It's settled.

The Second Department upheld a stipulation of settlement, saying that, since plaintiff's attorney engaged in settlement negotiations and appeared at pretrial conferences, he had, as a matter of law, apparent authority to bind his client to the settlement terms, even if it exceeds his actual authority, in Davidson v. Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which was decided on October 16, 2007.

The court added that a party will be relieved from the consequences of a stipulation made during litigation only where there is cause sufficient to invalidate a contract, such as fraud, collusion, mistake or accident.

The court noted that, subsequent to the stipulation of settlement, plaintiff's attorney, acting on behalf of the party to be bound, confirmed the essential terms of the oral settlement agreement reached at the pretrial conference in a subscribed writing sufficient to satisfy the requirements of CPLR 2104.

Finally, said the court, plaintiff failed to make a showing of any procedural unconscionability in reaching the agreement which would warrant a vacatur of the agreement or a hearing on that issue.