Makins v. District of Columbia

I am fully in agreement with the essential holding of the en banc court’s opinion that the enforceability of settlement agreements is governed by principles of contract and agency law, including the doctrine that a principal (the client) will be bound by the acts of an agent (the attorney) where the facts support a finding of apparent authority. See Makins v. District of Columbia, 838 A.2d 300, 306 (D.C.2003) (Ruiz, J., *598dissenting), vacated and reh’g en banc granted, 2004 D.C.App. Lexis 198. That doctrine, as we have long held, is grounded on a third party’s reliance on manifestations of the…