Fennell v. TLB Kent Co.

Fennell's (plaintiff) attorney agreed to a $10,000 settlement with TLB Kent (defendant) in his wrongful-termination suit, and the district court dismissed the case on that basis. Fennell then said he was unhappy with the deal, refused to sign the release, and fired his attorneys, who asked the court to reinstate the case since Fennell no longer accepted the settlement. The district court instead found Fennell's attorneys had apparent authority to settle and held Fennell bound, based on findings that Fennell had authorized settlement talks, let his attorneys negotiate, would have taken a larger settlement, and never told opposing counsel his attorneys lacked settlement authority. Fennell appealed.