Perreault v. the Free Lance-Star

OPINION BY Justice LAWRENCE L. KOONTZ, JR.

This appeal arises from four separate wrongful death actions brought pursuant to Code § 8.01-50 and ultimately settled by the parties through mediation. The principal issue we consider is whether the circuit court erred in requiring the settling parties to those actions to file written petitions reciting the financial terms of the compromise settlements in order to obtain court approval of those settlements pursuant to Code § 8.01-55. We also consider whether the contents of such petitions remain subject to the presumption of public access to court…