Powell v. City of Newton

*563EDMUNDS, Justice.

In this case we consider whether a settlement agreement reached between the parties in open court and orally ratified by those parties before the judge, but never memorialized by a signed writing, is unenforceable as a violation of the statute of frauds. N.C.G.S. § 22-2 (2009). Because successful invocation of the statute of frauds would allow plaintiff to evade a contractual obligation that he freely entered in open court, subverting the finality of such agreements and undermining the judicial process, we conclude that even though the statute of frauds would otherwise…