A CR 2A agreement in Washington is a settlement between parties in a Superior Court lawsuit that the court will treat as binding only when it is made in open court on the record, entered in the court’s minutes, or put in writing and signed by the attorneys or parties. Civil Rule 2A is short, and it is strict: a deal that meets one of those three conditions locks both sides in, and a deal that misses all three can be ignored by the court no matter how much negotiation went into it.
The Three Ways to Make an Agreement Stick
CR 2A recognizes an agreement between parties or their attorneys in a pending lawsuit in one of three forms. It can be made in open court on the record. It can be entered in the court’s minutes. Or it can exist in writing and be signed by the relevant attorneys or parties. The rule does not require a specific template, a filing deadline, or any particular format.
The point of the rule is certainty. Verbal agreements reached in hallways, over the phone, or in email threads are difficult to prove, and CR 2A draws a bright line so courts do not have to sort out competing accounts of what was agreed. If the agreement is not documented in one of the three ways, the court treats it as if it does not exist.
Who Has to Sign
Most CR 2A problems come from signature questions. The rule’s text speaks of agreements “subscribed by the attorneys,” but Washington courts read the requirement more broadly. Under RCW 2.44.010, an attorney has authority to bind their client by signing, so the attorney’s signature alone can satisfy the rule. A party who signs directly also satisfies CR 2A, even without their lawyer’s signature. In Patterson v. Taylor, the Washington Court of Appeals held that when a party “undertakes a settlement directly with the other party, reduces it to writing, and signs it…the requirements of CR 2A are met just as if the attorney had participated.”
The opposite is also true. In Bryant v. Palmer Coking Coal Co., the court held that a settlement is unenforceable if it was neither stated on the record in open court nor put in writing and signed by the party to be bound. An unsigned draft, an email chain where both sides seemed to agree, or a verbal handshake at mediation will not satisfy the rule.
Electronic Signatures Count
Washington’s Uniform Electronic Transactions Act removes any doubt about digital signing platforms. Under RCW 1.80.070, a signature cannot be denied legal effect solely because it is in electronic form, and a record cannot be denied enforceability solely because it was created electronically. An electronic signature works as long as it is attached to or logically associated with the record and executed or adopted by a person with the intent to sign.
Where CR 2A Agreements Come Up
Most CR 2A agreements come out of mediation or private settlement talks in cases that are already filed. The signed document functions as a binding contract that the court can later incorporate into a formal order or judgment.
In family law, divorcing spouses often use a CR 2A agreement to lock in property division, spousal maintenance, child support, and parenting plan terms immediately after mediation, bridging the gap until the court enters a formal Decree of Dissolution or Final Parenting Plan. In In re Marriage of Block, a ten-page CR 2A agreement resolved maintenance, child support, employment benefits, and the family home, and was later enforced when one spouse tried to back out.
In personal injury and other civil cases, a CR 2A memorandum typically ties down the payment amount and the scope of the release. In Kosrovani v. Roger Jobs Motors, the parties mediated a premises liability dispute and signed a CR 2A memorandum committing the insurer to pay $15,000 for a full release. When the plaintiff refused to sign the release afterward, the court enforced the agreement anyway.
A CR 2A agreement does not have to resolve every issue. Parties can settle some claims and leave others for trial or arbitration, and many mediated agreements delegate unresolved drafting disputes to the mediator for later binding arbitration. The agreement should say clearly which issues are closed and which remain open.
What the Written Agreement Should Contain
A CR 2A agreement needs enough detail that a judge unfamiliar with the case can tell exactly what each side promised. Vague terms invite enforcement fights.
- Case caption with the court name, county, all party names, and the case number, copied from a previously filed document.
- Settlement terms stated precisely. For money, give the exact dollar amount, payment deadline, and payment method. For non-monetary obligations like property transfers, specify what must happen, who must do it, and by when.
- Release language if the agreement is meant to end the case. In personal injury matters, this usually includes indemnification for outstanding medical liens and subrogation interests, with a directive for plaintiff’s counsel to hold back enough proceeds to pay those obligations before disbursing.
- Signature blocks for every party and attorney, with printed name, signature, and date. A self-represented party signs for themselves.
- A dispute resolution clause, if the parties want future disagreements about interpretation sent to binding arbitration, often conducted by the same mediator.
There is no mandatory state form. Enforceability turns on substance, not format.
Enforcing the Agreement When Someone Backs Out
When one side refuses to perform, the other side files a motion to enforce the settlement. The court reviews the document, decides whether it satisfies CR 2A, and decides whether the terms are definite enough to enforce.
If the material terms are undisputed, the judge can rule on written declarations alone. When there is a genuine dispute about whether the agreement exists or what a material term means, the court must hold an evidentiary hearing where both sides present testimony. A judge will not simply pick a version of a contested agreement off the paperwork.
Once the court finds the agreement valid, it typically enters an order folding the settlement terms into a final judgment. That order carries the same weight as any other court judgment. Depending on the court’s calendar, the motion-to-order timeline runs from a few weeks to several months.
Getting Out of a CR 2A Agreement
Regret alone is not grounds for undoing a CR 2A agreement. Washington courts treat these agreements like contracts, and the bar for setting one aside is high. The recognized grounds are fraud, mistake, misunderstanding, or lack of jurisdiction. A court also has discretion to relieve a party from a stipulation when relief is necessary to prevent injustice and the other side has not relied on the agreement in a way that would make withdrawal unfair.
A common challenge is that there was no meeting of the minds on the material terms. If a party can show that the written document does not reflect what was actually agreed, or that the parties never reached agreement on an essential term, the court may decline to enforce it. But courts look at objective evidence of intent, not a party’s later account of what they privately meant. A signed document is powerful evidence, and someone who signed without reading carefully will have a hard time convincing a judge to undo the deal.
Duress and coercion can also invalidate an agreement, but the standard is demanding. Feeling pressured during a long mediation session rarely qualifies on its own. The challenger generally has to show there was no reasonable alternative to signing.
Consequences of Violating a CR 2A Order
Once a CR 2A agreement is incorporated into a court order, violating its terms is the same as violating any other court order. The court can hold the non-compliant party in contempt under RCW 7.21.030 and impose remedial sanctions, including forfeiture of up to $2,000 per day the violation continues, imprisonment for as long as it serves a coercive purpose, or any other order designed to force compliance. The court can also make the violator pay the other side’s losses caused by the contempt, plus reasonable attorney fees and costs.
For punitive contempt under RCW 7.21.040, the penalties climb to a fine of up to $5,000 per violation, imprisonment for up to 364 days, or both. Attorney fees in enforcement actions can add thousands more. In Marriage of Block, the court awarded $1,000 in attorney fees to the spouse who successfully moved to enforce the agreement, and that was a relatively straightforward case.
District and Municipal Court Cases
CR 2A applies in Superior Court. Washington’s courts of limited jurisdiction, including district and municipal courts, operate under CRLJ 2A, which imposes the same basic requirements for stipulations. The practical rule is identical: get the agreement in writing and signed, or state it on the record in open court.