Enforcing Rule 11 Agreements

The recent Texas Supreme Court case of Pathfinder Oil & Gas v. Great Western Drilling reminds: “Parties can . . . waive their right to proof of a fact or an element of a claim through a written stipulation or one made in open court.” No. 18-0186 (Tex. May 24, 2019). Such agreements, commonly called “Rule 11 Agreements” in Texas practice for the relevant state rule of civil procedure, are “contracts relating to litigation” and are “construe[d] . . . under the same rules as a contract.” The more challenging question about a challenge to formation of such an agreement, rather than its interpretation, is the subject of  a recent article that I co-authored in a  State Bar Litigation Section publication.