent hearing, the party seeking to resolve and settle the journal entry can demonstrate sincere efforts to resolve the issue without judicial intervention. In some cases, going the extra mile before filing a motion to settle journal entry may either enhance the moving party’s claim for attorney fees or reduce their exposure to an attorney fee claim by the other side, depending on the circumstances.
We have a portable printer that we can take to hearings against the worst lawyers. Combined with our powerful document generation technology, our portable printer has allowed us to resolve journal entry disputes in minutes that might have otherwise taken hours, weeks, or even months. In most cases, even if our client loses and is not the prevailing party, we will volunteer to draft the court order because the judges know that our drafts are accurate and because we draft them quickly, while many lawyers wait days, weeks, or months before even beginning their draft.
* * *
While a motion to settle a journal entry is used to resolve order drafts after a hearing or trial, a “Motion to Enforce a Settlement Agreement,” is a process used to ask a judge to approve an agreement if one side will not sign the order memorializing the agreement after the agreement was reached. A motion to settle a journal entry is different from a motion to enforce a settlement agreement. A motion to settle involves a judicial decision after a hearing or trial, and a motion to enforce involves an agreement by the parties to the dispute. The concepts are similar. Properly done, a mediation agreement is likely enforceable if one side tries to renege. For motions to enforce a settlement agreement, it is important to have evidence, such as a signed document, setting out the terms and provisions of the agreement. The more detailed and specific the agreement terms, the easier it will be to enforce. While oral agreements can be enforceable, having a written agreement is generally stronger evidence.
If one party breaches a mediation agreement, the other party can seek to enforce it through the court system. This usually involves filing a motion to enforce the settlement agreement.
Our approach to mediation tends to strengthen any agreements reached, as we strive to memorialize agreements in the form of a complete court order. Most mediators and attorneys will only scratch out basic terms or bullet points of an agreement on a notepad, leaving the parties vulnerable to disputes. When our process is followed, the parties to an agreement will have a complete court order, reducing the ability of either side to claim that they did not know, understand, or agree to the terms of the deal.
